Slovenian poker pro Rok Gostisa is enjoying a purple patch of form as 2021 nears its conclusion. Gostisa is best known for tearing up online poker high roller events, but it is his form in the live arena that has captured the eye.
The Slovenian padded his bankroll with $959,493 in September. He won the 2021 WPT World Online Championships Main Event online at partypoker, where he defeated American pro David Peters heads-up. Gostisa revealed in an interview with partypoker’s blog his goal was to head to Las Vegas and win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet.
He did not achieve his goal, but finished in the money in nine separate events. One of those cashes, in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Flip & Go, was at a final table.
Gostisa won a $10,000 buy-in PokerGO Tour event during the WSOP. The victory came with another $147,600 in prize money. The talented grinder stayed in Las Vegas, a decision proving very profitable. Gostisa finished third three times and second once in four $10,000 buy-in tournaments, which added $232,300 to his lifetime winnings. Another win, this time in a $25,000 event, saw Gostisa bank $283,500.
Gostisa Shines in a Compact Field
Some of poker’s biggest names at grinding at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in a series of high roller tournaments. Event #9 of the Bellagio High Rollers series was a $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament. It attracted only 21 entrants, but was a 21 they were.
Only three of the field won some of the $525,000 prize pool because of the low attendance. Nobody wanted to finish fourth and burst the bubble, but someone had to. Sung Joo Hyun sent Vikenty Shegal to the rail in fifth, and took a large chip lead into four-handed play.
However, Joo Hyun went from here to zero, falling in fourth place. Jake Schindler was sat with only 180,000 chips at the 10,000/20,000 level and looked like being the next player out of the door. That was until Joo Hyun moved all-in for 270,000 with ace-king, and Gostisa called with queen-six. The Slovenian hit running queens on the turn and river and improved to a full house.
Schindler ducked out in third for $84,000, which left Gostisa heads-up against Alex Foxen. Foxen trailed three-to-one in chips but claimed the chip lead for himself, before Lady Luck went against him.
The turning point came in a hand with the board reading 6h-3d-3c-4h-4d. Foxen used a time extension before betting 250,000 into the 205,000 pot. Gostisa used two time extensions before raising to 800,000, which sent Foxen into the tank. Foxen used all of his three remaining extensions before mucking the 3h face up.
Gostisa won the tournament when his queen-high improved to a pair of queens and beat Foxen’s jack-high.
Upcoming Bellagio High Rollers Events
Four more events take place between December 11 and December 14. Three of those events are $25,000 to enter with one weighing in at $10,000. Gostisa will enter all four tournaments, of that there are no doubts.
Bellagio High Rollers Champions
Justin Bonomo is the only player to win two events during this series. However, he has a long way to go to match the incredible Ali Imsirovic.
Imsirovic has 34 cashes and 14 victories worth a cool $6,028,321. Michael Addamo is second with six wins from eight cashes worth $9,418,837.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 43 | $430,000 | Giuseppe Iadisernia | $146,200 |
| #2: $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 19 | $1,900,000 | Justin Bonomo | $928,200 |
| #3: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 35 | $350,000 | Sung Joo Hyun | $140,000 |
| #4: $10,000 8-Game | 19 | $190,000 | Henrik Hecklen | $102,600 |
| #5: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 32 | $320,000 | Justin Bonomo | $128,000 |
| #6: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 43 | $430,000 | Leonard Maue | $146,200 |
| #7: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 46 | $460,000 | Anuj Agarwal | $156,400 |
| #8: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha | 35 | $350,000 | Felipe Ramos and Hank Yang | $115,500 |
| #9: $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em | 21 | $525,000 | Rok Gostisa | $283,500 |
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Brad Johnson
You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.