Ali Imsirovic Wins 2021 Card Player Player Of The Year Award

As an 18-year-old Ali Imsirovic was playing $0.02-$0.04 online cash games, just beginning his journey into the poker world. Just eight years later, the 26-year-old has put together a record-setting year on the live tournament circuit that saw him run away with the 2021 Card Player Player of the Year award.

“Honestly, I never thought this would ever be a possibility. My goal was to make it to $2-$4, or $5-$10, and make a reasonable living; to have the freedom and be happy just to play the game,” Imsirovic told Card Player after his incredible run this year. “As I got better and worked harder, it became more and more plausible that I could reach something higher than that. So, I started just dedicating basically all my time to [poker]. It was really all I cared about.”

“There was obviously a lot of luck to get to this stage, but I feel very accomplished,” he continued. “I’m super happy after dedicating all of that time, just to be able to achieve something like this that I can be proud of forever.”

Over the last 12 months, Imsirovic made a total of 30 POY-qualified final tables, falling just one shy of tying Jake Schindler’s record of 31. While Imsirovic narrowly missed out on that record, he managed to raise the bar to a whole new level in another key category: titles won.

Imsirovic racked up an astounding 14 POY-qualified titles this year, blowing away the previous record of 10 set by Justin Bonomo in 2018. That means that he converted a final table appearance into another trophy on the mantel 47 percent of the time in 2021. Imsirovic attributed his incredible success at closing out events this year to his time spent in the proverbial lab studying ICM (the Independent Chip Model).

“It’s the main thing I spent my time on, just working on how to get better at final tables, because that’s where all the money is. You’re playing the highest stakes at that point. To me, I think it’s the most important thing to get better at,” said Imsirovic.

Imsirovic accumulated more than $5.9 million in POY earnings in 2021, piling up 8,058 POY points before the race concluded at the end of the year. That gave him a gigantic lead of 2,978 points over second-ranked Qing Liu.

To put that in perspective, the amount of points representing the gap between Imsirovic and the nearest competition is just slightly more than the total points accrued by 37th-ranked Brock Wilson, who made 11 final tables this year and cashed for more than $1.3 million. Imsirovic was a whole Brock Wilson better than his nearest competitor, so to speak.

When asked about what he thought separated him from other top players this year, Imsirovic offered one theory.

“Work ethic,” he answered. “I picked that up from my dad. He was working three jobs, just trying to make a living for us. He came to the States with literally nothing, and just accomplished so much for my sister and me to just do whatever we want to do. So just seeing how hard he worked growing up motivated me to try to be the best at whatever I wanted to do with my life. I’m just very happy to just sit down at my computer and just spend hours every day to get better at my profession. I’m sure a lot of these other guys work hard as well, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just one thing that I think gives me an edge.”

Salko Imsirovic, Ali’s father, owned a restaurant in Bosnia before leaving the country with his family due to conflict in the area. After years of cheering on his son’s burgeoning career from the sidelines, Salko put on a show of his own on the felt, making a deep run in this year’s WSOP main event. The 59-year-old earned $50,900 as the 100th-place finisher.

“It was such an incredible experience for him,” the younger Imsirovic said of his father, who picked up the game before he did. “Basically, I’m playing poker because of him. He is always checking the updates and really invested in how I’m doing at all times, so it was nice to be on the other side and get to cheer for him.”

The second trait Imsirovic pointed to when asked about his success this year was his ability to find exploits against his highly studied opponents.

“I think most players at the highest stakes focus on game theory more than anything else nowadays. But I think just being able to deviate from that and exploit certain tendencies of the other guys helped me a lot as well.”

A Look Back At Imsirovic’s Dominant 2021 Campaign

The live high-stakes tournament scene was only beginning to pick up steam in the early months of 2021, following a prolonged shutdown due to the pandemic. Imsirovic recorded only one final table finish in the month of January, finishing third in a $10,000 buy-in high roller at ARIA for $54,400 and 160 POY points. The final few days of February saw Imsirovic score his first two titles of the year, taking down a $25,000 buy-in event and a $50,000 buy-in event in the span of three days. The pair of victories kicked off his record-setting title campaign while adding more than $530,000 and 372 points to his totals.

Springtime saw Imsirovic’s surge to the top of the POY standings truly begin. From March through May he cashed for more than $1.3 million in POY earnings, with eight final-table finishes and three titles won. He lodged one podium finish in March, placing third in a $10,000 ARIA high roller for $74,200 and 200 points. Then he and Sean Perry made it down to heads-up play against each other in three consecutive high roller events at ARIA in April, with Perry winning their first showdown in a $10,000 buy-in tournament before Imsirovic came out on top with back-to-back victories in a pair of $25,000 buy-in events. Imsirovic earned $721,300 and 922 POY points across the three deep runs, bringing his title total to five while climbing inside the top five in the POY standings.

Things kept heating up for Imsirovic in the summer months, with another 10 final-table finishes and four more titles added to the tally. He kicked things off by making the final table in one-third of the 12 events that made up the 2021 U.S. Poker Open schedule, accumulating $456,500 and 1,150 points while securing his sixth title of the year in the process as the winner of a $10,000 buy-in high roller. Imsirovic earned $217,800 and 540 points for that win alone, which was enough to see him overtake the lead in the POY race for the first time.

July played host to the inaugural PokerGO Cup, which saw Imsirovic make three final tables and win two more titles in a six-day span. With $545,500 and 890 points added to his total during the series, Imsirovic began to pull away from the rest of the pack. Imsirovic recorded his ninth title of the year by taking down a $10,000 high roller at Venetian, and finished third in a $25,000 at the same series the following day. He then made his way to the Merit Royal Hotel Casino & Spa in North Cyprus for the Super High Roller Bowl Europe series and added another final-table finish before summer came to an end.

Imsirovic’s next trip to the winner’s circle came just a few days later at the SHRB Europe, which continued into the early days of September. He defeated a field of 26 entries in the $50,000 buy-in high roller there to earn $598,000 and 306 POY points. It was his tenth title, tying Justin Bonomo’s record with months still to go.

The high-stakes tournament world returned to Las Vegas for the Poker Masters later in September. Imsirovic, who won the purple jacket back in 2018, recorded just one final-table finish during the series, placing fourth in a $25,00 high roller. But a week later the record was his when he took down a $50,00 buy-in high roller event at ARIA for $529,000 and 306 points. Just a few days after that he picked up his 12th victory of the year, in a $25,000 buy-in event for another $192,500 and 168 points.

October was another slower month by Imsirovic’s illustrious standards this year, with just a single final-table finish in a $10,000 event for third place. He closed the year out strong with his second-best month of the year in November, however, adding more than $1.1 million in POY earnings across four final-table finishes with two titles won.

He took down a $10,000 event at ARIA in the first few days of the month for $120,000 and 240 points, and finished fourth in a similar event a few days later. During the final week of the WSOP, Imsirovic made his lone final-table run of the series and finished fourth in a $50,000 buy-in event there for $278,840 and 340 POY points.

Imsirovic saved what he described as his favorite victory of the year for last. He defeated a field of 102 entries, including Bryn Kenney heads-up, to win the Rock’N’Roll Poker Open $25,500 buy-in event at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. He earned $695,355 and 840 points for his record-furthering 14th POY-qualified title of the year.

“The reason why it sticks out to me is it was a bigger field $25k,” explained Imsirovic. “A lot of events I play get like 40 to 50 entries, and you definitely hear people like, ‘Oh he’s just winning small field tournaments, which is not as impressive.’ Beating a larger field felt really good, and I also had friends and family there as well cheering me on the whole time, so I really enjoyed that. It was just an experience that I loved having.”

Wrapping Up, Looking Forward

Imsirovic spent most of the pandemic battling online at the highest stakes in the world, both in cash games and tournaments. He said he often played as much as 14 hours a day, battling what he characterized as, “literally the best in the world, every day, for hours on end.” At one point, he even set the record for winning the largest no-limit hold’em cash game pot in online poker history, at just shy of $1 million.

“I improved so much at the game in 2020,” Imsirovic admitted. “So, once live poker came back, I got the chance to kind of prove that. The live games feel so much softer than the high-stakes online games. I felt very prepared, like I was one of the better players in the field, and it just translated to more success.”

Imsirovic secured more than a third of his $15.5 million in career earnings in just the past year, putting together his most consistent performance yet and breaking a record in the process. With the POY award under his belt, we asked him what he hopes to achieve in his poker career moving forward.

“Honestly, more of the same. I don’t want to just have a good year and just be done. I want to solidify myself and try to reach the number one spot. Just continuously try to prove I belong and keep improving,” answered Imsirovic. “I love the game. I just love to play, and I also love to learn more about it and how to get better. Honestly, in my eyes, I’m still learning stuff every day, and I still feel I suck at the game. I feel like everybody sucks at the game (laughs) because there’s so, so much to learn. That fact keeps me hungry, keeps me motivated to keep getting better. Because the game is still tough, and I got a long way to go.”

At just 26 years old, Imsirovic has already achieved so much in the game. If he is able to keep this hunger for the game that he professes, who knows what he might accomplish in the years to come.

Ali Imsirovic’s 2021 POY-Qualified Scores

Card Player POY Winners

The Best Of The Rest: 2021 Top Tournament Performers

Ali Imsirovic may have run away with the POY award, but that doesn’t mean he was the only player to put together an incredible year on the live tournament circuit. Below is a look at the other top contenders and how they won their way into the top 10 of the year-end standings in the 2021 POY race, sponsored by Global Poker.

Qing Liu

Total Points: 5,080
POY Earnings: $1,291,440
Titles: 4
Final Tables: 13

It has become less and less likely for a low to mid-stakes grinder to break through and establish themselves as a contender in the POY race, but somehow, that is precisely what 59-year-old Qing Liu did this year.

Liu had just over $630,000 in tournament earnings prior to 2021, but managed to become the most dominant force on the live scene in the early months. He made nine POY-qualified final tables and won three titles before the midpoint of April. His incredible success in large-field no-limit hold’em events around Las Vegas saw him accumulate 5,080 POY points, cashing for nearly $1.3 million along the way.

Liu made four POY-qualified final tables from Jan. 20 through Feb. 28, ending his spree by defeating a 1,187-entry field in the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza I $600 ‘UltimateStack’ event to add $110,890 and 480 POY points. Less than a week later he notched yet another deep run, placing fifth in the Venetian DeepStack Showdown $1,100 buy-in ‘MonsterStack’ event.

March was when Liu really began to pick up steam. He overcame a record-setting field of 937 entries in the World Poker Tour Venetian $5,000 buy-in main event, earning a career-high $752,880 payday along with 1,824 POY points.

The very next day Liu had yet another major final table to play, with the 2020 WPT Gardens Poker Championship finally playing out after being delayed for more than a year due to COVID-19 safety concerns. He placed sixth for another $111,795 and 340 points.

Liu made three more final tables around Sin City in the spring, including winning his third title of the year by taking down a $400 buy-in ‘MonsterStack’ no-limit hold’em event at the Venetian, topping a field of 827 entries to lock up $51,442 and 365 points.

After a comparatively quiet summer, Liu won his fourth and final title of the year in a $600 buy-in ‘UltimateStack’ event during the Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza III in September, beating out a 755-entry field to earn $65,101 and 456 points. He added two more final tables after that, including a fifth-place showing in a 421-entry $5,000 buy-in eight-max event at the WSOP for $97,238 and 600 points. All told, Liu put together the best non-high roller year on the circuit.

Sean Perry

Total Points: 4,945
POY Earnings: $3,651,922
Titles: 5
Final Tables: 20

Like Liu, Sean Perry also had a breakout year. Unlike Liu, the 25-year-old Perry made his mark as a newcomer on the high-stakes scene.

Prior to 2021, Perry had around $1 million in career earnings, with much of that coming from a run to the final table in the 2017 WPT Five Diamond main event. Every other score among Perry’s top 10 biggest paydays was earned this year. All told, he made 20 POY-qualified final tables, with five titles won and more than $3.6 million accrued as he went.

Perry’s hot streak began with four final-table showings in $10,000 buy-in events at ARIA in March. He truly kicked into gear over the first few days of April, when he and Imsirovic both put the high-stakes world on notice with an incredible back-to-back-to-back display that saw them finish second or better in three consecutive high roller events. Perry won the first event, a $10,000 buy-in tournament, and then finished runner-up in a pair of $25,000 buy-in events. The three-day spree earned Perry $566,100 and 860 POY points, and moved him inside the top 10 in the POY race for the first time.

After that hat trick put Perry in the mix, he never looked back. A few weeks later he secured the largest payday of his young career when he finished third from a sizable field of 145 entries in a $25,500 buy-in high roller at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown to earn $596,418 and 672 points.

He then closed out the spring with a bang, taking down a $25,000 buy-in event at Venetian for $365,500 and 420 points. His second victory came in another $25,000 buy-in tournament at Venetian, with Perry locking up $290,000 and 252 points as the champion.

The final third of the year saw Perry add four more final tables to his growing list of 2021 accomplishments, including winning his fifth title of the year by taking down a $10,000 buy-in event during the Poker Masters high roller series. Perry beat out a field of 86 entries to secure $206,400 and 480 points.

With nearly $4.7 million in career earnings now under his belt, Perry has already surpassed his father Ralph in tournament cashes. The elder Perry, a WSOP bracelet winner, has $3.5 million in career earnings of his own.

Alex Foxen

Total Points: 4,578
POY Earnings: $2,675,952
Titles: 2
Final Tables: 24

Alex Foxen has been one of the most consistent live tournament producers of the past half decade. With his fourth-place finish this year, the 30-year-old poker pro has now managed five consecutive finishes of 17th place or better. In fact, after making his top-20 debut in 2017, he followed that up in 2018 with a third-place finish, and a runner-up showing in 2019. He took eighth in the pandemic-shorted 2020 season, and this year rebounded with fourth place.

Foxen has averaged more than 17 POY-qualified final tables made per year since the start of 2018, with that number being dragged down thanks to the live tournament shutdown that impacted the majority of 2020. (Foxen still managed eight final tables that year.)

This year saw Foxen make a career-best 24 POY qualified final tables, the second-most of any player on the circuit, despite the fact that he boycotted the WSOP because of their vaccine mandate. He ended up with nearly $2.7 million in POY earnings for the year, with eight six-figure scores made along the way.

While Foxen was putting himself in contention over and over again this year, he only won twice in 2021. Both of those wins came in $10,000 buy-in high roller events, however. His first victory of the year came at the inaugural PokerGO Cup in July. He overcame a field of 66 entries in the first event on the schedule, winning $178,000 and 360 points. His second title came in November, when he emerged victorious from a 53-entry field in a $10,000 buy-in event at ARIA for $150,845 and 300 points.

The largest payday of the year for Foxen came when he placed third in the final event of the Poker Masters. The $100,000 buy-in drew 29 entries, with Foxen taking home $464,000 and 240 points as the third-place finisher.

Chad Eveslage

Total Points: 4,535
POY Earnings: $2,164,921
Titles: 3
Final Tables: 7

Chad Eveslage started 2021 with a 100 percent success rate when it came to converting final table appearances into titles. The 30-year-old poker pro based out of Ft. Lauderdale started off by outlasting a field of 556 entries to win a $1,100 buy-in event at the Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open series for $101,572 and 840 points in January.

Eveslage’s next final table appearance came in the $25,500 buy-in high roller at the SHR Poker Showdown at the same venue in April. He topped a huge turnout of 145 entries in the high-stakes event, earning $767,576 and 1,008 as the champion.

He rounded out his trio of victories this year by defeating a 1,199-entry field in the WPT Venetian $5,000 buy-in main event held in July. He was awarded his first WPT title, $910,370 and 1,920 POY points for the win.

Eveslage vaulted into second place in the POY race after that win, and remained a top contender through the rest of the year thanks in part to four more final tables he made from August on. His most notable score among these second-half deep runs saw him finish fourth in the $25,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event at the WSOP for $169,218 and 294 points.

Eveslage has live tournament scores dating back to 2011, but more than half of his career earnings of $4,117,368 were secured in 2021 thanks to this breakout performance on the circuit.

Sam Soverel

Total Points: 4,518
POY Earnings: $3,554,073
Titles: 2
Final Tables: 19

Sam Soverel returned to the POY top 10 this year, falling just shy of his peak in 2019 when he finished in fourth place. The Florida native and Las Vegas resident was very comfortable at the Aria this year, where he made 16 of his final tables. The 31-year-old won an event at the U.S. Poker Open and narrowly missed out on player of the series honors at the PokerGO Cup with his four final tables. The bracelet winner saved the best for last, finishing third in the WSOP $100,000 high roller for $830,992. Soverel now has more than $17.6 million in career earnings.

Matas Cimbolas

Total Points: 4,490
POY Earnings: $1,484,993
Titles: 2
Final Tables: 7

Like Eveslage, Matas Cimbolas only made seven final tables this year, but he made them count. The Lithuanian poker pro and highest ranking non-American finished runner-up in the WPT Hard Rock Poker Showdown in April, and then followed that up with another runner-up finish at the long-delayed 2020 WPT L.A. Poker Classic for $600,060. Incredibly, this was the second time that Cimbolas took second at the LAPC, having also done so in 2019. The 28-year-old closed out the year with a win in the $1,600 Venetian DeepStack Championship event for $310,265.

Sergi Reixach

Total Points: 4,272
POY Earnings: $1,911,121
Titles: 2
Final Tables: 19

Spanish high roller Sergi Reixach also did most of his damage at the Aria this year, where he recorded two wins and 17 final tables. Reixach was a consistent performer for most of the year, but he really surged up the rankings in November with four final tables in $10,000 buy-in no-limit events. He then finished up 2021 with a third-place at the PokerGO Tour Championship, banking $345,000. Reixach now has nearly $9 million in career tournament earnings.

Chris Brewer

Total Points: 4,190
POY Earnings: $2,781,855
Titles: 2
Final Tables: 22

High-stakes tournament newcomer Chris Brewer had a fantastic year on the felt, recording 17 of his 20 top scores in 2021. The 27-year-old did particularly well at the Hard Rock, cashing for a combined $716,000 in two $50,000 high roller events, and he won the $25,000 event at the Poker Masters for $427,500. The hold’em specialist even final tabled the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. But the former Oregon track and field standout is undoubtedly still thinking about the painful bubble he experienced in the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl.

Johan Guilbert

Total Points: 4,170
POY Earnings: $2,494,215
Titles: 1
Final Tables: 10

Nobody earned more of their points abroad this year than Johan Guilbert, who is the third international player in the top 10. The Frenchman won the $25,000 buy-in event at the Super High Roller Bowl Europe series for $506,250 and followed it up with a third in the $100,000 event for another $560,000. The 32-year-old made two final tables in Cyprus, and closed out his 2021 season in the Czech Republic with a runner-up finish in the World Series of Poker Europe main event for $883,715. You can read about that event on pg. 22.

Ali Imsirovic Crushes Inaugural PokerGO Tour Presented By Guaranteed Rate Points Race

The first-ever running of the PokerGO Tour presented by Guaranteed Rate was announced back in April. The new tour was to consist entirely of high-stakes events featuring buy-ins of $10,000 or higher and would be anchored by the many popular high roller events and series put on by PokerGO throughout the year, like the U.S. Poker Open, the Poker Masters, the new PokerGO Cup, and more.

The PGT also included a proprietary ranking system, with the year-end champion earning a $200,000 payday for their performance throughout the season.

“The PokerGO Tour events will include the world’s most challenging high stakes events in the world, bringing poker front and center in the world of sports in a way that has never been done before,” said President of PokerGO Mori Eskandani when the new tour was first revealed.

Just like he did in the Card Player Player of the Year race, Ali Imsirovic dominated the standings for this tour for most of the year. All 14 of his titles won in 2021 came in high-stakes events that qualified for PGT points. He accumulated 34 in-the-money finishes on the tour for $6,028,321 in total earnings to secure the PokerGO Tour Presented By Guaranteed Rate Player of the Year and the aforementioned six-figure check that came with it.

“It still feels pretty surreal, to be honest,” Imsirovic said after a ceremony celebrating his win. “I never thought I would accomplish something of this magnitude in poker. Next, the goal is to just keep trying to get better and keep proving that I belong here.”

“This is what I live for, being able to compete against other guys who dedicate a lot of their time to this game, who love playing the highest stakes and battling against one another,” Imsirovic told Card Player when asked about this points-race victory. “To be able to come out on top, that’s honestly why I do this. I love these competitions. The money’s great, don’t get me wrong, but the reason I keep playing and keep trying to get better is that I want to compete at the higher stakes and solidify my place.”

The PokerGO Tour provided a steady stream of high-stakes events for Imsirovic and other top players to test their mettle against each other this year. When all was said and done, a total of 143 tournaments counting towards the tour were played out in 2021, with buy-ins ranging from the $10,000 minimum all the way up to $300,000 for the Super High Roller Bowl. More than $262 million in prize money was awarded across the events.

“It was amazing. People were just itching to play as much as they could, and the PokerGo Tour just provided nonstop high rollers,” said Imsirovic.

While his win in the POY race was almost never in doubt, Imsirovic did face a bit more of a sweat from his fellow high-stakes competition, particularly in the form of Australian pro Michael Addamo. Addamo spent the early part of the year winning millions online, only showing up in Las Vegas in September.

The 27-year-old then went on one of the best high-stakes runs ever, making eight final tables while winning six titles and more than $9 million. Not only did he win the purple jacket at the Poker Masters, but he also won the Super High Roller Bowl, and two of his four career WSOP bracelets. Addamo was the biggest winner of the year in terms of cash, banking even more than WSOP main event winner Koray Aldemir.

2021 PokerGO Tour Rankings