The inaugural Caesars Cup will play out at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe and pit top pros from the United States against Europe’s best. The Ryder Cup-esque event will take place on September 25th and air on ESPN.
The American squad is captained by Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who reached out across party lines to select Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey with his first pick. Ivey recorded five in the money finishes during the 2009 WSOP, including three final tables and two bracelets. His pieces of hardware were the sixth and seventh of his career and came in Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball and Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low Eight or Better. Ivey was the youngest player ever to earn five WSOP bracelets and, to date, none have come in a Hold’em event. In 2002, he recorded three gold bracelets and forever cemented his name as among the best in the industry.
The European Caesars Cup team is captained by Team Betfair Pro Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who selected 2008 WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate with her first pick. The youngsters will be a formidable force. Obrestad took down the inaugural WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007 for £1 million, while Eastgate pocketed over $9 million for his win in the Las Vegas feature tournament. Eastgate, a Danish poker pro, ranks second on the all-time WSOP money list by virtue of his win last year, trailing only Jamie Gold, who earned $12 million for emerging victorious in the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
Negreanu and Obrestad will select six team members in total; Obrestad’s will have one member from Betfair. The European champion commented in a press release, “The lineup for this year’s WSOPE Caesars Cup is already starting to look impressive and looks like a who’s who of poker. The fact that a member of the public can qualify to sit alongside some of the best players in the game will be a massive attraction to players on Betfair Poker. I look forward to captaining our team to glory on September 25th this year in London.” The roster for each team will be filled out over the coming weeks prior to the WSOP Europe festivities kicking off on September 17th.
Betfair serves as the presenting sponsor of WSOP Europe. On September 18th, the first of two starting days in a £1,060 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event will kick off from London. Three days later, a £2,650 buy-in Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha event will issue its “Shuffle up and deal” command from the Casino at the Empire. The final preliminary event is a £5,250 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament that begins on September 23rd and is followed by the £10,350 buy-in Main Event. The feature tournament starts on September 26th and will air on ESPN and ESPN 360.
Betfair players can earn their way onto the European Caesars Cup team through a leaderboard race. The top 200 players in a Monthly Low-Stakes Leaderboard (tracking sit and gos and mult-table tournaments with less than a $22 buy-in) will be entered into a Heat Low freeroll. The top 100 players in a Monthly High-Stakes Leaderboard will be entered into a Heat High freeroll. The top 18 finishers in each move onto a $5,000 Guaranteed Monthly Final that awards Caesars Cup points to the top finishers. In August, the top nine players on the Caesars Cup Leaderboard will battle it out for a spot on the team. The second through ninth place finishers will share a $25,000 prize pool, while the winner heads to London.
The WSOP Main Event hosts the first of two Day 2s today. On Wednesday, Day 2B will play out inside the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. The tournament plays down to its final table on July 15th and will crown a champion in November.
