Following continued allegations that Ali Imsirovic is running an online poker cheating ring, Americas Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy is offering a $100,000 bounty for proof.

Last year, Imsirovic was accused by many of his peers, most notably Alex Foxen and Chance Kornuth, of using illegal real-time assistance (RTA) tools online and colluding during live events. Jake Schindler, another top high roller, was also alleged to have been involved.

Both players were subsequently suspended indefinitely from all PokerGO events, although they did compete in the 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Schindler even won a bracelet to the dismay of many within the poker community. He predictably declined a post-game interview and didn’t have much of a cheering section at Bally’s.

Jake Schindler Wins First WSOP Bracelet

Poker Pro Still Up to His Dirty Ways?

If the rumors are accurate, Imsirovic hasn’t changed his ways despite the heavy criticism against his character the past year. Matt Berkey wrote on Twitter that he knows poker players who have knowledge of Imsirovic’s supposed cheating stable.

Barry Carter shared a screenshot from the accused poker cheater’s Instagram story that read: “Been coaching a few guys, and really enjoy taking guys to the next level. I would like to add 1-2 guys I can work with.” Imsirovic’s Instagram bio tagline promotes his poker coaching services.

Phil Galfond then responded with “Hopefully, someone will infiltrate & expose his current cheating methods (and not turn evil.” That led Nagy to step up to the plate and offer up a reward for proof of the alleged cheating.

Imsirovic won the 2021 GPI Player of the Year award after winning 14 high roller events that year. He hasn’t been spotted in live poker tournaments since the 2022 WSOP. Schindler and Imsirovic have a combined $54 million in live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. But it is now being alleged that they’ve moved on to playing online exclusively, and apparently doing so in a dishonest manner.

As is almost always the case when it comes to cheating allegations within the high roller community, accusations are made but few, if any, are willing to come forward with definitive proof and hard evidence against the accused cheaters.

Justin Bonomo, who has faced Imsirovic on the felt countless times, gave Nagy props for offering the reward. He encouraged his peers to “take the 100k and start a clean life” and wrote that he knows “there are people in Ali’s stable reading this.”

It is not uncommon for PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) events to end in a deal. After all, the prize money involved, and therefore the pay jumps, in some of the high-stakes tournaments are massive. However, four-way deals are a little out of the ordinary, and one such deal happened this week in a $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max tournament.

SCOOP 41-H: $1,050 NLHE 6-Max saw 603 PokerStars players create a $603,000 prize pool, which smashed the $450,000 guarantee out of the water. The top 77 finishers saw a return on their investment.

Argentinian superstar Damian “pampa27” Salas was the unfortunate soul that finished in 78th place, thus popping the money bubble.

There were dozens of stellar names listed in the official payouts. They included Matas “bebaimis777” Cimbolas, Martin “M.nosbocaJ” Jacobson, Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser, Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, Team PokerStars’ Ramon “RamonColillas” Collilas, and ninth-place finisher Nick “Bot35” Marchington.

Each of the seven players that navigated their way to the final table locked in at least $15,755 for their efforts.

“Warrior25409” of the Czech Republic was the first casualty of the final table, with Croatia’s Vlada “Vlada2108” Stojanovic joining the list of busted players soon after. Stojanovic banked $20,076 for his efforts.

Austria’s “Gogac sniper” fell in fifth for $28,004, which prompted the remaining four players to pause the tournament clock and discuss a deal. As per PokerStars’ rules for the tournament, any deal required at least $4,500 left aside for the eventual champion.

The discussions bore fruit, and meant that instead of $39,063 being the least anyone could take home, nobody would reel in less than $64,181.

The deal benefited Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira the most because he crashed out in fourth yet still walked away with $72,115, which ended up being more than the winner! Ferreira would later make amends for not winning this event by triumphing in a $530 NLHE Deep Stacks tournament for $42,841.

“000000000136” saw their tournament end in third place ($67,467), before Andras “probirs” Nemeth defeated “Piranha_n1” heads-up to capture the title and $71,814; the runner-up helped themselves to $64,181.

SCOOP 41-H: $1,050 NLHE 6-Max Final Table Results

*reflects a four-way deal

Espen Jorstad Gears Up for WSOP Main Title Defence with Huge SCOOP Victory

Leo Alcabtara Takes Down Super Tuesday For Almost $100K

The latest SCOOP edition of the Super Tuesday did not end in a deal, but it would not have been surprising had it done so. A field of 566 created a $566,000 prize pool, with just shy of $100,000 for the champion.

All but one of the nine finalists saw their $1,050 investment swell to five figures or more. Brazil’s Rodrigo “seijistar” Sirichuk was the player to miss out, although he did collect $9,643 for his efforts.

“A.Wesker999” of Latvia fell in eighth for $12,315 before Polish player “filusPL” and Swedish online tournament legend Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson saw their tournaments end abruptly. That duo scooped, pardon the pun, $16,609 and $22,398, respectively.

Then came the untimely demise of Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky in fifth, a finish good for $30,206. Fourth-place and $40,736 went to Gabriel “gabsdrogba” Schroeder, with “blodders03” banking an impressive $54,936 for their third-place exit.

Heads-up pitted Leo “LeoAlcantara” Alcantara against Ukrainian “luckyfluke.” No deal was discussed despite a $25,000 payout difference. The lack of negotiations meant luckyfluke had to make do with a $74,087 consolation prize, leaving Alcantara to pad his PokerStars bankroll with $99,913.

Veldhuis Denied Maiden SCOOP Title; Dzivielevski Takes Down Super Tuesday

SCOOP 51-H: $1,050 NLHE Super Tuesday Final Table Results

Other Highlights From Recent SCOOP Events

Outside the two events detailed above, Blaz “scarmak3r” Zerjav took home the largest score, namely $66,341. This was Zerjav’s reward for taking down the $1,050 NLHE 6-Max PKO tournament.

There were also victories for the likes of Andrey “Anjeyyy” Novak, Oliver “sk2ll_m0dR” Weis, and Ole Schemion.

*includes bounty payments

In the dimly lit world of high-stakes poker, where legends are born and fortunes are made or shattered, a towering figure transcended the game itself. Doyle Brunson, the man whose name became synonymous with poker greatness, passed away late on Sunday, May 14.

As the news of his passing reverberates through the poker community, we find solace in revisiting the moments that helped define his extraordinary career.

Amidst the smoke-filled rooms and the clinking of chips, Brunson held the power to shape destinies and etched his name into the annals of poker history on more than a few occasions. So, as we mourn the loss of a true icon and reflect upon his brilliance, take some time to look through some of Texas Dolly’s most memorable televised hands.

High Stakes Poker

For many poker fans, Brunson’s appearances on High Stakes Poker was their first introduction to the man.

Across the original airing of High Stakes Poker, seasons 1-7, Brunson was one of the biggest winners. His record across the show saw him up $538,150, which was bested by only Tom Dwan, Johnny Chan and David Benyamine.

The biggest pot Brunson played on High Stakes Poker was against Guy Laliberte, the founder of the charitable organization One Drop Foundation and co-founder of the universally loved Cirque du Soleil.

Despite his business background, Laliberte was no stranger to high stakes and was more than happy to put the professionals to the test. With $57,100 already in the middle on the A♣J♠4♦ flop, Brunson bet $40,000 with his A♦10♦, which folded out three opponents before Laliberte called with his A♥5♥.

On the 2♦ turn, Laliberte check-raised to $310,000 after Brunson fired a second barrel of $110,000. Undeterred, Brunson jammed for $30,500 more and was called for the pot to grow to $818,100.

It was agreed that two river cards would be dealt. The Q♠ came first, followed by 10♥. Laliberte failed to improve, which sealed Brunson’s largest-ever High Stakes Poker hand.

_{For more High Stakes Poker footage, check out the PokerGO YouTube channel.}

The Big Game

As we continue the trip down memory lane, it would be impossible not to stop by and revisit some of Brunson’s best moments from the PokerStars high-stake show, The Big Game.

While it’s always fun to see Brunson play his famed ten-deuce, it’s equally as enjoyable to see him go on a heater with premium hands, as seen above. Surprisingly, Brunson finished in the red across his showings on The Big Game and was in the hole for $153,700.

PokerStars ambassador and Twitch superstar Lex Veldhuis was one player to share the stage with Brunson on The Big Game and shared one of his favorite ‘Doyle’ anecdotes from the show as poker players from all over paid their respects.

Brunson was hugely successful on the World Poker Tour felt, winning $2,096,034 under the WPT umbrella. And he proved that he hadn’t lost a step after his latest display against the likes of Phil Ivey, Brad Owen and Phil Hellmuth.

Against the latter, Brunson pulled off an impressive king-high bluff on ‘The Poker Brat’ in a nearly $50,000 pot, which is timestamped above.

Hellmuth held A♦Q♥ on the A♣8♥10♠2♥5♥ board, while Brunson had the K♣J♣. Brunson jammed $25,600 into a pot of $20,600. This sent Hellmuth into the blender, who agonized over his decision for several minutes.

In the end, “There’s nothing wrong with getting bluffed by Doyle,” chimed Hellmuth, who sent his winning hand into the muck.

Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.

With the 2023 World Series of Poker just around the corner, PokerNews is continuing to look at past WSOP Main Event champions and what they’ve been up to since winning poker’s big one.

Our last instalment of the series looked at the winners from 2012-2014, with this edition focusing on Joe McKeehen, Qui Nguyen and Scott Blumstein, who all triumphed in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Joe McKeehen: 2015 Main Event Champion ($7,683,346)

It took just 184 hands for the 2015 WSOP Main Event final table to conclude, with McKeehen dominating, knocking out five players. He also famously despatched Daniel Negreanu in 11th place after rivering broadway against KidPoker’s flopped pair of aces.

He entered the final table with over double the chips of his next closest competitor, advanced to six-handed play with 2.81 times second place, and then entered the three-handed finale with 3.21 times more than second place in his arsenal. Not only that but when anyone tried to play back at McKeehen, he either had the goods or made solid decisions that allowed him to keep up his dominance.

On the first day of the final table, McKeehen knocked out the first three players. That helped propel him from his starting stack of 63.1 million to 91.35 million, and it was much more of the same on the second day, just sans the three eliminations. On the Monday session, McKeehen only took out one player, and that was Max Steinberg in fourth place to end the day. After starting with 91.35 million, McKeehen increased to 128.825 million.

Heading into the final day, it certainly looked as though McKeehen would win, and both Josh Beckley and Neil Blumenfield were playing for second. After starting the day second in chips, Blumenfield ran a bluff against McKeehen, putting the chip leader in a tough spot on the river. McKeehen made the call with top pair and knocked Blumenfield to the bottom of the trio. Not long after, McKeehen made it to heads-up after finishing off Blumenfeld.

The battle between McKeehen and Beckly would last 13 hands as McKeehen’s ace-ten paired up to move ahead of his opponent’s pocket fours to seal out the victory and one of the most one-sided WSOP final tables ever.

2015 Main Event Final Table Results

McKeehen Continues to Crush

McKeehen was just 24 years old when he won the Main Event and has since put together a poker career envied by many. His Main Event triumph marked his maiden bracelet victory, but he soon became a three-time bracelet winner after being the last player standing in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship and WSOP Online $3,200 High Roller in 2017 and 2020 respectively.

Strangely, those two bracelet wins fail to make it into McKeehen’s top five cashes since winning the Main Event. Just a few months after becoming the World Champion, he notched a second place in the 2016 PCA $100,000 Super High Roller for another seven-figure score and has continued to produce impressive results.

The Pennsylvania native has $19.5 million in live tournament wins from his first recorded cash in 2010 and is a shoo-in for the Poker Hall of Fame when he becomes of age.

Joe McKeehen’s Top 5 Cashes Since WSOP Main Event Win

Qui Nguyen: 2016 Main Event Champion ($8,005,310)

Qui Nguyen won the 2016 WSOP Main Event by outlasting a field of 6,737 players and defeating Gordon Vayo in a heads-up battle that lasted for several hours.

Throughout the tournament, Nguyen displayed an aggressive style of play, often making big bets and raises to put his opponents under pressure. He also showed an ability to read his opponents’ hands and make difficult calls when necessary.

In the tournament’s final hand, Vayo pushed with jack-ten suited over a raise by Nguyen, only to get called by his dominating king-ten. Vayo flopped a double gutshot, but his draw would fail to complete. After blanks on the turn and river, Vayo exited in second place for $4,661,228.

Overall, Nguyen’s aggressive and fearless play style and ability to read his opponents were key to his victory in the 2016 WSOP Main Event.

It’s also noteworthy that Nguyen satellited his way into the Main Event, akin to 2003 champ Chris Moneymaker. Nguyen entered a $565 satellite tournament and then a $1,100 one, failing to win a Main Event seat in either. It wasn’t until his third try, another $1,100 satellite, that he prevailed.

The 2016 Main Event was a grand spectacle for viewers as several hands still spoken about today took place in the tournament.

The Main Event saw the introduction of William Kassouf to the masses, with his “nine-high like a boss,” hand and fiery confrontation with Griffin Benger, which led to the latter telling Kassouf to “check your privilege.”

There was also the insane cooler for third-place finisher Cliff Josephy, who was on the wrong side of a set-over-set situation when play was three-handed. Be sure to look back at the top five hands from the 2016 Main Event for a wave of nostalgia.

2016 Main Event Final Table Results

Nguyen Goes Deep Two More Times

Before his Main Event win, Nguyen had only a handful of four-figure cashes and has only ten more HendonMob recorded results since his victory. Two occurred in the WSOP Main Event again, where he finished 455th (2019) and 241st (2021) for further scores of $30,780 and $38,600.

However, those are the only notable scores since 2016. Nguyen still plays the Main Event and was cruelly ousted on Day 2 of the 2022 WSOP Main Event after running kings into aces.

Qui Nguyen’s Top 5 Cashes Since WSOP Main Event Win

Scott Blumstein: 2017 Main Event Champion ($8,150,000)

Despite playing poker for a living, Scott Blumstein skipped the first 72 events at the 2017 WSOP. The reasoning: to improve his game and health leading up to the one tournament he did have circled on his calendar — the 2017 WSOP Main Event. Blumstein cut his teeth in online poker tournaments in his home of New Jersey the whole summer before making the trip to Vegas.

At 25 years old, Blumstein defeated fellow young gun Dan Ott heads-up for the coveted gold and diamond bracelet along with the $8,150,000 prize. Norman Chad once said that a deuce on the river never changes anything, but that all changed on the tournament’s final hand. Blumstein’s ace-deuce was behind Ott’s ace-eight, but the former rivered a pair of deuces to capture the title.

Blumstein entered the final table as the chip leader and maintained his lead throughout. He played a patient and strategic game, carefully choosing his spots and taking advantage of opportunities to accumulate chips.

One such instance was when he doubled through John Hesp, one of the summer’s success stories, in a 156 million-chip pot to take a commanding lead that he would never relinquish.

2017 Main Event Final Table Results

Poker on the Back Burner for Blumstein

Speaking to PokerGO in 2020, “Poker is on the back burner for me. I mean, I definitely enjoy playing tournaments here and there. I haven’t really had a successful run since then, and I obviously wish I could,” said Blumstein.

“I enjoy the game, and it’ll always be a part of my life…I’m still trying to figure out what I really want to do with my life, which again is a great problem to have,” he added.

Scott Blumstein’s Top 5 Cashes Since WSOP Main Event Win

Editor & Live Reporter

Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.

Do you love watching tennis? Are the such a big tennis fan or expert that you like putting your money where your mouth is and try to back a winner whenever a major match takes place? Then you need to head to Bet365 because it is here where you can receive a boost of up to 70% on your tennis accumulator bets.

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Tennis Accumulator Bonus Payouts

Eligible Tennis Tournaments

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Love Soccer? You’ll Love These Bet365 Offers

A Few Key Terms and Conditions

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The WPT Global Spring Festival online poker series has a little something for everyone with buy-ins ranging from just $1.10 all the way up to $2,500.

Online poker players will have an opportunity to compete for a World Poker Tour Prime Online championship. WPT Global is a leading internet poker platform with real money games, including some of the most exciting online poker tournaments around.

WPT Global Series Details

From May 21 to June 4, the series begins at 8 a.m. ET with 10 events starting with a $110 buy-in Lucky Kick Off PKO, which has a $25,000 guaranteed prize pool. There’s a second $25,000 guarantee later in the day at 1 p.m. ($220 buy-in no-limit hold’em). But the biggest event of the first day will be the $110 Spring Sunday Slam 1 PKO ($60,000 guarantee) at 4:15 p.m.

On May 24, the WPT500, a $530 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, kicks off. That’s one of the biggest events of the series with the prize pool promised to hit or exceed $100,000. There will be nine Day 1 starting flights and players can re-enter into each one if they were unsuccessful in bagging a stack the previous flights.

On May 29 at 5 p.m., the featured tournament of the exciting series — the WPT Prime Online Championship — will begin. This NLH event has a $1,060 buy-in point and $200,000 guaranteed. Players can register for any of the 13 Day 1 opening sessions and leading up to Day 2, which takes place June 4, the final day of the series. The winner of this event, on top of the cash, will receive a free entry into the 2023 WPT Prime Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December.

Don’t Miss the Incredible Value in WPT Global’s New Sunday Majors

The largest buy-in event of the series — $2,500 Hi-Roller 6-Max — starts May 31 and has a $125,000 guaranteed minimum prize pool. But this series isn’t all about the high roller tournaments. As mentioned, there’s something for everyone, even the micro-stakes players. For example, on the opening day at 5 p.m., there’s a $3.30 buy-in NLH turbo event that has a $5,000 guarantee.

This series will give the micro and low-stakes players an opportunity to score a bankroll-building payday for just a small fee. In just one event, you could conceivably win more than would be possible across dozens of cash game sessions at the same buy-in levels. And for the mid and high-stakes players, the series presents some opportunity to pick up a huge score.

“When WPT Global launched, we knew it would become the best place for players to participate in WPT events online,” said WPT exec Adam Pliska. “The WPT Global Spring Festival gives players around the world the opportunity to win a WPT500 and WPT Prime title without having to leave their home.”

For the full WPT Global Spring Festival, please click here.