Ali Imsirovic BANNED from Texas "Champions Club" for being a general poker cheat

[Dan Druff]

Many were surprised to see that prominent Texas poker room "Champions Club", located in Houston, sent Ali Imsirovic packing when he attempted to play in a $1500 tournament there.

They booted him, refunded his money, and told him he wasn't welcome.

Imsirovic is not accused of any wrongdoing at Champions, but was removed because of his bad reputation, and his admitted cheating online. In 2022, Imsirovic faced a major scandal when it was revealed he was routinely using RTA and multiaccounting at high stakes games. He eventually admitted to some of the allegations, but downplayed them.
The video did not go over well, and served to just anger people more.

He and friend Jake Schindler, also accused of similar cheating, were suspended from a PokerGo series later that year, but it's unclear if they are still banned from PokerGo.

Many have wanted to see Ali and Jake banned from WSOP, but so far it hasn't occurred. Ali played last year wearing a mask, presumably to make it more difficult for people to recognize him and point him out to others.

Here's a Pokernews writeup on it: https://www.pokernews.com/news/2025/...room-47956.htm

[Dan Druff]

How do I feel about this?

I like it.

It would be great if known cheats were banned from poker games everywhere. This would also help dissuade others from cheating in the future.

I realize that this could turn into a witch hunt, where people could be unjustly banned due to false allegations. However, this could be fixed by simply sticking to bans for clear and obvious cheating which is well known throughout poker (or, alternatively, caught red handed).

There could also be a threshold applied, where only major and blatant cases of cheating would result in such bans.

[Dan Druff]

BUMP

He was banned again, but this one was more controversial.

In this case, he was chipleader after Day 1, and they banned him at that point.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1918096681704235422

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1918164104310866286

[go_buccos]

Agree with these takes. This is not ok.

Unfortunately these Florida rooms are very lightly regulated so he probably has close to zero recourse.

[sah_24]

Good to see people finally do something ... poker has way too many scumbags allowed to play (Hellmuth, Hawkins, Ferguson, Lederer, etc)

[garrett]

BestBet (Jacksonville) disqualified him apparently

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1918096681704235422

[go_buccos]

BestBet (Jacksonville) disqualified him apparently

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1918096681704235422

My issue is not with his DQ, but the timing of it. Why was he allowed to register and complete Day 1 in the first place? In my opinion, once the first hand is dealt, you’re in the tournament period, unless your actions IN THAT TOURNAMENT SPECIFICALLY merit a DQ.

This is just so arbitrary. What if he wasn’t the Day 1 chip leader? Does he get DQ’ed then?

I’m not defending the guy.. he’s an obvious scumbag… but you can’t just go kicking people out willy-nilly when you become afraid of bad press. Either refuse his registration or let him finish the tournament

[sah_24]

BestBet (Jacksonville) disqualified him apparently

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ChadAHolloway/status/1918096681704235422

My issue is not with his DQ, but the timing of it. Why was he allowed to register and complete Day 1 in the first place? In my opinion, once the first hand is dealt, you’re in the tournament period, unless your actions IN THAT TOURNAMENT SPECIFICALLY merit a DQ.

This is just so arbitrary. What if he wasn’t the Day 1 chip leader? Does he get DQ’ed then?

I’m not defending the guy.. he’s an obvious scumbag… but you can’t just go kicking people out willy-nilly when you become afraid of bad press. Either refuse his registration or let him finish the tournament

Casinos have been kicking people out for years for any reasons they want ...

[go_buccos]

My issue is not with his DQ, but the timing of it. Why was he allowed to register and complete Day 1 in the first place? In my opinion, once the first hand is dealt, you’re in the tournament period, unless your actions IN THAT TOURNAMENT SPECIFICALLY merit a DQ.

This is just so arbitrary. What if he wasn’t the Day 1 chip leader? Does he get DQ’ed then?

I’m not defending the guy.. he’s an obvious scumbag… but you can’t just go kicking people out willy-nilly when you become afraid of bad press. Either refuse his registration or let him finish the tournament

Casinos have been kicking people out for years for any reasons they want ...

They have, and that’s also bullshit.

Again, it’s the arbitrary nature of the DQ that I have a problem with. It sets tournament poker down a very slippery slope. If this is allowed to stand, what’s next? DQ’ing someone they don’t like at the final table? Some guy getting DQ’ed because he banged the TD’s ex-wife? What’s the difference? Obviously I’m using absurd examples here, but hopefully you get my point.

There’s zero evidence (or even an allegation) that Ali did something in this tournament to warrant a DQ. He was DQ’ed simply for being Ali Imsirovic and because he ran/played well on Day 1. Not cool.

In this day and age it’s not hard to put together a database of known cheats who you are not going to allow to register for your tournaments UP FRONT. They took his money, gave him a seat assignment, gave him a stack, and dealt him a hand. He’s in the tournament at that point, period.

[garrett]

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1918730672472002778


lol just saw this on Twitter from WPT

[sah_24]

Casinos have been kicking people out for years for any reasons they want ...

They have, and that’s also bullshit.

Again, it’s the arbitrary nature of the DQ that I have a problem with. It sets tournament poker down a very slippery slope. If this is allowed to stand, what’s next? DQ’ing someone they don’t like at the final table? Some guy getting DQ’ed because he banged the TD’s ex-wife? What’s the difference? Obviously I’m using absurd examples here, but hopefully you get my point.

There’s zero evidence (or even an allegation) that Ali did something in this tournament to warrant a DQ. He was DQ’ed simply for being Ali Imsirovic and because he ran/played well on Day 1. Not cool.

In this day and age it’s not hard to put together a database of known cheats who you are not going to allow to register for your tournaments UP FRONT. They took his money, gave him a seat assignment, gave him a stack, and dealt him a hand. He’s in the tournament at that point, period.

While I agree in principle the precedent has long been set. Casinos can do what they want. A lot more scumbags should not be allowed to play tho that are ...

[Dan Druff]

They have, and that’s also bullshit.

Again, it’s the arbitrary nature of the DQ that I have a problem with. It sets tournament poker down a very slippery slope. If this is allowed to stand, what’s next? DQ’ing someone they don’t like at the final table? Some guy getting DQ’ed because he banged the TD’s ex-wife? What’s the difference? Obviously I’m using absurd examples here, but hopefully you get my point.

There’s zero evidence (or even an allegation) that Ali did something in this tournament to warrant a DQ. He was DQ’ed simply for being Ali Imsirovic and because he ran/played well on Day 1. Not cool.

In this day and age it’s not hard to put together a database of known cheats who you are not going to allow to register for your tournaments UP FRONT. They took his money, gave him a seat assignment, gave him a stack, and dealt him a hand. He’s in the tournament at that point, period.

While I agree in principle the precedent has long been set. Casinos can do what they want. A lot more scumbags should not be allowed to play tho that are ...

In this case, they actually can't.

In Nevada, once a person is registered for a poker tournament, they cannot be disqualified unless:

1) They break tournament rules
-or-
2) Were already banned from the casino
-or-
3) Committed some kind of illegal act on property which was just discovered
-or-
4) Was arrested by law enforcement during the tournament

For example, if during break, I punch someone out in the hallway for being mean to me on Twitter, that's a valid reason to disqualify me. But if the casino has simply decided that they don't want me there, they will have to wait until I'm out of the tournament before banning me.

Remeber Eden Rocks? In 2023, he was registered in the Tag Team WSOP event, but during the event Caesars decided to ban him from their properties, supposedly due to being disruptive during prior days/weeks. He was still allowed to complete the event, due to that Nevada law.

This occurred because Florida casinos and poker rooms operate under different rules.

I actually was ok with Imsirovic's previous ban in Texas, as that happened early on. If Ali is noticed an hour into the event and kicked/refunded, that's fine. After a full day passes, I can't agree with that. It also establishes a terrible precedent.

[sah_24]

While I agree in principle the precedent has long been set. Casinos can do what they want. A lot more scumbags should not be allowed to play tho that are ...

In this case, they actually can't.

In Nevada, once a person is registered for a poker tournament, they cannot be disqualified unless:

1) They break tournament rules
-or-
2) Were already banned from the casino
-or-
3) Committed some kind of illegal act on property which was just discovered
-or-
4) Was arrested by law enforcement during the tournament

For example, if during break, I punch someone out in the hallway for being mean to me on Twitter, that's a valid reason to disqualify me. But if the casino has simply decided that they don't want me there, they will have to wait until I'm out of the tournament before banning me.

Remeber Eden Rocks? In 2023, he was registered in the Tag Team WSOP event, but during the event Caesars decided to ban him from their properties, supposedly due to being disruptive during prior days/weeks. He was still allowed to complete the event, due to that Nevada law.

This occurred because Florida casinos and poker rooms operate under different rules.

I actually was ok with Imsirovic's previous ban in Texas, as that happened early on. If Ali is noticed an hour into the event and kicked/refunded, that's fine. After a full day passes, I can't agree with that. It also establishes a terrible precedent.

Bestbet jax is in vegas ? Lols ...

[go_buccos]

They have, and that’s also bullshit.

Again, it’s the arbitrary nature of the DQ that I have a problem with. It sets tournament poker down a very slippery slope. If this is allowed to stand, what’s next? DQ’ing someone they don’t like at the final table? Some guy getting DQ’ed because he banged the TD’s ex-wife? What’s the difference? Obviously I’m using absurd examples here, but hopefully you get my point.

There’s zero evidence (or even an allegation) that Ali did something in this tournament to warrant a DQ. He was DQ’ed simply for being Ali Imsirovic and because he ran/played well on Day 1. Not cool.

In this day and age it’s not hard to put together a database of known cheats who you are not going to allow to register for your tournaments UP FRONT. They took his money, gave him a seat assignment, gave him a stack, and dealt him a hand. He’s in the tournament at that point, period.

While I agree in principle the precedent has long been set. Casinos can do what they want. A lot more scumbags should not be allowed to play tho that are ...

The bolded part is 100% correct, and it makes my point for me here.

There are probably *at minimum* a handful of other players in that tournament who have multi-accounted and/or used RTA while playing online, yet they are still allowed to play because either A.) they never got caught, or B.) they weren’t on or close to the lead after the first day so their positioning didn’t draw any attention.

I’m certainly closer to Druff’s position on this than to sah’s, but even Druff’s “it’s ok if it’s discovered within a short amount of time” argument is still absurd. What defines a “short amount” of time? Does the definition vary from stop to stop on the circuit?

The reputation of tournament poker suffers when there are gray areas like this and inconsistent rules regarding these things from place to place. I believe Ali has been allowed to complete several tournaments in the last year. What made this one different??? Answer: nothing except a paranoid TD who didn’t want bad press.

Not to sound like a broken record here, but there is *NO* reason why, in the Year of Our Lord 2025, the TDA can’t get together and compile a database of known bad actors in the community that will not be allowed to register for any tournament that uses TDA rules. The arbitrary decision-making needs to be fully removed regarding stuff like this, and it needs to be removed NOW.

[michael]

As slow rolly as it seemed, I was there that day, and the word was they just didnt catch it in time.

Like you go to the bestbet cage to register for the tourney, started playing, then the tournament guys eventually saw him. The kinda messed up part was it was literally dinner break, he came back and his chips were gone. He's allowed to play at bestbet, I guess it's just up to whatever tourney rolling through like rungood or whomever if he's allowed to play their tourney.

On a side note, he and his wife are incredibly nice people and I hope he is able to work out some kind of amends w the poker community eventually