ElkY & HELLMUTH FINALIZE CAESARS CUP TEAMS FOR WSOP EUROPE

September 29, 2011 – In what is shaping up as a battle of youth versus experience, the Caesars Cup at this year’s World Series of Poker Europe is set to answer the question: Is experience or aggressiveness more important in today’s poker?

Europe will feature a team with five combined WSOP gold bracelets and take on an Americas team featuring the top three WSOP bracelet winners of all-time and an astonishing 39 WSOP gold bracelets.  And in terms of age, there is a big discrepancy as well.  The Americas average age is 51, while the Europeans are nearly half that average at just 27 years old.

All players for each team – the Europeans and the Americas – has been officially selected by each captain.

Here are the teams and comments from the Captains on why they selected each player:

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.”

The Caesars Cup will feature the game No-Limit Hold’em with two teams of five doing battle over a series of unique partner and heads up formats, with points awarded for each victory. The unique formats will include alternate betting and other non-traditional elements as players aim to win points for their respective teams. 

The format will be best three out of five, with the first team to three points declared the winners.

The unique Ryder Cup-style poker event pits teams of the best players from both sides of the Atlantic against each other on Wednesday, October 19th at 10 AM

The Caesars Cup is a made-for-television special that will air as part of televised 2011 WSOPE coverage.

Pride, bragging rights and claiming the Caesars Cup are all up for grabs at the event.  It will be contested during this year’s World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Barriere Poker taking place at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière in the beautiful seaside locale of Cannes, France from October 7 to October 20. 

The event was last played in in London, during the 2009 WSOP Europe.  Team Europe, captained by former WSOPE Main Event champion Annette Obrestad, and featuring the likes of ElkY, Hansen and Minieri, easily defeated Team Americas, captained by Daniel Negreanu and featuring poker legends Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey.

ABOUT WSOPE
Launched in 2007 by Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc., owner of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the WSOPE is the first tournament extension of the world’s richest and most prestigious gaming event.  WSOPE is now held in Cannes, France after four consecutive years in London, England.  The WSOPE awards the same coveted gold bracelets that the WSOP awards annually in Las Vegas.  In its first four years, WSOPE has awarded 16 gold bracelets, the first bracelets ever awarded outside the United States, of which ten different nations have claimed.  A total of 4,389 entrants have competed for £21,392,500 in prize money.  Please visit www.wsop.com/2011/WSOPE for more information.