It’s not often you lose, and win, but that’s what happened to Ali Imsirovic in the 2018 Poker Masters finale, the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.
It started disastrously.
The middle and end weren’t so bad.
Only four full levels had been played on Day 1 when the players held a pow-wow that led to a change in structure. On a positive, it’s good that the players and tournament staff can work together on such things. On a negative, this is the 2018 Poker Masters. There was a lot of talk about protecting the ‘integrity of the event,’ and if that’s the case something will have to be done to prevent this farce from happening again.
A decision was made to stop the clock with 15-minutes of Level 5 remaining, and then bring everyone back the following day, ending late registration and the rebuy period at the start of Day 2.
Rewinding four and a half levels, and only five people stood a chance of winning the Purple Jacket.
Ali Imsirovic (660 Pts)
Brandon Adams (510)
Isaac Haxton (480)
Jake Schindler (390)
Ben Yu (360)
Neither Jake Schindler nor Ben Yu competed in Day 1, and both Adams and Haxton fell before the end of Level 5.
Brandon Adams Eliminated
Adams opened the action with a 14,000 raise, and Justin Bonomo peeled in position. The flop contained more spades than one of those cheap, crappy shops you find at the seaside – Ts8s2s – Adams bet 16,000 and Bonomo called. The turn was an odd looking 3d, Adams jammed, and Bonomo made the call. Adams showed KdTc for top pair, and Bonomo showed pocket jacks for the overpair. If Adams was going to leave the ARIA with a Purple Jacket, in the next few days, then he was going to have to spend another $100,000 to do so.
Isaac Haxton Eliminated
Haxton raised to 4,500, Seth Davies made it 11,500 to play, Haxton moved all-in for approx. 70,000, and Davies made the call. Haxton showed AQ, but Davies had him dominated with AK. Five community cards changed nothing. Like Adams before him, Haxton would have to buy back in for another $100,000 if he was to try and win the Purple Jacket.
Day 2
By the time the cards were in the air, the field had swelled to 25 players, including Ike Haxton and Brandon Stevens, and not Jake Schindler or Ben Yu.
Here’s how the Poker Masters climaxed.
Isaac Haxton Eliminated in 17th Place.
The action folded to Haxton in the small blind, and he made up the change. Bryn Kenney raised to 13,000 in the big blind, and Haxton called. The flop was Th9d8c, Kenney bet 16,000, and Haxton called. The turn card was the Ks, and the same action ensued, this time for 47,000. The final card was the Ah, Haxton checked, Kenney put him all-in, and Haxton called. The partypoker ambassador had turned two pairs, but Kenney had it from the off, flopping a set of tens.
Haxton would not be winning the Poker Masters.
Ali Imsirovic Eliminated in 13th Place.
Then hope for Adams.
Imsirovic limped into the action from the small blind holding pocket tens, and then shoved over a Stephen Chidwick raise from the big blind holding AhTs; Chidwick called. The dealer laid the AsJs7hQs3c onto the board, and Chidwick had sent the Purple Jacket favourite to the rail. If Brandon Adams could finish third or higher, then the title would be his. Otherwise, Imsirovic would take the honour.
And take the honour he did.
Brandon Adams Eliminated in 7th Place.
It was a tremendous series for Adams making the final table of the first three events including winning Event #2: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em, but Imsirovic’s back-to-back titles in Event#5 & 6 proved too much of a hurdle for Adams to overcome.
It was a brave last stand.
Aldemir opened to 13,000 with 98ss, and Adams moved all-in holding AJo in the cutoff. Dan Smith picked up AQhh on the button and called, everyone else folded. Smith would go on to flop the top two pairs and then hit the third queen for good measure on the river. Adams was out. Ali Imsirovic was the 2018 Poker Masters winner.
But we still had a million bucks to hand out.
Day 2 ended with a final table of four.
Final Table Tale of the Tape
Seat 1: Dan Smith – 2,030,000
Seat 2: David Peters – 2,230,000
Seat 3: Bryn Kenney – 227,000
Seat 4: Koray Aldemir – 541,000
Day 3
Bryn Kenney Eliminated in 4th Place.
Kenny moved all-in for 185,000, and Aldemir also moved all-in for 422,000. Peters and Smith let the pair have a scrap. It went a little something like this:
Aldemir: QcJh
Kenney: QhTs
Board: As7s5d8d5c
Kenney was out, earning $250,000, and Aldemir left the hand with 637,000 chips, and a whole lot of work to do with his peers both holding more than two million of the things.
He put up one hell of a fight.
The three-handed action lasted more than five hours.
Here are the highlights:
Aldemir doubled through Smith on two occasions (JJ>KQ & AJ>AT) and then this happened:
Aldemir completed from the small blind holding Jc7h, and then called when Smith raised to 70,000 holding Ah8d. The pair checked to the turn on a board of Th9c2h5h, Aldemir bet 150,000, and Smith called. The river was the Jd, giving the German the best hand. Aldemir bet 175,000, but Smith put him all-in. Aldemir burned a time extension chip before making the right call, and Smith went from chip leader to short stack.
Peters doubled through Aldemir to take the chip lead AT>99.
Smith doubled through Peters in fortunate fashion after the pair got it in on 9d8d2c with Smith holding 87o for middle pair, and Peters well ahead with 94ss for top pair, only for Smith to hit a runner-runner straight combo to double up.
Koray Aldemir Eliminated in 3rd Place.
Aldemir moved all-in on the button, and Smith called in the big blind.
Smith: JsJd
Aldemir: Ad9s
Board: Tc4d3s3h8d
The jacks held, and Aldemir was denied back-to-back heads-up encounters, leaving Smith and Peters to fight it out for the million-plus prize.
Heads-Up
Smith – 2,570,000
Peters – 2,430,000
The pair agreed to reduce the levels to 15-minutes.
Peters moved into a chunky lead before Smith doubled up QQ>A9, but Smith couldn’t capitalise, and Peters finished him off K7o>A7s after finding a king on the fourth street to end things.
Final Table Results
1. David Peters – $1,150,000
2. Dan Smith – $700,000
3. Koray Aldemir – $400,000
4. Bryn Kenney – $250,000
Peters has now won three seven-figure scores in 2018 including finishing seventh in the Super High Roller Bowl China for $1,113,018 and winning an event at the Triton Poker Series, Jeju for $1,118,484.
Ali Imsirovic Wins the Purple Jacket
Had the ARIA and Poker Central not changed the structure from last time, David Peters’ two titles would have been enough for him to win as he earned slightly more cash than Ali Imsirovic ($1,343,200 v $1,288,600), and cash was the metric for success last year.
However, the organisers introduced a point system this year, meaning the 23-year old from Vancouver, Washington, finished ten points ahead of Peters, thanks to his three ITM finishes.
Imsirovic finished 8/69 in Event #1: $10,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $27,600 and 60 leaderboard points. Then he beat 66-entrants in Event #5: $26,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $462,000 and 300-points and cemented his win with victory in the very next event, Event #6: $52,000 No-Limit Hold’em, where he beat 47-entrants for $799,000.
2018 Poker Masters Final Standings
1. Ali Imsirovic – 660 points ($1,288,600)
2. David Peters – 650 ($1,343,200)
3. Brandon Adams – 510 ($543,000)
4. Isaac Haxton – 480 ($309,900)
5. Jake Schindler – 390 ($575,000)