Nedim Jusupovic Storms the Final Table of RPT in Montenegro

It isn’t often that you get a chance to write about your fellow countryman winning a big poker event. It especially holds true if your country’s name is Bosnia and Herzegovina where you don’t actually trip over poker players as you walk down the road. Add to that the fact that the winner is someone you know personally and you’ve played a lot of poker with and there is your recipe for writing an enjoyable article.

Nedim Jusupovic, a young player from Sarajevo won his package to the Russian Poker Tour Main Event online through Adria Poker and proceeded to turn his trip to Montengero into a memorable experience worth €47,500 after outlasting the field of over 500 players.

Building the Prize Pool

193 players put down €550 buy-in to take their seats for the Day 1A. This number grew drastically for the day 1B as 286 players came to the tables (including reentries) and when both first flights were done, 190 players were still in contention and would return for Day 2.

The registration continued during the Day 2 until the end of Level 12 and some more players took the last swing at the title creating the final prize pool of €246,500. 45 players would make the money, with smallest amount being €1,115 and whooping €63,120 reserved for the winner.

The bubble burst with another Bosnian and well known online tournament player, Alen Bilic, finishing in 46th position, walking home with nothing to show for this time. The remainders of the players were in the money and they continued the grind until three tables were left and the play was stopped for the day. When it was bagging time, Nedim was close to the bottom part of the leaderboard but this did not discourage him.

Road to Victory

Day 3 started with 27 players and this field gradually dwindled down to the final ten players, forming an ‘unofficial’ final table. During this time, things really started to pick up for Jusupovic who was able to increase his stack by a lot and start the final table of ten with a workable stack of 900K.

Jusupovic started the things well after his pocket Jacks successfully cracked pocket Kings of Grichina Segei and he never looked back. Sergei earned €3,560 for his efforts. Nedim determined the fate of the only lady at the final table, Elena Ulyanova, as he took majority of her chips only to see her eliminated moments later, taking home €4,610.

It was one of those one-man show type of final tables, as Jusupovic eliminated another player, Igor Jelicic, taking over the chip lead from Ivan Karakchiev. This close call for Karakchiev was good for €6,050. Not long after, Drasko Boskovic sent Aleksandr Denisov of Russia to the cashier’s cage to claim his well-earned €8,140.

Nedim only took a short break from dispatching players from the final table and crushing their dreams, as next elimination was, once again, his work. Dyukov Anton was holding on to a short stack and finally decided to move in only to be picked off by Jusupovic and sent to the rail five cards later. His 6th place finish brought him the prize of €11,410.

Next to fall at his hands was Boskovic who moved in on the flop with the nut flush draw which, surprise-surprise, failed to materialize and Nedim’s flopped straight held up. €14,750 for Boskovic is still a great return for the €550 investment. Abushkevich Evgeny fell shortly after that, taking home the bounty of €19,162 and this is when the three remaining players decided to make a deal.

Jusupovic, who was the chip leader, received €44,500, Doroshev Heorhii was guaranteed €42,200 while Karakchiev was guaranteed to take home €38,000. The amount of €3,000 and the title were still left to play for.

Three handed play did not last long after the chop was done as Ivan Karakchiev was eliminated in third soon after, leaving Jusupovic and Heorhii to battle it out. Staying true to the form, Nedim Jusupovic KO-ed his final opponent, adding another €3,000 to his winnings and ensuring a title to take back home to Sarajevo!

For Jusupovic, this is by far the biggest result in his career, but with a lot of play ahead of him and, now, the bankroll to support it as well we will probably be seeing much more of him on the circuit.

Good game, well played!