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Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007

Pro players to gather for Poker Nations Cup

By Sarah Polson

Pro poker players from all over the world will get together Jan. 29 through Feb. 1 to represent their countries during the Poker Nations Cup. The teams of players will be playing for a $100,000 top prize in this PartyPoker.com sponsored event.

In this unique event, poker players will work as a team representing their home nation while also pursuing personal glory in the tournament.

Last year during the inaugural event, Great Britain came out on top. This year Great Britain will return with David "Devilfish" Ulliott at its helm. Joining him will be Ram Vaswani, Joe Beevers and other players.

Each nation's team will consist of five professional players as well as a player who qualified through PartyPoker.com. The exception will be the United States who will have Jennifer Tilly on its team rather than an online qualifier.

Leading the U.S. team will be Robert Williamson III. Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari and Clonie Gowen are also confirmed for the team.

Teams from Holland, Sweden, Germany and Denmark will be headed by Marcel Luske, Bo Sehlstedt, Michael Keiner and Theo Jorgensen.

The tournament will be played in six heats in which one player from each team will compete to score points for their team. The winner of each heat will also win $12,000 for themselves.

After that, all six teams will compete in a "tag" final during which the team captain is responsible for making tactical substitutions and strategic time outs to help his team win. The winning nation will be the one with the last player standing.

"Last year's tournament was a huge success, and we are delighted to be on board this time," said a PartyPoker.com spokesman. "With national pride at stake, nobody will want to let their country down."

Just as last year's tournament was, the Poker Nations Cup will be produced for Channel 4 in the U.K. and air during March and April. There will be nine, 60-minute episodes commentated by Vicky Coren and Barny Boatman.