While he will not be a part of determining the overall champion, Ali Imsirovic will at least walk off with a victory. Imsirovic rode his chip lead at the final table in Event #7, the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, to the title, but he was not able to continue the heater in the PokerGO Cup Main Event. In that tournament, the final five competitors all have a chance to take the crown for the overall PokerGO Cup victor.
Tough Final Table Ahead of Main Event
The six-man official final table for Event #7 was replete with those making a run at the overall championship. While Imsirovic led the field, such players as Sam Soverel, Jeremy Ausmus, Nick Schulman, Cary Katz and Darren Elias were also in contention. There were only about a million chips separating Imsirovic from Soverel, but Imsirovic would make short work of that.
Imsirovic would be responsible for the first two eliminations of the day, taking out Elias when his K-Q caught against Elias’ pocket eights. Things would only get better for Imsirovic when he topped Katz, using Big Slick against Katz’s measly K-10 for the victory. The mauling would be paused, at least for a moment, as Ausmus took out Schulman in fourth place, but then Ausmus would leave the festivities in third place at the hands of Imsirovic.
It was a dominant lead for Imsirovic going to heads up play. His 5.42 million chip mountain dwarfed Soverel’s 1.03 million in chips, but Soverel would claw his way back up to take over the lead. That would disappear, however, in a monster clash between the titans.
On a 6-2-2-A-10 board, Imsirovic got all of his chips to the center and Soverel was left to make a tough decision. After some contemplation, Soverel made the call and showed a strong A-Q for Aces up. It was not enough, however, as Imsirovic tabled a K-2 for flopped trip deuces to take the massive pot. Left with only 210K in chips, Soverel would soon fall and Imsirovic was the champion of Event #7.
1. Ali Imsirovic, $365,000
2. Sam Soverel, $236,500
3. Jeremy Ausmus, $161,250
4. Nick Schulman, $118,250
5. Cary Katz, $86,000
6. Darren Elias, $64,500
(the only other cash in the tournament was by seventh place finisher Roger Sippi, who earned $43,000 but was eliminated on Tuesday and did not make the official final table)
Event #8 Final Table to Determine PokerGO Cup Winner
The battle for the 2022 PokerGO Cup is going to come down to the final event.
The $50,000 No Limit Hold’em “Main Event,” Event #8 on the 2022 PokerGO Cup schedule, had 32 entries, but only five players would take part in that bounty. Thus, the play in the tournament continued beyond the normal six-handed final table to cut the field to the money. By the time those final five were determined, every one of the players would have a claim to taking the Cup for the overall event.
Sean Perry will lead the five players coming to the table on Thursday afternoon, holding more than 40% of the chips in play. Perry will have his work cut out for him, however, as he defends against these men:
1. Sean Perry, 2.78 million
2. Brock Wilson, 1.225 million
3. Daniel Negreanu, 1.075 million
4. Nick Schulman, 700,000
5. Jeremy Ausmus, $640,000
Currently Ausmus is the leader in the overall point standings for the 2022 PokerGO Cup, but there are several challengers to the crown. Defending champion Daniel Negreanu is a part of the mix, depending on how Ausmus finishes in the final tournament. Ausmus also must worry about Wilson, who is currently in third place in the overall standings, and Perry. If Perry is able to ride his chip lead in Event #8, he could pass Ausmus for the title (again, depending on Ausmus’ finish). Here is the Top 10 for the 2022 PokerGO Cup:
1. Jeremy Ausmus, 504 points*
2. Cary Katz, 346
3. Brock Wilson, 320*
4. Ali Imsirovic, 300
5. Sean Winter, 269
6. Bill Klein, 246
7. Darren Elias, 234
8. Sean Perry, 232*
9. Nick Petrangelo, 221
10. Daniel Negreanu, 210*
(* – does not include points from Event #8 final table)
The penultimate event of the 2022 PokerGO Cup will be streamed on PokerGO beginning at 2PM (Pacific Time) on Thursday, a one-hour delay on the live action from the PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas. The champion will walk off with a $640,000 payday and 384 points towards the PokerGO Cup standings – will it be enough to change the current situation?
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)
