The Team USA roster for the inaugural World Team Poker event is now in place, as Phil Hellmuth and Doyle Brunson selected their group of nine players for the one-day event, which takes place on May 19th at the Golden Nugget. The $50,000 buy-in event will feature 40 of the world’s top poker pros representing eight different countries.
Hellmuth, who holds the record for most number of bracelets won at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) with 11, is the Team USA front man, but kindly deferred his captaincy to Brunson. “If (Brunson) accepts, I’m going to give him the captain jersey because he deserves it and I’ll play the number two spot,” Hellmuth said at a World Team Poker press conference. Brunson, who has 10 WSOP bracelets of his own, gladly accepted the role.
On Monday, Brunson selected his roster to represent Team USA: Annie Duke, Howard Lederer, Erik Seidel, Allen Cunningham, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, and Mike “The Mouth” Matusow.
Duke and Lederer provide a sister-brother combo. Duke recently won the 2010 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, defeating fellow Team USA member Seidel for the title. She also won the 2004 WSOP Tournament of Champions and appeared on NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2009, finishing second to Joan Rivers. Lederer is a two-time WSOP bracelet holder with more than $5 million in career tournament earnings.
The aforementioned Seidel holds eight WSOP bracelets and won the 2008 World Poker Tour (WPT) Foxwoods event. Cunningham has five WSOP bracelets and was the 2005 ESPN/Toyota Player of the Year, but might be best known for his fourth place finish in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, where he collected $3,628,513.
Matusow is one of the most popular players in the world, known for his loud mouth and tendency to wear his heart on his sleeve. He won the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions and owns three WSOP bracelets. Ferguson is the quietest member of the team, but lets his play at the tables do the talking. He won the 2008 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and the 2000 WSOP Main Event and has five WSOP bracelets. Rounding out the roster is Harman, a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and regular at the “Big Game” at the Bellagio.
Lederer, Ferguson, Harman, Cunningham, Matusow, and Seidel are all members of Team Full Tilt Poker. Hellmuth and Duke represent Team UB.com, while Brunson is the namesake of DoylesRoom.
World Team Poker squads competing against the USA will be China (Co-Captains Johnny Chan and David Chiu), Australia (Co-Captains Jeff Lisandro and Tony G), Israel (Captain Eli Elezra), Vietnam (Captain Men “The Master” Nguyen), England (Captain Ben Roberts), Brazil (Captain Juliano Maesano), and Greece (Co-Captains George Kapalas and George Theofanopoulos)
The World Team Poker Event will be a five-table shootout format consisting of rounds of Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and No Limit Hold’em. The last two players from each shootout will compete in a final-table showdown. The twist is that captains will have the option of making substitutions throughout the event, allowing for a level of team strategy not normally seen in poker, as matches will be set up based on expertise in different games. It adds a dynamic to the game that should generate excellent viewership for the event, which will be televised.
World Team Poker will host a press party the night before the event on May 18th to introduce the teams. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for announcement of the other rosters competing in the inaugural event.
