International Federation of Poker European Nations Cup rosters revealed

From April 12^th through April 15^th the International Federation of Poker (The IFP for short) will host the European Nations Cup “Match Poker” tournament at the Annabelle Hotel in Paphos, Cyprus. The event will feature 14 teams of seven players representing countries across Europe in the new poker discipline that was first unveiled at the IFP Nations Cup in 2011, where team Germany walked away victorious.

Match Poker (previously known as Duplicate Poker) sees each player dealt the same cards, flop, turn, and river, and players receive points based on how skillfully they play the hand –basically the poker version of Duplicate Bridge. The game has received Mind Sport status along with other skill-based games like Chess, Go, and Bridge from the International Mind Sport Association (IMSA).

This time around the event will play out on smart-phones, allowing judges to track each and every play made by every player, which will include some of the top talent on the European poker scene. Here is a look at the countries competing in the European Nations Cup as well as the known rosters which were announced on the IFP Facebook page:

• Cyprus (host country)

Still waiting for final roster

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

Alija Šabanović, Adnan Subašić Kepac, Danijel Kucurski, Igor Topić, Stojan Prodanović, Nela Rudović, and Đorđe Lovrić

• Denmark

Preben Rasmussen, Jesper Hougaard, Simon Ravnsbaek, Jes Bondo, Sidsel Boesen, Frederik Brink Jensen, and Lars Bonding

• Estonia

Marek Reinaas, Kelly Limonova, Laur Sibold, Marko Kolk, Henri Käsper, Herli Olop, and Katti Järvsoo

• France

Still waiting for final roster

• Holland

Joris Ruys, Jorryt van Hoof, Wendy Van Veenendaal, Rolf Slotboom, Rob Hollink, Raymond Wynia, and Koen de Bakker

• Hungary

Still waiting for final roster

• Ireland

Cat Taylor, Dara O’Kearney, Dermot Blain, Eoghan O’Dea, John O’Shea, Mick Graydon, and Padraig Parkinson

• Lithuania

Vytautas Milbutas, Vytautas Lekeckas, Justas Zdanevičius, Giedrius Sabonis, Inga Marcinkevičiūtė, Rasa Šalčiuvienė, and Skirmantas Tomkevicius

• Poland

Pawel Abramczuk, Sebastian Durak, Piotr Sarnecki, Sylwester Smialek, Krysia Jakubowska, Jakub Wisnicki, and Michal Panek

• Russia

Sergey Rybachenko (Gipsy), Ivan Demidov, Konstantin Puchkov, Lika Gerasimova, Andrey Pateychuk, Alexey Popov, and Alexander Lakhov

• Serbia

Vladimir Božinović, Miloš Nedeljković, Miloš Milanović, Milan Milosavljević, Milan Milosavljević, Marko Đaković, Danka Stokanić, and Nikola Peric

• Spain

Still waiting for final roster

• United Kingdom

Daiva Barauskaite, Karl Mahrenholz, Ben Roberts, John Eames, Neil Channing, Ross Boatman, and Barny Boatman

The early favorites have to be the contingents from the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Russia and Holland, although I suspect the Hungarian roster will be very strong and could be the dark-horse in the European Nations Cup. I’m also a little disappointed that Germany didn’t field a team, considering the country has some of the best young tournament talent in the game.

For more information on the IFP and the European Nations Cup you can visit their website at http://www.pokerfed.org/