Prepare for thrills and spills as the top poker nations and 40 of the best poker players – including Stephen Chidwick and Ole Schemion – prepare to do battle at EPT Malta in the first ever Global Poker Masters
Poker has traditionally been a solo pursuit, but a new live tournament wants to create an annual team spectacle in a bid to get the game to a wider audience. And it looks like it could be a wild ride!
The Global Poker Index has just announced new details for the inaugural Global Poker Masters, a two-day event set to take place at the EPT Malta festival, March 21-22.
Eight countries, each made up of five players, will contest the event and although official details have yet to be set, we understand that Day 1 will consist of a number of single table tournaments. Points will be accrued in these and the team with the least points at the end of Day 1 will be eliminated. Day 2 will be made of heads-up confrontations and at the end another team will be eliminated, leaving a six-nation final table.
‘GPI’s aim is to Sportify the game of poker and the presentation of this innovative event will go a long way towards accomplishing that goal,’ revealed Global Poker Index Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Dreyfus. ‘There is no buy-in for the event, we want to create an international competition where players are playing for pride, country and for the love of the game.’
Qualifying nations
The eight qualifying nations were determined by calculating the number of players ranked in the GPI300 for each country as of December 31, 2014.
- #1 Team USA
- #2 Team UK
- #3 Team Germany
- #4 Team Canada
- #5 Team Russia
- #6 Team France
- #7 Team Italy
- #8 Team Ukraine
The players
A total of 40 players will qualify for the Global Poker Masters. Each nation will be represented by five players: the 2014 National Player of the Year, the nation’s top 3 ranked players on the GPI World Poker Rankings and a wildcard.
Team USA
- Dan Smith (GPI#2)
- Daniel Colman (GPI#5, National Player of the Year)
- Pratyush Buddiga (GPI#6)
- Jacob Schindler (GPI#7)
Team UK
- Stephen Chidwick (GPI#11)
- Jack Salter (GPI#29)
- Simon Deadman (GPI#34)
- Oliver Price (GPI#36, National Player of the Year)
Team Germany
- Ole Schemion (GPI#1, National Player of the Year)
- Marvin Rettenmaier (GPI#25)
- Martin Finger (GPI#46)
- George Danzer (GPI#48)
Team Canada
- Ami Barer (GPI#4, National Player of the Year)
- Sorel Mizzi (GPI#13)
- Mike McDonald (GPI#16)
- Andrew Chen (GPI#21)
Team Russia
- Anatoly Filatov (GPI#32, National Player of the Year)
- Vladimir Troyanovskiy (GPI#55)
- Ivan Soshnikov (GPI#63)
- Vitaly Lunkin (GPI#77)
Team France
- Erwann Pecheux (GPI#59, National Player of the Year)
- Benjamin Pollak (GPI#61)
- Sylvain Loosli (GPI#155)
- Fabrice Soulier (GPI#174)
Team Italy
- Dario Sammartino (GPI#17)
- Mustapha Kanit (GPI#41, National Player of the Year)
- Andrea Dato (GPI#54)
- Giuliano Bendinelli (GPI#170)
Team Ukraine
- Eugene Katchalov (GPI#53, National Player of the Year)
- Oleksandr Gnatenko (GPI#207)
- Artem Metalidi (GPI#218)
- Oleksii Khoroshenin (GPI#283)
If a player can’t attend, the nation’s next ranked player on the GPI World Poker Rankings as of December 31, 2014 will receive an invitation.
Live streaming, live betting
The Global Poker Masters is going to be live streamed in at least five different languages. The event will be broadcast with no delay, which means you will be able to see every move, every play, as it happens, from the comfort of their own homes. The GPI is also hoping to encourage betting on the event – more information on this will be released nearer the time.
We’ll bring you the very latest news on the Global Poker Masters as we get it.
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