THE FOLLOWING IS NEWS FROM THE POKERSTARS WORLD CUP OF POKER VI, HELD AS PART OF THE 2010 PCA. KEEP CHECKING BACK FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE NEXT WORLD CUP OF POKER FINAL AT THE 2011 EVENT!
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WCP VI GRAND FINAL
The 2010 PCA hosted the live Grand Final of World Cup of Poker VI, which was won by Chinese Taipei. The World Cup of Poker is poker’s premier team event and sees players qualify online to represent their country. A grand total of 54 nations began qualification, and nine made it to The Bahamas to play for glory.
The nine teams that contested World Cup of Poker VI were USA, Germany, Canada, Italy, Finland, Norway, Croatia, Chinese Taipei and Chile.
The action began with two days of preliminary events to decide the final table order. These two days tested the players in a range of poker formats, including 9-handed full table shootouts, 6-Max, 4-Max and Heads-Up. The leading team after Day 1 went straight to Day 3, while the remaining eight teams battled through Day 2.
Day 3 was the last day and followed a final table format, with players substituting in and out of the action. Croatia held the chip lead as the final table began, and they were able to take that advantage all the way to the heads-up finale. There they met a fired-up Chinese Taipei led by Team PokerStars Pro Asia’s Raymond Wu. The end came when Croatia’s J-9 lost to Chinese Taipei’s A-2 despite flopping two pair, with Chinese Taipei turning the nut-flush.
The winning team received $100,000 in prize money, which meant each player got $20,000. But it was about more than the money, as Chinese Taipei were crowned World Cup of Poker champions.
Final results
| Position | Team | Players | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chinese Taipei | Raymond Wu (captain), Tseng Wei Ming, Tsu-Chi Wang, Lai Wan Shyun, Wen-Aho Pan | $100,000 |
| 2. | Croatia | Denis Kelemen (captain), Denis Obadic, Marko Puskadija, Andrija Vujic, Alessandro Grazia | $70,000 |
| 3. | Canada | Darus Suharto (captain), Steve Deschesnes, Michael Dietrich, Wade Ackerman, Kevin Burrill | $50,000 |
| 4. | USA | Vanessa Rousso (captain), Chris Burmeister, Andrew Schultz, Ryan Alan Templin, Salvatore Buccieri | $30,000 |
| 5. | Germany | Jan Heitmann (captain), Rasmus Lüdke, Frank Boehrens, Sascha Cornils, Ole Carstens | $10,000 |
| 6. | Italy | Luca Pagano (captain), Valeria Bucciarelli, Vincenzo Bevilacqua, Giovanni Mancuso, Alessandro Sciolti | $10,000 |
| 7. | Finland | Jani Vilmunen (captain), Tommi Juhani Saarinen, Kirsi Korpi, Mika Korpela, Antti Märijärvi | $10,000 |
| 8. | Norway | Johnny Lodden (captain), Bjørn Andre Hovden, Christian Stokkeland, Jan-Idar Lerbrekk, Geir Ståle Plassen | $5,000 |
| 9. | Chile | Mauricio Zeman (captain), Mauricio Ibarra Araya, Rodolfo Awad, Shaun Sheffield, Nicolas Campos Leal | $5,000 |
About World Cup of Poker
The World Cup of Poker has been running since 2004 and every year thousands of players all over the world compete to represent their country at the live final. The final has been played in London and Barcelona in the past, but now calls the PCA home. It’s an exciting team event where four online qualifiers are joined by a player of PokerStars choosing, normally a Team PokerStars Pro. The top teams contest the live final which always draws a crowd and national passions run high.
Roll of Honor
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Chinese Taipei |
| 2008 | Germany |
| 2007 | USA |
| 2006 | Poland |
| 2005 | Costa Rica |
| 2004 | Costa Rica |