While a great deal of focus at the WSOP-APAC event has been on bracelets and big money, there has been more in store for keen poker players and fans. The Caesars Cup event has definitely been of great interest to players and Team American were going all out to retain their title. This was the third event of this team tournament and going into the WSOP-APAC event, the score was tied 1-1 with America and Europe. As reigning champions, the Americans got a bye to the final which meant that Europe had to play against Team APAC to regain their crown.
English poker player Sam Trickett was the team captain of Team Europe and ultimately, he would be the captain that would taste success at the end of the event. The captain picked wisely from a squad that was not too exhaustive, given the location of the tournament there was no surprise that European players were a bit thin on the ground but success was achieved regardless of overall numbers or crowd support.
Poker glory is a big prize
Sam Holden was another English member of the team and he was very excited on Twitter when talking about the big event.
We won! I managed to beat Greg Merson in the deciding game to win. No money, only pride. It’ll be shown on sky later in the year.
This tweet goes some way to showing that it is not only money that motivates poker players. There was a great deal of money going around at the WSOP-APAC event and you can imagine some players would have had their focus on the cash. However, there is definitely a lot of kudos in putting yourself up against some of the best poker players in the world and the European team can take a lot of pride in overcoming their opponents.
Phil Gruissem may be a German poker player but he lives in Brighton and anyone looking at the best poker players residing in England at the moment would definitely have him on their list. The team was rounded out with another two Germans with Marvin Rettenmaier and Dominik Nitsche completing the line-up. This meant that the five man team was comprised of two English players, two German players and an additional German player that lives in England. There has been some differences between Germany and England in the past but the make-up of that team was a great blend to ensure there was balance between the two sides!
2-1 was the score of the tournament
The nature of the event saw teams take part in a best of three event with the first two games being team games. Every side would select two players who would share their stack and then take on their opponents together. After the two team games had been completed, if there was a need to decide the tie, a one on one game would be played. Europe took the first game but Team APAC levelled it which meant that there was a need for a one on one game to decide it. Europe went with young German Domink Nitsche against Jeff Lisandro, a WSOP Champ on five occasions and the odds were on Europe taking an early exit. However, luck was on the side of the Europeans and Nitsche won the hand, taking Team Europe through to the final.
The final between Europe and the USA followed a similar pattern. Europe took the first game but the Americans tied it at 1-1, leaving it to a one on one game to complete the tournament and decide who wins the prize. Sam Holden managed to defeat Greg Merson, giving Europe their second win, adding to their triumph in 2009.
So far there has been no announcement whether there will be another Caesars Cup event or where and when it will take place but you cannot imagine the Americans will be happy at a tournament ending when it is not in their grasp. The trophy has never been contested in America so it would make sense if the 2015 event was held in America but Europe will be keen for more success.