With the World Series of Poker Europe looming on the horizon, Team Americas captain Phil Hellmuth and Team Europe captain Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier have chosen their teams for the second-ever battle for the Caesars Cup.
Grospellier is opting to go for the younger, more aggressive sect with the selection of his four team members. It also seems that he chose his squad for their particular skills in heads up play, which is the Caesars Cup format. Overall, the team looks to be a formidable one balanced between veteran pros and younger players who are making their names known in the poker world.
Heading the list is Gus Hansen, the defending champion of the WSOPE Heads Up event. Hansen’s selection is an unexpected but well deserved one as he does have a vast amount of experience in heads up poker. What may be a distraction for Hansen, however, is his affiliation with Team Full Tilt through its issues. Not only does he have quite a bit of money on the site but the vitriolic response from poker fans regarding his appearance may affect his play.
Grospellier’s other choices are naturals for the ultra-aggressive Caesars Cup format. “ElkY” has enlisted the aid of another poker “Triple Crown” winner, the United Kingdom’s Jake Cody, to be a part of the team. Cody, in slightly more than eighteen months, captured titles on the European Poker Tour, World Poker Tour and at the World Series of Poker. That third championship, at the WSOP’s $25,000 Heads Up Event, marks him as a player who has the skills to excel at this style of event. Italy’s Dario Mineri and Russia’s Max Lykov, currently one of the front runners in the Player of the Year race, round out the youthful European squad.
Hellmuth has decided to go with veteran players to attempt to take the Caesars Cup from the Europeans. The average age of Team Americas is 51, with the youngest player being Canada’s Daniel Negreanu. Hellmuth has tapped three former World Champions, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Huck Seed, to fill out Team Americas, but what is more striking is the players that Hellmuth could have chosen but didn’t.
Hellmuth left off the squad two players, Erik Seidel and Jason Mercier, who have been on a year-long tear through the tournament poker world. Hellmuth could have also gone with players like Sam Stein, Eugene Katchalov or Galen Hall, who are all in the Top Ten in the POY race. It may be likely that the “Poker Brat” could not confirm that some of those gentlemen would be at the WSOPE this year, so he went with the “old guard.” Still, the exclusion of the younger players sacrifices some of the skills that they have honed in the high stakes internet heads up realm.
The team rosters echo the squads from the inaugural Caesars Cup, which was contested in 2009 in London at the WSOPE. Team Europe, with the youthful Annette Obrestad at the helm, crushed Negreanu’s Team Americas 4-1. During that year’s competition, Obrestad filled out her roster with players weaned on the internet version of the game and dominated Negreanu’s older, more experienced squad. Brunson was the only member of Team Americas to win that year, defeating Obrestad in heads up play.
The WSOPE will start next week, October 7, and feature an expanded seven tournament schedule. This year’s tournament marks the first time it will be held outside of London, with the Majestic Barriere Cannes and the Le Croisette Barriere Cannes in France serving as the host venues. The Caesars Cup will be contested on October 19, featuring a best of five format with heads up and partner No Limit Hold’em as the games.
