The first-ever WPT Global Teams Event starts today in Korea at the Paradise City Hotel & Casino. The event is set to take place from 19th September to 21st September during WPT Korea. Announced recently by World Poker Tour (WPT) as a part of its expansion in Asia, the brand new event is based on a unique format and will see nations pitting against each other in 4-person teams.
The event will see a host of tournaments taking place, ensuring that all poker players get a reasonable amount of playing time. Each team will pay $5,000 fee to enter and will compete against one another across six poker events, which will include variations of NLH and PLO events.
The much-awaited poker event kicks off just today, 19th September, with a 9-Max No Limit Holdem event followed by Heads-Up NLH and Heads-Up PLO events. The 20th September will then see Pot-Limit Omaha (two players) and Tag Team (two players) followed by a 6-Max NLH event. Finally, the event will conclude on 21st September with 9-max Turbo NLH and Tag Team Final NLH events.
A total of 13 teams have been confirmed, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Taiwan and UK. Here is a look at the teams:
- Australia:Wayde Rickuss (captain), Frank Marino, Trong Hieu Nguyen, Martin Shlemon.
- China:Dong Guo (captain), Yang Zhang, Xixiang ‘heichao’ Luo, Guoliang Wei.
- Hong Kong:Sparrow Cheung (captain), Edward Tam, Danny Tang, Vincent Kwun Ngai Li.
- India: Nikita Luther (captain), Kunal Patni, Dhaval Mudgal, Amit Jain.
- Japan:Takumi Samejima (captain), Harunobu Kojima, Hiroki Kato, TBA,
- Korea: Calvin Lee, Daniel Lee, Jimmy Lee, Hyunsik Yun,
- Malaysia: Victor Chong (captain), Michael Soyza, Ivan Seng Yee Leow, Webster Lim Chin Wei.
- Netherlands:Martijn Gerrits (captain), Luigi Knoppers, Bas de Laat, Joep Raemaekers.
- New Zealand:Thomas Ward (captain), Jack Efaraimo, Alicia Tangiiti, Paul Hockin.
- Norway:Henrik Tollefsen (captain), Markus Garberg, Orjan Skommo, Robert Kaggerud.
- Singapore:Bryan Huang (captain), Tyler Tan,Phua Tzai Wei, Calvin Tan.
- Taiwan:Pete Chen (captain), Chen An Lin, Fubon Huang, Leon Li-ta Hsu.
- UK: Sam Razavi (captain), Simon Burns, Nick Woodward, Ricky Cheung.
Team India Is All Set To Battle!
Team India has already been confirmed. It will be led by Adda52 Team Pro and India’s first female WSOP bracelet winner – Nikita Luther. Nikita in this team will be joined by Poker Sports League (PSL) Season 2 winning mentor Dhaval Mudgal and Adda52 Team Pros Kunal Patni and Amit Jain.
Team India is ready to battle for the first-ever WPT Global Teams Event. We caught up with Team India members and they seemed very excited about the event. Here is what they had to say:
Sharing his excitement, Dhaval said, “I’m very excited to get a chance to represent India on the poker circuit. We seldom get to fly the flag! The teams event is full of some of Asia’s best who have become close friends over the years and I expect some stiff competition but we will crush! Niki is a very close friend of mine and so is the rest of Team India and we are already working on strategy.”
Expressing his excitement about the event and having Nikita as the captain, Kunal Patni said, “Very excited to be a part of this unique format. It’s inspired by PSL but we will end up representing our country and there isn’t any bigger pride than representing one’s own country. It’s like a dream come true and I am really looking forward to it. We will obviously go for gold. Nikita is in great form right now and she is aggressive and hates losing. It’s great to have her as the captain for team India”.
Expressing his feelings and plans, Amit Jain said, “It’s a pleasure and a dream to represent team India and we will be giving our 100% into it. We are already working on the strategy bit and will be having an online and live boot camp prior to the event to discuss and strategize according to the structure.”