Iceland, Romania, Canada and USA Play in Finals of PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV
The PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV kicked off a few days ago in the Gran Casino in Barcelona, Spain with eight countries qualifying on-line at PokerStars and earning a ticket to play live poker for the finals. The World Cup of Poker IV finals saw 5 heats played out with each of the 8 countries represented at the table. Points are awarded based on tournament performance, and the scores after 5 heats will determine the countries ranking, and eventually the top 4 will compete in a final main event for the championship of The World Cup of Poker IV.
44 countries were represented during the on-line qualifiers for the World Cup of Poker IV, but the 8 top teams to make it to Barcelona for the main event were USA, Canada, Romania, Portugal, Iceland, Germany, Mexico and Ireland.
The first heat of the World Cup of Poker IV saw Canada take first place with 15 points from a victory by Michael Watson. Romania was in 2nd place with 12 points and Portugal wasn’t too far behind at 3rd with 9 points.
The second heat saw Iceland make a comeback by winning first place through the poker skills of Halldor Sverrisson. The standings however showed that Romania was ahead on the points with 21 followed by Canada with 20 and Iceland with 16.
During the third heat, Romania came out with the win with Cristian Mihai beating out Daniel Negreanu of Canada in heads-up action. The standings showed Romania beginning to pull away with 36 points total, and Canada just a shave away with 32 points. Ireland improved to 3rd place with 23 points while Iceland had 18 points to complete the top 4 after 3 heats.
On the fourth heat, Iceland once again came up on top through the impressive poker play of Andri Arnthorsson. However, Romania’s consistent performance allowed them to stretch their lead in the overall standings with 43 points. Canada had a dismal performance in the fourth heat, being the first to bust out. Canada earned only one point to give them a total of 33 in the overall standings, tying Iceland for a share of second place. Meanwhile, USA’s 2nd place finish in the fourth heat gave them enough points to overtake Ireland and move into the top 4 with 28 points.
The fifth and final heat was won by Portugal, but even if they scored maximum points for this heat, it wasn’t enough to put them among the top 4 teams who would advance to the final round of the World Cup of Poker IV. After 5 heats, Iceland regained the lead from Romania with a total score of 45 points, just one above Romania who had a total of 44. Canada managed 40 points and USA managed 37 points to put them through to the final round.
Portugal, Ireland, Germany and Mexico were eliminated and will be watching the finals from beyond the rail.
The remaining 4 teams - Iceland, Romania, USA and Canada - will be battling it out in a four-handed tag-team tournament to determine who will be the World Cup of Poker IV Champions. Apart from the bragging rights and the awesome world cup trophy, first prize will also pay out $100,000 for the team. Second prize will receive $60,000, 3rd gets $40,000 and 4th gets $20,000.
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