Americas win 2011 Caesars Cup

We may have the Ryder Cup, the British Open, US Open, all the tennis titles, the world’s best football teams and the ability to play poker online, but Europe can’t have it all. At this week’s WSOPE, Phil Hellmuth and his gang of merry Yanks (and Daniel Negreanu) saw off the challenge of Team ElkY in the made-for-TV Caesars Cup.

There was no money on the line, but with the likes of Ben Lamb, Jason Mercier, Phil Hellmuth and Johnny Chan squaring off against Jake Cody, Tony G, Gus Hansen and ElkY, it was a must-see for poker lovers worldwide.

Players participated in three different formats of heads-up play, with points awarded to each winning two-man team. In round one, players played alternate streets of the same hand, with one player on each team playing preflop, the other flop and so on.

In Round two, two players played separate heads-up matches using the same stack. While the third round was a straight-up, man-to-man battle between ElkY and Chan.

There’s already talk on a rematch in 2013, with all those involved singing the event’s praises. Until then, Europe will just have to keep itself busy. Online sit-and-go anyone? No Americans allowed.

Here’s how the matches finished:

Round 1:
Jason Mercier and Ben Lamb vs Jake Cody and Tony G
Winner: Team Americas

Round 2:
Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth vs Gus Hansen and Max Lykov
Winner: Team Europe

Round 3:
Phil Hellmuth vs ElkY
Winner: Team Americas.