Although it’s a bit of a quiet time on the poker circuit right now, don’t tell that to Ali Imsirovic, who had a week to remember. The 23-year-old Vancouver, Washington native cashed three times during the seven-event 2018 Poker Masters, surpassing a million in winnings. We’ll start there as we recap the weekly poker news:
Imsirovic Has Incredible Run At 2018 Poker Masters
Are you having a good week? It’s likely not as good as Ali Imsirovic’s as the poker pro had a breakout of sorts at the 2018 Poker Masters. He won two events and finished in the money in a third, collecting over $1.3 million in winnings.
Imsirovic won $462,000 for his win at the $25 K event, which was a new high-water mark for him. However, that personal best didn’t last long as he won the $50 K buy-in event a day later, collecting $799,000. He also placed eighth at the $10,500 buy-in event. For his efforts, he was awarded the purple jacket that is given to the best player at the Poker Masters.
WPTDeepStacks Event To Begin In Marrakech on September 22
The WPTDeepStacks tour will make an appearance in Morocco at the end of this week. This Saturday will mark the start of the latest tour event, running through next Sunday at the Casino de Marrakech. The fun lasts eight whole days with the climax coming via the Marrakech Main Event, which starts on Thursday and runs through the final days of the tournament. The Main Event costs roughly 1,200 euros to enter and has two starting flights. Everyone will begin that tournament with 30,000 chips.
Mamouni Smain is the defending champion from last year when the event was held in October. The last Moroccan to win this tournament was Rachid Rami in 2016. The past eight times the tournament has been held, eight different champions have been crowned – no repeats.
PokerStars Tries To Make Sports Betting More Accessible For Poker Players
There’s some good news for poker players who are also into sports betting. The PokerStars brand, through the Stars Group, is trying to take advantage of the recent allowance of legal sports gambling in the state of New Jersey. It has announced that its BetStars mobile app is now live in New Jersey and will enable poker players to more easily bet on sporting events in that state.
Stars Group currently provides online poker and casino play in New Jersey through PokerStarsNJ.com and PokerStarsCasinoNJ.com. This will expand availability to enable poker or casino clients to make sports wagers.
This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon but it’s one that has typically had a tough time taking off. It seems like people who play poker and bet on sports haven’t really cared to have an all-in-one solution. That’s likely because there are better places to play poker and better places to bet on sports, so having an all-in-one hasn’t provided a better product to players. However, this is a good move by PokerStars as it will surely capture some business based on the ease and simplicity.