The much-buzzed-about PokerStars poker festival in the sunny Bahamas is already in the books, but there is still plenty to talk about. The event featured a ton of excitement and the winners are currently busy with celebrating. Even though the Main Event garnered the most attention, there have been much more other goings-on at Atlantis Paradise Island Resort. Yesterday, the Single-Day High Roller came to an end in spectacular style. Emerging victorious from the huge field was Almedin Imsirovic, banking $160,050 for his top performance.
The total field size reached an impressive 55 entries. There were 42 unique entries with 13 re-entries. The great interest in the tournament generated a staggering prize pool of $533,500. Only the top 8 spots earned a prize, with a min-cash in 8th place worth $21,340. Almedin Imsirovic, who was playing under the American flag reached the ultimate goal of winning the first prize of $160,050, being the player’s best live cash by far.
As for now, the player has $413,592 in total live tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob. It is interesting to note that Imsirovic discovered poker only three years ago and this is his second first-place finish.
The special format of the tournament featured blind raise in every 15 minutes. Imsirovic needed exactly six and a half hours to finish off his opponents and lift the long-coveted trophy. The final table was set and it was stacked as stacked as can be with notable players. The stellar lineup for the final table included Ramin Hajiyev from Azerbaijan, Stefan Schillhabel from Germany, Benjamin Pollak from France, Sam Greenwood from Canada, Mustapha Kanit from Italy, Matthias Eibinger from Austria, Ryan Riess from the United States and the eventual winner Almedin Imsirovic.
Almedin Imsirovic Climbs the Hill of Success
Sylvain Loosli became the doomed bubble boy, who exited the tournament in 9th place. It is interesting to note that Sam Greenwood was the single Canadian representative on the final table. Despite his expert level performance, the player was eliminated in 5th place for $43,750. Nevertheless, it is a good start of the year for the Canadian poker player.
The three-handed play began with Matthias Eibinger as the shortest stack. Unable to find any help from the board, Eibinger succumbed in 3rd place for $74,690. The epic heads-up duel saw Almedin Imsirovic crossing swords with the fearsome Ryan Riess. At that moment, the two opponents had fairly even stacks of chips. However, the situation changed in a flash and Almedin Imsirovic took over the chip lead. He wasted no time to eliminate his opponent, who ended as the runner-up, taking home $115,770.