Poland Beats USA to Win The World Cup of Poker!

27 June 2006

Team Poland won the third annual PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker (http://www.pokerstars.com). Members of Team Poland defeated Team United States in heads-up play to win the $100,000 top prize.

In a dramatic finish, Jacek Ladny, 40, an online qualifier, called a massive bluff by the USA Team Captain Joe Harwell. With A-6 of spades, the ice-cool Warsaw stockbroker called Harwell's unsuited 6-3 to win $20,000 for himself -- and an additional $20,000 for each of his four teammates. "We're going to play poker to see who takes the trophy home," he joked.

Philip Hilm, 30, a regular player on the televised European Poker Tour, was the celebrity player on the Polish team. "None of these guys have played in a big tournament before but they were very consistent and performed very well. Everyone made a contribution but it took a great final call by Jacek to clinch victory. The USA Team was playing very aggressively and he read the situation perfectly." The rest of the winning team comprised Team Captain Marcin Doliwa, student pharmacist Andrzej Skawinski and Marcin Meinardi, a software developer.

Team USA took home $50,000 for second place, while Team Canada won $30,000 for third place. Fourth-placed Israel won $20,000. For a full report of the World Cup of Poker Final, go to the official PokerStars blog at http://www.pokerstarsblog.com.

The tournament cost nothing to enter. PokerStars.com posted all of the prize money, which totaled $200,000. In fact, all team players were given free travel to Barcelona, Spain for representing their respective countries. The free tournament began online in April with 39 nations around the globe -- from Argentina to Australia -- battling for the right to represent their countries in the televised eight-team finale.

Each national team featured five players: two Frequent Player Point (FPP) PokerStars qualifiers, two top-ranking PokerStars players and one "celebrity" player chosen by the team. These included former World Champion Tom McEvoy for the USA and Isabelle "No Mercy" Mercier for Canada.

The live tournament format for the Barcelona final involved five qualifying heats -- with each team member playing in one of the heats. Each heat comprised a single-table mini-tournament with team members awarded points as follows:

1st place - 15 points 5th place - 5 points

2nd place - 12 points 6th place - 3 points

3rd place - 9 points 7th place - 2 points

4th place - 7 points 8th place - 1 point

After the fifth and final heat, the top four teams went through to a four- handed knock-out to decide the World Cup winners.

The prize money is distributed between the top four teams:

1st $100,000 ($20,000 per player)

2nd $50,000 ($10,000 per player)

3rd $30,000 ($6,000 per player)

4th $20,000 ($4,000 per player)

Qualifying Round Summary:

CANADA -- Team Canada was drifting until the feisty French Canadian Isabelle Mercier sat down for Heat 3. 'No Mercy' Mercier dominated her table from beginning to end to secure a much-needed 15 points. Further wins by Trevor Diks and Christopher Comely meant Canada finished top of the class.

USA -- The Americans got off to a good start thanks to a super aggressive display by Joe Harwell, who finished 2nd in the opening heat. A victory by Dave Smith in Heat 2 put team USA in a strong position, and 1983 WSOP champion Tom McEvoy virtually secured their qualification with 3rd place in Heat 3.

POLAND -- Poland enjoyed a smooth ride to the final round, thanks to the remarkable consistency which meant that a Pole finished in the top four of every heat. Philip Hilm was second in Heat 5 to further boost team confidence going into the final.

ISRAEL -- A second place finish in Heat 2 by established pro 'Sugar' Teddy Tuil represented Israel's best result in the heats. They struggled thereafter but just did enough to sneak a top four place ahead of Brazil.

BRAZIL -- Team Brazil were bitterly disappointed to miss out on a place in the final by just two points. Victory in Heat 1 by Christian Kruel gave them a perfect start but a string of poor results ended in heartbreak in the final heat.

ENGLAND - A captain's performance by Andrew Booker, who finished second in Heat 3, lifted English hopes after a weak start. But only victory would do going into the last heat -- and Derek Morris's 6th-place finish ended their chances.

IRELAND - The Irish never got going in this competition. Only Dawn Marshall (2nd in Heat 4) put up serious resistance, but it was a case of 'too little, too late'. A last place elimination in Heat 5 summed up their tournament.

ICELAND - The Scandinavians took the wooden spoon in the overall competition. They were unable to improve on Birgir Gudmondsson's 4th place in Heat 2.

TEAM Heat 1 Heat 2 Heat 3 Heat 4 Heat 5 Total

Points

1 Canada 1 (8th) 5 (5th) 15 (1st) 15 (1st) 15 (1st) 51

2 Poland 7 (4th) 9 (3rd) 9 (3rd) 7 (4th) 12 (2nd) 44

3 USA 12 (2nd) 15 (1st) 7 (4th) 1 (8th) 7 (4th) 42

4 Israel 9 (3rd) 12 (2nd) 2 (7th) 9 (3rd) 2 (7th) 34

5 Brazil 15 (1st) 2 (7th) 3 (6th) 3 (6th) 9 (3rd) 32

6 England 2 (7th) 7 (4th) 12 (2nd) 5 (5th) 3 (6th) 24

7 Ireland 5 (5th) 3 (6th) 1 (8th) 12 (2nd) 1 (8th) 22

8 Iceland 1 (8th) 7 (4th) 5 (5th) 2 (7th) 5 (5th) 21

The PokerStars World Cup of Poker was taped for TV by BAFTA award winning TV production company Sunset+Vine, and will be broadcast in six episodes on Challenge TV (Sky Digital) and other channels throughout Europe starting in September. For more information and play by play action of the World Cup of Poker go to: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com.

About PokerStars

PokerStars (http://www.pokerstars.com) is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce features that became industry standard such as sophisticated multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and big bet ring games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more.

To date, PokerStars has dealt out over five-billion hands and run more than 25 million poker tournaments, awarding well over $5 billion in prize money. PokerStars is the world's largest poker tournament room, with over 5 million registered player accounts. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and assistance is available around the clock from people who know and understand the game of poker and the importance of impeccable customer service.

The PokerStars.com site is also one of the most secure. PokerStars uses industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion. Money covering player's balances is held in segregated accounts managed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, ensuring that PokerStars can fulfill its obligations to players at all times.

In February 2006, PokerStars.com became the first poker website ever to reach the 100,000 simultaneous player mark. That watershed achievement marked the largest poker event in history. Every week, the PokerStars.com "Sunday Million" is played, which the largest weekly tournament on the planet with a $1 million guaranteed tournament prize pool.

PokerStars is an official member of the World Poker Tour, and the title sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. In the fall, PokerStars hosts the world's largest online tournament, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP). PokerStars also sponsors major events around the globe, such as the World Cup of Poker and other exciting tournaments.

During the last three years, PokerStars.com sent more players to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) than any other source or website. A whopping 1,116 entrants (19 percent of the field) qualified to play in the 2005 WSOP via PokerStars satellites. PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker champions won their entries into the WSOP. The reigning world poker champion, Joe Hachem, has also been an active player at PokerStars since 2001. He joined Moneymaker and Raymer as official representatives of PokerStars.com, thus fortifying the company trademark, "Where Poker Players Become World Champions."

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