Ali Imsirovic is beginning to run away with the first ever PokerGO Tour championship, but the race is far from over. The 26-year-old poker superstar already has eight high roller titles this year, far and away the most in the world.
PokerGO, formerly Poker Central, launched a high roller tour earlier this year. The purpose of it is to determine the top performing high-stakes poker tournament player in the world throughout 2021. Points are accumulated based on cashes at sanctioned tour stops all over the globe, but mostly in Las Vegas.
Clearly the frontrunner
Due to the pandemic, many high roller events in 2021 have been put on hold, along with the World Series of Poker, which has moved to the fall. Despite the cancelation and postponement of some events, there have still been a plethora of huge events over the past few months, and Ali Imsirovic has won a bunch of them.
Imsirovic, who burst onto the high roller scene in 2017, and then cashed for over $3.2 million in 2018 at just 23-years-old, already has eight titles this year. His first win, back on February 25, was good for $185,800, beating out a field of just 14 players in a $25,000 tournament at the Aria in Las Vegas. Two days later, he won another 14-player high roller at the same casino, this time for $344,910 in a $50k.
Consistent performer
With few international players able to make it to Las Vegas, or the U.S. in general, the high-stakes scene was a bit slim early in the year. Hence, why Imsirovic won such tiny field events. But as more players from Europe have found a way to the United States, the high roller scene is picking up, and Imsirovic is continuing to win, starting with a $10k for $200,200 at the Venetian in May.
In April, he won $25k events at Aria in back-to-back days for $610,000 combined, beating out an average of 30 players per event. He then won a US Poker Open tournament in June and two events at the July PokerGO Cup.
With his eight victories, Imsirovic has 2,394 points on the 2021 PokerGO Tour standings. Sean Perry is in 2nd place with 1,667, followed by Sam Soverel (1,305), Sean Winter (1,303), and Andrew Moreno (1,200). Daniel Negreanu, who won his first poker tournament since 2013 last week, is in 14th place with 743 points.
The winner of the PokerGO Tour, which encompasses 150 high roller tournaments around the world, will receive a bonus payout of $100,000. Imsirovic not only has the most wins and largest point total, but also the highest earnings at $3,004,960. Perry is second in earnings with $2,320,378.
There are numerous events remaining on the schedule and plenty of opportunities for Perry, Soverel, or another player to step up and capture the first ever PokerGO Tour title. Major events on the horizon include the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl Europe in the fall, and many Aria high rollers.
Although it's still too early to hand the crown to Imsirovic, he's certainly the favorite at this point in the year.
Featured image source: PokerGO app
