Despite how far the poker world has come, it still has its demons. Two regular faces are notably absent from a popular, long-running tournament, and PokerStars is once again experiencing technical difficulties during events. Ali Imsirovic after winning the $25K NLH Event at the 2018 Poker Masters. He’s missing from this year’s Poker Masters tournament, along with Jake Schindler, over allegations they both cheat at poker. (Image: Drew Amato) A few days ago, as the Poker Masters was getting started, Daniel Negreanu noticed that Ali Imsirovic and Jake Schindler were absent. It was a little surprising, given that both have been regular fixtures at big-ticket tournaments.
Negreanu forecast on Twitter that the two players wouldn’t arrive, and he was right. Poker Masters organizer PokerGO later confirmed that it had suspended the two grinders over allegations of cheating. No Room for Cheaters
In a press release, the PokerGo Tour (PGT) announced “the indefinite suspensions of Ali Imsirovic and Jake Schindler, effective immediately. The suspensions will extend through at least the 2022 PGT season, at which point a review will take place.”
Imsirovic and Schindler are causing an uproar in the poker community. Multiple players have accused the pair of colluding in live poker tournaments and using real-time assistance (RTA) tools in online tourneys to game the system.
Neither has publicly addressed the allegations, adding to the suspicion that they’re guilty. After Schindler won his WSOP bracelet last summer, he refused to discuss the subject when the media approached him for comments.
Both players are among the best tournament grinders in the world. Before the cheating accusations, Negreanu had dubbed Schindler one of the best players of today.
The two have combined earnings of about $53 million in live tournaments, according to the Hendon Mob. If they cheated to get there, however, their status as elite players will disintegrate.
Last year, Imsirovic, one of the favorites to top this year’s PGT leaderboard, won 14 major tournaments. With that, he also earned the GPI and PokerGO Tour Player of the Year awards.
For now, the suspensions will run through the end of the year. It isn’t clear […]
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