The Borgata Spring Poker Open Championship event came to a conclusion this week with student-turned-poker pro Almedin “Ali” Imsirovic walking away with the BSPO Main Event trophy and the largest cash of his young professional career – $246,066.
According to the Borgata Poker blog, it was less than two years ago that Imsirovic was studying criminal justice at the University of Washington. Thursday, after agreeing to a final two deal with runner-up Farid Jattin, the young pro scored his second six-figure cash of the year, pushing his lifetime totals to nearly $700,000 since making the career change.
Imsirovic looked poised to take win the tournament outright. But Jattin, who was at a roughly 3-1 chip deficit, got it all in on a two-way draw against Imsirovic’s top pair. The flush came in on the river for Jattin, putting the duos stacks at just about even. It was then that the final two took an unscheduled break to hash out a deal. When they came back to the table it took a single hand to wrap up play. Imsirovic and Jattin pushed the chips in the middle and when Imsirovic rivered trips, having Jattin barely covered, he was declared the winner, with the final adjusted payouts only separating the two by less than $3,000.
While Imsirovic may still be getting adjusted to the life of a poker pro, second place finisher Jattin has been at it for years. Jattin, originally from Columbia, also took home the largest payday of his career, earning $243,521…but just barely. Last December he took down the Main Event of the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Winter Poker Open for $241,651. Additionally, this wasn’t his first time making a major final table at the Borgata. He took sixth place at the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open in both 2014 and 2016. He also finished as the runner up in the 2011 Borgata Summer Poker Open Main Event. In total, with this most recent haul, Jattin is less than $10,000 away from $2.8 million in live tournament earnings.
The Main Event of the Borgata Spring Open was, once again, a massive success. Guaranteeing a cool $1,000,000, the 519 entries helped smash the promised prize pool pushing the number to just under $1.3 million.
The 2018 Borgata Summer Poker Open Seniors Event drew a great crowd with 168 entries and they all seemed to have a great time. When the dust settled, Barry Leventhal earned himself another Borgata trophy along with $7,352 in a six-way adjusted payout deal. Event 4 of the Borgata Summer Poker drew a massive field of 3,106 creating a prize pool of $1,626,923. We were down to the final four players and the chips continued to change hands. After more than an hour of four handed play the players began to discuss and adjusted payout deal.
The $1 Million Guaranteed 2019 Borgata Summer Poker Open Championship fielded 514 entrants and created a prize pool in excess of $1.2 million. The final table was Live Streamed on Twitch TV and Borgata’s Facebook page and the audience watched as Jackob Datashvili made the right reads and caught the cards when he needed them.
In addition to the pair that made it to the end, plenty of big names made their way to Atlantic City to take place. Top pros like Ari Engel (45th), Matt Glantz (26th) and Ted Forrest (20th) made their way into the money. 2005 World Series of Poker runner-up Steve Dannenmann (17th) made an appearance and earned just his second cash in the past two years, while the recently un-retired Harrison Gimbel (16th) and Ralph Massey (15th) joined him in nearly making the final table.
Final table payouts:
Borgata Winter Open 2018
1. Almedin “Ali” Imsirovic – $246,066*
2. Farid Jattin – $243,521*
3. Nick Salimbene – $113,272
4. Richard Pachoca – $89,988
5. David Mock – $70,480
6. Nick Palma – $57,894
Borgata Poker Open Winter 2020
Though the Borgata Spring Poker Open may be in the rearview mirror, the action on BorgataPoker.com is still going strong. The tournament action includes the Sunday $40K guarantee and daily $10K guarantees as well a bankroll building freerolls which take place every day.
For those in New Jersey looking to give BorgataPoker.com a test run they offer $20 Sign-Up Bonus and a clearable 100% clearable deposit match of up to $600.
BorgataPoker.com has a trio of Sponsored Pros, and one of them is Katie Stone, who has been active in the 2020 Borgata Spring Poker Open Online Series.
Stone has more than $176K in lifetime live tournament earnings including a career-bet $33,305 for finishing 378th in the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event. In addition, Stone has three Borgata Open titles including the 2018 Borgata Fall Poker Open $300 Deepest Stack for $19,337, 2017 Borgata Summer Poker Open $300 Ladies Event for $2,867, and 2017 Borgata Fall Poker Open $300 Deepstack for $9,484. She also recently won the CSOP Borgata Winter Poker Open Event back in January.
However, where Stone has really thrived is online where she’s amassed more than $900K in lifetime earnings. Of that, $146,954 has come on BorgataPoker.com where she plays under the screen name “KatieStone.”
According to a Q&A she did with the Borgata Blog, Stone was born and raised in New Jersey, but after Black Friday in 2011, she relocated to Rosarito, Mexico in order to continue playing online. When New Jersey authorized Atlantic City casinos to offer online gaming within state borders, Stone moved back north to New Jersey and picked up where she left off — winning!
Recently, Stone took the initiative to create the Discord channel “Poker Peeps Affected By COVID19” and invited those in casino industry affected by recent shutdowns to join.
“I realized how tough it was going to be for everyone to keep up with everything and everyone, with so much changing so fast,” Stone recently told PokerNews. “So, I messaged my friend Cy Watson, who has been very active on social media as well regarding Coronavirus, asking him if he thought it would be a good idea to start a chat for people in the industry to be able to connect with each other for help.”
She continued: “I think the main thing poker players and everyone can do is to keep an open mind. Understanding that this is unlike any situation any of us have encountered before, and so thinking outside the box can go a long way. Taking the time to improve a skill, or learn a new skill whether it's a game or something else could be really beneficial not just financially, but mentally.”