ShareAli Imsirovic and Jake Schindler have been the talk of the town for the last few weeks after cheating allegations were levelled against the high stakes duo, but this week the rumour is that they were personas non grata at the PokerStars EPT stop in Monte Carlo...
Breaking: Ali and Jake enjoying the Beach in Monte Carlo instead of playing the 50k. A ban is possible but not confirmed. I will keep you updated
— Dietrich Fast (@2pacnrw16) May 3, 2022
Imsirovic was the first person to be outed in the recent spate of cheating allegations levelled at the high stakes community, with Alex Foxen accusing him of both live and online cheating.
Jake Schindler quickly followed in the potential poker Hall of Shame after Justin Bonomo hinted at his name, with others quickly backing up the accusations.
I’ve seen multiple sources that say there are 100s of these accounts/players on GG that were banned but the only two that I personally know for sure are Jake Schindler and Ali Imsirovic. Making matters worse, these are supposed to be two of the heroes in the poker world!
— Chance Kornuth (@ChancesCards) April 21, 2022
The allegations against Bryn Kenney may have stolen the limelight over the past week, but Imsirovic and Schindler – neither of whom have publicly denied the allegations of RTA use that apparently saw them banned from GGPoker – were back in the spotlight this week.
ali n jakr never appeared in the event. rumor is they where told they are not welcome and not allowed to play... dunno how much truth to rumor but thats word on the street
— Jason Wheeler (@JDPC27) May 3, 2022
The event in question was the €50k Super High Roller, which was won by Pascal Lefrancois, and the non-appearance of both Imsirovic and Schindler was strange – almost unheard of – given that both had played the €100k (won by Adrian Mateos) earlier in the week.
Among those who did play both events were Chris Brewer and Sergei Reixach, both of whom were banned by GGPoker in the same clampdown on RTA use and related cheating infringements.
Both men have answered the accusations against them publicly, Brewer this week admitting to using pre-flop charts but not post-flop help, with Reixach claiming the same.
I am banned, but I did not use RTA. https://t.co/MSCoPdDc1h pic.twitter.com/C55EqHIblO
— Chris Brewer (@Chris_D_Brewer) May 2, 2022
Whether Imsirovic and Schindler’s bans were for the more egregious post-flop RTA use isn’t known, but it would be one reason for them to receive stiffer penalties and stronger disapprobation than their highstakes colleagues.
If true, the rumours of Imsirovic and Schindler not being allowed to compete in the €50k would not be the first time that PokerStars had banned online poker cheats from live events.
Back in 2014, then head of public relations at PokerStars, Michael Josem wrote: “PokerStars and the European Poker Tour agree with the general principle that we should use what we know about online activity to also enhance the integrity of our live events.”
Josem added: “For some time now, we have banned certain players from our live events because of their actions online.”
The PokerStarsLive website includes the text: “PokerStars Live maintains a private list of players who are prohibited (to the extent permitted by law) from participating in events.”
This is a potentially breaking story and we will bring you more information as or when it becomes available.
