The eight-day long 2018 Poker Masters has concluded and the 23-year-old Ali Imsirovic had a breakout performance at the high-stakes series. He cashed three times in the seven-event series, amassing $1,288,600 in earnings and winning two coveted titles. He won back-to-back events, shipping a $25,000 buy-in NLHE on September 13 and then taking down the $50,000 buy-in NLHE just a day later. With those two wins and an eighth-place finish in the series’ kickoff $10,500 buy-in event, Imsirovic earned enough ranking points to win the Player of the Series title and secure the 2018 Poker Masters Purple Jacket, for which he had to fight it out hard with David Peters.
“There are very few things that can compare to this. This win is very prestigious for me because this event series has all the top players in the world,” said Imsirovic after locking up the purple jacket.
“Ali deserved to win, he had a great series. It would’ve been nice to win the jacket, to have the bragging rights, and rub it in other players’ faces by wearing it to events,” said David Peters.
Imsirovic won his very first live score a couple of years ago. Prior to his impressive run in this prestigious series, he had just over $1.1 million in live tournament earnings. With his win in the $25K event a few days back, he set a new personal record for largest cash, earning $462,000. Then, he followed up that win by winning the $50K event for his biggest live score $799,000.
A look at the top ten in the final standings of the 2018 race for the Purple Jacket:
| Rank | Name | Points | Winnings |
| 1 | Ali Imsirovic | 660 | $1,288,600 |
| 2 | David Peters | 650 | $1,343,200 |
| 3 | Brandon Adams | 510 | $543,000 |
| 4 | Isaac Haxton | 480 | $309,900 |
| 5 | Jake Schindler | 390 | $575,000 |
| 6 | Koray Aldemir | 385 | $917,000 |
| 7 | Ben Yu | 360 | $478,000 |
| 8 | Dan Smith | 305 | $749,500 |
| 9 | Keith Lehr | 300 | $333,000 |
| 10 | Jonathan Depa | 270 | $249,500 |
2018 Poker Masters Main Event
As one can see from the rankings above, David Peters narrowly missed the Player of the Series title with 650 points, but he won $100,000 Main Event for an impressive $1,150,000 in the top prize.
Peters ended the series, winning the kickoff $10,500 buy-in NLHE for $193,200 in top prize and then closing out the series by winning the $100,000 buy-in main event where he outlasted a field of 25 entries, earning $1,150,000 as the champion. “I’m very happy to win this one, I’ve had a great series, and maybe I’ll get the jacket next year,” said Peters after winning the final event of the Poker Masters.
Peters has five titles on the live tournament circuit in 2018, making 18 final tables and cashing for a total of $5,659,175. As a result of his strong showing at this series, he has once again climbed into contention in the Player of The Year (POY) race. He currently sits in sixth place, with 5,288 points.
He defeated Dan Smith in the heads-up battle to secure the title in Main Event. Smith earned $700,000 as the runner-up finisher. Here is a quick look at the payouts awarded in this event:
| Place | Player | Earnings (USD) |
| 1 | David Peters | $1,150,000 |
| 2 | Dan Smith | $700,000 |
| 3 | Koray Aldemir | $400,000 |
| 4 | Bryn Kenney | $250,000 |