Negreanu Accuses Imsirovic of Cheating, Should Poker Sites Now Ban the Cocky Pro?

On Wednesday, Daniel Negreanu tweeted that notorious poker cheats Ali Imsirovic is still engaging in shady behavior and demanded all online card rooms and poker sites permanently ban him.

Last year, along with Jake Schindler – the 2021 GPI Player of the Year -, Imsirovic was barred from PokerGO Tour events due to his suspected collusion during live tournaments and real-time assistance (RTA) tools used during online play.

Dubbed a high-stakes crusher before these accusations came out, many have speculated that he will be banned entirely from GGPoker for partaking in RTA practices.

Last summer, the Poker Integrity Council (PIC) at GGPoker was established, with poker site ambassador Jason Koon spearheading it to assess potential online cheating cases. Daniel Negreanu recently voiced his opinion on Twitter regarding Imsirovic’s supposed continued deception.

The Legend urged that offline and online operators should ban him indefinitely since he is anything but apologetic. In fact, he even flaunts stealing from those who once were friends. Negreanu firmly believes that Imsirovic’s actions are unacceptable and must be handled accordingly.

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Imsirovic Has Been Accused of Cheating since 2020

Imsirovic has been at the center of a high-stakes cheating controversy in recent years. Allegations against him surfaced as early as October 2020 when he was one of many poker players prohibited by GGPoker – where Negreanu is an iconic figure – for utilizing real-time assistance (RTA).

GGPoker refrained from revealing the names of those it had excluded. Still, after Imsirovic’s activity on his account ceased unexpectedly before they announced a widespread ban, he was assumedly cited in multiple articles and debates.

In April of 2022, Ali Imsirovic was confronted with cheating allegations from Alex Foxen once more. The claims centered around rubbernecking the hole cards of Paul Phua at a Super High Roller Bowl final table.

Yet, there were insinuations that something far greater occurred too. Foxen tweeted, “Ali is known as a cheater to nearly everybody in the high roller community, though without concrete proof, few are willing to speak up.”

Imsirovic is believed to be on PIC’s semi-global blacklist

Alex Foxen urgently called for implementing a worldwide blacklist to prevent notorious cheaters from gaming, which had been rumored but was still in its primary stages. He revealed his exasperation with Imsirovic’s actions by writing a list about how the poker blacklist โ€œcan’t come soon enough. Ali is prohibited on GG due to multi-accounting and RTA.”

Furthermore, he noted numerous reports of chip dumps committed by horses associated with Imsirovic and various peculiar shifts in play observed during tournaments when those same horses were deep into online MTTs.

Last July, GGPoker and the WSOP made a fully-realized version of their earlier global blacklist concept come to life by launching PIC – The Poker Integrity Council. This partnership between GGPoker and multiple live poker tours bans players who’ve cheated on GGPoker. It also revokes access from these excluded individuals to partner sites such as the WSOP, the PokerGO Tour, WPT, and others.

Nevertheless, as the leading PIC player-council representative Jason Koon mentioned, GGPoker will offer almost all previously prohibited players a second chance to play on the site. This grace period started on August 1, 2022, and included an opportunity for these former cheaters to apply to reactivate their accounts within three weeks following that date.

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Is Imsirovic Still Cheating?

Given a second chance, pro poker players were re-admitted to the poker site; yet for Imsirovic, reinstatement was not an option. According to Negreanu’s tweet, it appears that the PIC intelligently chose against this decision.

Imsirovic has been playing on poker sites not regulated by a central organization, such as GGPoker, instead of the usual. Negreanu recently remarked that Imsirovic’s actions are far from remorseful; he brazenly bragged about his illicit activities and cheating against friends. According to the Canadian pro-poker player, there may be no hope for redemption now.

Although just 28 years old, Imsirovic has already accumulated $18 million in live tournament cash, according to Hendon Mob. It was without doubt that he had the potential to join the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame before all the cheating allegations were exposed.

Alex Foxen set a precedent in 2022 when he became one of the first renowned poker players to publicly call out Imsirovic and Schindler, which inspired Chance Kornuth and other notable pros to initiate a “poker blacklist.”

Fast-forwarding almost twelve months later, Daniel Negreanu recently joined this movement for reform within the poker community. Moreover, Matt Berkey and Mike Matusow supported Kid Poker’s tweet.

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Berkey roughly stated something along the lines of: “Let’s all take a moment to reflect on the ever-present rumors that can’t be ignored. Online operators must revamp their anti-money laundering protocols and implement AI technology for real-time detection.”

PokerGO already banned Imsirovic and Schindler

Following the expiration of GGPoker’s “olive branch” window four weeks later, two players deemed to be banned by the site – Imsirovic and Jake Schindler – were blocked indefinitely from one of GGPoker’s live-poker affiliates, PokerGO Tour.

PokerGO did not give a specific reason for banning Imsirovic and Schindler. Still, the timing implies that they had either not applied for reinstatement at GG or, possibly, their past poker transgressions were too severe to be forgiven. The two players were also taken off the PokerGO Tour’s leaderboard.

Radio Silence for Imsirovic and Schindler

Daniel Negreanu’s recent criticism focused solely on Imsirovic without specifying which platform the alleged cheating took place. Additionally, he failed to name any sources, despite being one of poker’s most influential figures.

Notably, neither Imsirovic nor Schindler has had significant success in live tournaments recently; it is unclear if this has anything to do with Negreanu’s claims against them.

Last June and July, Imsirovic and Schindler competed in many WSOP events. At the PIC press conference that was put together by both the GGPoker and WSOP, they were still actively participating in the Main Event when it happened.

After cashing out from this tournament, neither player has had any other recorded live cash. Imsirovic’s Day 5 bust out even made its way into news coverage on various platforms like the Las Vegas Review-Journal! Since then, though, there haven’t been many words about him – no presence whatsoever.