It's not much of a surprise, but the PokerGo Tour officially announced their 2021 Player of the Year and Ali Imsirovic took it down after a sensational run in PokerGo events during the inaugural season of the PGT. Imsirovic won 14 different PGT events and cashed 34 times. He earned 4,364 in points to lock up first place. PokerGo Tour's sponsor Guaranteed Rate doled out a $200,000 bonus to Imsirovic.
When you're hot... you're hot. Ali Imsirovic got off a sizzling start in the PokerGo Tour and never let up. It was fairly obvious early on the first-ever PokerGo Tour that the rest of the field were battling for second place on the leaderboard because no one was going to catch Imsirovic.
Imsirovic kicked off 2021 with deep runs at the Aria High Roller in January with a runner-up and third-place finish. February was a fun month with a pair of victories for a $530K score at the Aria. In the first two months of the year, he had four top three finishes with two wins.
After a sizzling start in 2021, Imsirovic did not let up in the Spring. He shipped two more PokerGo Tour events in April and cashed two other times. In May, Imsirovic cashed in four high baller affairs in Vegas at the Aria and Venetian, including a victory at the Venetian High Roller.
Imsirovic could not be stopped in the summer either. When the US Poker Open arrived in June, Imsirovic did not falter with four final table appearances and a victory in Event #9. In July, Imsirovic added two wins at the 2021 PokerGo Cup and banked a quick half-million. That August, Imsirovic won another high roller at the Venetian in Vegas. But then he hit the road and went deep in a Super High Roller Series Europe with a victory in Event #9 for a score that was worth nearly $600K.
In September, Imsirovic slowed down a bit when he cashed in just one event at the 2021 Poker Masters. He was a favorite to win a coveted Purple Jacket, but for the first time all year, it just wasn't meant to be. Of course, his down cycle lasted only a couple of weeks because he got hot again at the end of the month with two more victories at the Aria that were worth over $700K.
With the WSOP in swing at the Rio, Imsirovic had a mellow October on the PGT, before crushing the tables in November. He final table a WSOP $50K High Roller, before won another high roller at the Aria. Then he flew down to Florida, where he shipped a $25K Rock N Roll Poker Open High Roller at the Seminole Hard Rock for a score worth another $700K.
With the first-ever PokerGo Tour in the books, Imsirovic earned the Player of the Year with 4,364 points. He beat out his closest competitor, Michael Addamo (3,083 points), by nearly 1,300 points. Addamo won over $9 million with just six wins and eight cashes, but Imsirovic crushed the Aussie pro in points. Sean Perry finished third on the PGT leaderboard with 2,525 points including six victories and 23 total cashes.
"Feels pretty surreal, to be honest," Imsirovic told PokerGo. "I never thought I would accomplish something of this magnitude in poker. Next, the goal is to just keep trying to get better and solidify and keep proving that I belong here."
Imsirovic had his best year as a pro with $6 million in total live winning. He now has $15 million in total earnings since he burst on the scene five years ago.
2021 PokerGo Tour - Player of the Year
1. Ali Imsirovic 4,364 (14 wins, 34 cashes)
2. Michael Addamo 3,083 (6 wins, 8 cashes)
3. Sean Perry 2,525 (6 wins, 23 cashes)
4. Sean Winter 2,263 (2 wins, 20 cashes)
5. Sam Soverel 2,252 (3 wins, 23 cashes)
6. Chris Brewer 2,079 (4 wins, 27 cashes)
7. Daniel Negreanu 1,983 (2 wins, 17 cashes)
8. Stephen Chidwick 1,954 (1 wins, 21 cashes)
9. David Peters 1,940 (3 wins, 11 cashes)
10. Koray Aldemir 1936 (1 wins, 2 cashes)
