The first Caesar’s Cup tournament, pitting North American players against their European counterparts, took place in 2009 when the Annette Obrestad led Europeans easily dispatched the Daniel Negreanu led North Americans. The rematch will be taking place at this year’s WSOP Europe tournament series, and the two sides have new captains in Phil Hellmuth and Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier.

Much like Negreanu two years ago, Hellmuth has chosen a squad of veterans for Team America, while ElkY has followed Obrestad’s lead and selected his team from the large crop of young European stars (with one exception).

The Americans have the lengthier resumes (with 39 WSOP bracelets amongst the five players), but also lead the way in AARP cards at an average age of 51. The Euros have only four bracelets but do possess two of poker’s four Triple Crown winners, and come in with an average of 27.

Similar to Golf’s Rider Cup, each team will compete in partnered (with a format of alternating betting) and heads-up matches with points awarded for each match. The Caesar’s Cup will begin at 10AM on October 19th, 2011.

Here is a look at the team members courtesy of the wsop.com website:

Team Europe: 

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – France (Captain)

ElkY on the team he assembled: “I am very confident in my team,” said Grospellier.  “We will show the Americas that 2009 was not an upset!”   

Jake Cody – United Kingdom 

ElkY on Cody: “Winning the Triple Crown in just one year is an incredible feat, especially considering the tournaments he won.  There will be lots of heads up matches and he is the reigning Heads Up champ for having won the WSOP $25K this year, so he’s an easy pick.”

Gus Hansen – Denmark

ElkY on Hansen: “He’s been one of the best players in the game for a while and has a way of thinking a bit similar to mine that I realized even more when we played the first Caesars Cup together in London.  He also has lots of experience playing most of the guys Hellmuth could pick, so he’s perfect!”

Dario Minieri – Italy 

ElkY on Minieri: “Another member of the victorious European team in 2009, his huge experience in heads-up Sit n Go’s online back in the day makes him a prime candidate to defeat the U.S. team, because his unique style is very hard to adapt to.”

Maxim Lykov – Russia

ElkY on Lykov: “He’s been having huge results lately.  I respect his game very much and I also think his style of play is perfect to counter the picks of Phil!”

vs.

Team Americas: 

Phil Hellmuth – USA (Captain)

Hellmuth on the team he assembled: “These idiot Northern Europeans think they know everything about the game of poker,” joked Hellmuth.  “Well, we plan to show them that decades of experience are much more valuable than clicking a mouse while sitting in your pajamas.  In all seriousness, we look forward to the challenge and the opportunity to return the Caesars Cup to American soil.”

Doyle Brunson – USA

Hellmuth on Brunson:  “A must have pick for Team Americas!  Texas Dolly is the biggest icon in the game.  A huge legend in the poker world with 10 WSOP wins.  Dolly has been crushing kids for 50 years, so he’s perfect for the team.”

Johnny Chan

Hellmuth on Chan: “One of the toughest players in the poker world for decades!  Chan has 10 WSOP wins, and has made money in the biggest cash games on the planet for 30 years straight!  Along with Dolly and me, we have 31 WSOP wins, bring it Europe!”

Daniel Negreanu – Canada

Hellmuth on Negreanu:  “Daniel has earned his place on the team with four WSOP bracelets, and two WPT titles, along with the fact he is way up there on the all-time money winning list!  Daniel has worked hard to learn the math in heads-up matches, and his enthusiasm is prized by a Captain like me.”

Huck Seed – USA

Hellmuth on Seed: “Huck is an amazing player who has four WSOP wins, and who won the “NBC Heads Up” last year and also won the Canadian Heads Up Championships!  In the head up format he will be invaluable for the team.”

Tags: Annette, Bertrand, Bracelets, Caesar, Caesars, Counterparts, Daniel Negreanu, ElkY, European Stars, Europeans, Gus, Gus Hansen, Match, October 19th, phil hellmuth, Team America, Team Europe, Team Members, Triple Crown Winners, WSOP

This entry was posted on Friday, September 30th, 2011 at 9:23 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.