Ali Imsirovic Grabs Event #9 Win and a Commanding U.S. Poker Open Championship Lead
Ali Imsirovic has done it again! The former Poker Masters Purple Jacket winner and current PokerGO Tour leader took down Event #9 of the U.S. Poker Open in an impressive fashion to take a commanding lead on the overall standings. Unless anyone catches Imsirovic in the final three events he will receive the 54-lbs gold eagle trophy and $50,000 cash prize.
The first elimination happened quickly as Jake Schindler’s attempt to double up did not work out the way he wanted. Schindler raised to 435,000 leaving himself with 105,000 behind in the 50k big blind level with king-nine suited, and Cary Katz called with pocket sevens. The flop came down king high, giving Schindler top pair, and he moved all-in for his last few chips and Katz tossed in the call. The turn was the queen of diamonds, and Katz smiled and said, “Seven of clubs,” before the dealer put out that exact card! Schindler busted and Katz added to his stack.
The next player to bust was Thomas Winters. Katz raised to 215,000 at 60k big blind with ace-king and Winters moved all in for his final 470,000 with ace-three suited. Winters couldn’t catch up with Katz’s better ace who further closed the gap between him and chip leader Imsirovic.
Poker Hall of Fame member Erik Seidel hung around for quite some time but ultimately his day ended in fifth place. Seidel busted holding ace-queen versus Katz’s jacks for his final 16 big blinds bringing the field down to four players with Imsirovic in the lead and Vanessa Kade, Katz, and Lichtenberger sitting on similar stack sizes.
Vanessa Kade was the short stack during four-handed play and her final hand started with a min-raise to 200,000 off a 1.4 million stack. The action folded to Andrew Lichtenberger in the big blind and he moved all-in after which Kade called immediately holding king-queen of diamonds. Lichtenberger tabled ace-five and watched how Kade hit top pair on the flop. Kade had the lead going into the river but an ace ended her tournament run.
Finishing in third was Cary Katz who ran into the Imsirovic train. Imsirovic raised before the flop and got called by Katz in the big blind with nine-three suited. The flop came down queen-nine-three with two clubs giving Imsirovic top pair with queen-jack of hearts. Katz had a good sweat with his pair and flush draw but he couldn’t find a way to double up.
On the final hand, Lichtenberger moved all in with king-jack and Imsirovic hesitated before calling with jack-six offsuit for seven big blinds. Imsirovic laughed as a six hit the turn for him to take the lead. The river blanked and Imsirovic was crowned champion and with that, he takes the US Poker Open Championship lead!
| U.S. Poker Open Event #8: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em | |||
| Place | Name | Championship Points | Payouts |
| 1st | Ali Imsirovic | 218 | $217,800 |
| 2nd | Andrew Lichtenberger | 158 | $158,400 |
| 3rd | Cary Katz | 119 | $118,800 |
| 4th | Vanessa Kade | 94 | $94,050 |
| 5th | Erik Seidel | 74 | $74,250 |
| 6th | Thomas Winters | 59 | $59,400 |
| 7th | Jake Schindler | 50 | $49,500 |
| 8th | Mazen Abdallah | 40 | $39,600 |
| 9th | Alex Foxen | 40 | $39,600 |
| 10th | Jesse Sylvia | 30 | $29,700 |
| 11th | Stephen Chidwick | 30 | $29,700 |
| 12th | Nick Petrangelo | 20 | $19,800 |
| 13th | Jim Collopy | 20 | $19,800 |
| 14th | Steven Veneziano | 20 | $19,800 |
| 15th | Matthew Ploof | 20 | $19,800 |
The 2021 U.S. Poker Open continues right now as Event #10: $10,000 No Limit Hold’em is in full swing. Check out our Live Reporting right here and tune into the final table of that event at 1:00 pm PT on PokerGO. Here are the Top 10 of the Championship Standings.
| U.S. Poker Open Leaderboard | |||||
| Rank | Player | Points | Wins | Cashes | Earnings |
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | 406 | 1 | 4 | $406,400 |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | 308 | 0 | 3 | $308,000 |
| 3 | Joe McKeehen | 302 | 1 | 2 | $302,200 |
| 4 | Steve Zolotow | 289 | 0 | 3 | $289,000 |
| 5 | David Peters | 243 | 1 | 2 | $243,000 |
| 6 | Dan Shak | 236 | 0 | 3 | $235,500 |
| 7 | Maxx Coleman | 231 | 0 | 3 | $230,800 |
| 8 | Cary Katz | 227 | 0 | 3 | $226,900 |
| 9 | Alex Foxen | 223 | 0 | 4 | $223,300 |
| 10 | John Riordan | 222 | 1 | 3 | $221,800 |
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Watch the Event #9 Final Table on PokerGO.com at 1 p.m. PT
The final table of Event #9: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em of the 2021 U.S. Poker Open is set and will be airing on PokerGO.com at 1 p.m. PT.
Watch the Event #9 final table on PokerGO.com here!
Ali Imsirovic is the runaway chip leader ahead of Vanessa Kade, Cary Katz, Andrew Lichtenberger, Erik Seidel, Thomas Winters, and Jake Schindler. The final seven players are currently guaranteed $49,500, but all eyes are on the $217,800 first-place prize and title of Event #9 champion.
| Event #9 Final Table | |||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jake Schindler | United States | 440,000 |
| 2 | Vanessa Kade | Canada | 1,715,000 |
| 3 | Cary Katz | United States | 1,455,000 |
| 4 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5,075,000 |
| 5 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | 1,315,000 |
| 6 | Thomas Winters | United States | 970,000 |
| 7 | Erik Seidel | United States | 1,405,000 |
The button will be in seat seven and there is 35:51 left in level 15.
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Ali Imsirovic Leads the Final Table of Event #9: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’Em
Ali Imsirovic leads the final table of Event #9 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em after an epic final hour and a half of play, in which he scooped separate pots of two million and four million chips holding [KhKc] to end the night with 41 percent of the chips in play.
Joining Imsirovic at the final table are Jake Schindler, Vanessa Kade, Cary Katz, Andrew Lichtenberger, Thomas Winters, and Erik Seidel. Schindler, Katz, and Lichtenberger are all headed to the final table for the second time this series, while Imsirovic is at his third final table for the 2021 U.S. Poker Open.
The 99-entrant field created a prize pool of $990,000, and each player at the final table is guaranteed $49,500, with the winner receiving $217,800.
With 12 players remaining, Imsirovic was sitting at just 675,000 but slowly built his stack to over a million in chips to set him up for his first massive pot of the evening, in which he took over one million chips from Kade, who had rivered the nut flush against his flopped full house.
Imsirovic’s second huge hand of the evening came on the first shuffle of the unofficial final table when he got it, all-in preflop holding kings, against the aces of Mazen Abdallah for a four million chip pot. Imsirovic would flop a set of kings to crack the aces of Abdallah, eliminating him in eighth place.
Other players to finish in the money included Matthew Ploof, Stephen Chidwick, Jesse Sylvia, Alex Foxen, Steven Veneziano, Jim Collopy, and Nick Petrangelo.
Jared Jaffee was eliminated on the money bubble by Foxen when he got it all-in from the small blind holding ace-jack against the pocket nines of Foxen. Other notables to finish just off the money included Seth Davies, Shannon Shorr, Jonathan Little, and Sam Soverel.
| Event #9 Final Table | |||
| Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count |
| 1 | Jake Schindler | United States | 440,000 |
| 2 | Vanessa Kade | Canada | 1,715,000 |
| 3 | Cary Katz | United States | 1,455,000 |
| 4 | Ali Imsirovic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 5,075,000 |
| 5 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | 1,315,000 |
| 6 | Thomas Winters | United States | 970,000 |
| 7 | Erik Seidel | United States | 1,405,000 |
The button will be in seat seven and there is 35:51 left in level 15.
The final seven players will return to the PokerGO Studio on Saturday, June 12, at 12 p.m. PT with the final table airing on PokerGO.com at 1 p.m. PT.
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End of Night Chip Counts
The play has been suspended for the evening, and the final seven players will return to the PokerGO Studio, June 12, at 12 p.m.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 5,075,000 | - |
| Vanessa Kade | 1,715,000 |
-585,000  |
| Cary Katz | 1,455,000 |
-370,000 |
| Erik Seidel | 1,405,000 |
190,000  |
| Andrew Lichtenberger | 1,315,000 |
-55,000 |
| Thomas Winters | 970,000 |
85,000 |
| Jake Schindler | 440,000 | - |
Jake Schindler Doubles Through Ali Imsirovic
On the last hand of the night, Ali Imsirovic opened to 100,000. Action folded to Jake Schindler in the big blind, and he called, leaving himself 85,000 behind.
The board fell [6c5s2s], and Schindler fired for 80,000, leaving himself 5,000 behind. Imsirovic called.
The [As] fell on the turn, and action checked through.
The river [Js] completed the board, and action checked through again.
Schindler tabled [8s6h] for a rivered flush, and Imsirovic mucked.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 5,075,000 |
475,000 |
| Jake Schindler | 440,000 |
-25,000 |
Vanessa Kade Shoves the River on Andrew Lichtenberger
With a board reading [QdQs4s3c9c] Andrew Lichtenberger fired a bet of 450,000.
Vanessa Kade was the only other player in the hand, and she announced all-in for 765,000.
Lichtenberger went deep into the tank and used four time extensions before saying “Nice hand” and tossing his cards into the muck.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Vanessa Kade | 2,300,000 |
615,000 |
| Andrew Lichtenberger | 1,370,000 |
-1,080,000 |
Mazen Abdallah Eliminated in 8th Place ($39,600)
Mazen Abdallah was all-in for approximately 2.05 million, and Ali Imsirovic had called.
Abdallah: [AsAc]
Imsirovic: [KcKh]
The board ran out [Ks6h3d8cTs], and Imsirovic flopped a set of kings to crack Abdallah’s aces for approximately a four million chip pot.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 4,600,000 |
1,900,000 |
| Mazen Abdallah | Busted |
-1,565,000 |
Alex Foxen Eliminated in 9th Place ($39,600)
With a flop reading [QsQh4c], Alex Foxen checked, and Ali Imsirovic moved all in. Foxen called for his last 60,000.
Foxen: [Kc7c]
Imsirovic: [JhJc]
The board ran out the [Ts] on the turn and the [Qs] on the river, and Foxen was eliminated in ninth place for $39,600.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 2,700,000 |
450,000 |
| Alex Foxen | Busted |
-355,000 |
Ali Imsirovic Doubles Through Vanessa Kade
With the board complete and reading [Ks2h2c7h9h], Ali Imsirovic was all-in and had been called by Vanessa Kade.
Kade tabled the [Ah8h] for the nut flush, but Imsriovic tabled the [KcKh] for a flopped full house to rake in an over a two million chip pot.
| Player | Chips | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Ali Imsirovic | 2,250,000 |
1,515,000 |
| Vanessa Kade | 1,685,000 |
-665,000 |
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