USA wins PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV in Barcelona
The PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV just finished at the Gran Casino, Barcelona, with Iceland, Canada, Romania and the USA vying for the prestigious PokerStars World Cup of Poker trophy as well as a bonus prize of $100,000 to be shared among the team members.
After it was all done, all the chips were piled up on the side of the United States to give them the championship, beating Romania after a very lengthy heads up duel. The Americans earned huge pots in the final table by eliminating Iceland and Canada care of fine poker play and a bit of luck from Team USA’s Tyler Netter and Shaun Deeb.
The United States, composed of Shaun Deeb, Tyler Netter, 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, as well as Randy Principe and John Kenlan, all had their chance to sit at the table and make an impact on the game. After all, this tournament was about team poker, and not just an individual effort. Team captains are required to make at least three substitutions, ensuring at least four of their five players have at least an hour around the felt. So, each player had the chance to sit at the table and control their country’s stack.
In the first leg, Einar Sveinsson of Iceland, Razvan Bengulescu of Romania, Ed Byrne of Canada and Randy Principe of the United States took to the tables. And, predictably, it was tight: with the likes of USA’s Greg Raymer and Canada’s Daniel Negreanu watching closely from the rail to rally their team on.
Substitutions were made at the end of level two. At this point, no country had a huge chip stack with the chips just exchanging ownership to keep everything equal. Big guns were brought in with the likes of Cristian Dragomir, the Romanian star player; American team captain Tyler Netter; Canadian captain Jody Thompson and Magnus Johannesson, Iceland’s joker in the pack.
USA’s Tyler Netter couldn’t get it going as he was aggressively re-raised by Johannesson into folding. However, credit must be given to Netter, who made an impressive lay-down with pocket Jacks after Johannesson moved all-in with a flopped set of deuces. This play was revealed in the television broadcast, but unknown to the players at the table.
Johannesson then slow-played a flopped straight to earn a few more chips from Netter, and Cristian Dragomir joined in the beating, re-raising his set of kings on the turn to force Netter to lay down again. Team USA was getting severely beaten and short-stacked, but they weren’t out just yet. Netter moved all-in over the top of Dragomir’s pre-flop raise with Q-J off to go up against Dragomir’s K-Qs. Dragomir looked to be dominant, and team USA was obviously disadvantaged and ready to be eliminated.
The flop of 9c-5s-2d gave Romania the lead. The 8s on the turn gave the US an inside straight draw, but the percentage still swung for Romania whose draw improved to a flush. Romania just had to avoid a non-spade jack or a non-spade ten. Just 6 outs. The river threw a ten of clubs, and team USA made a straight to give them a huge pot.
A new round of substitutions followed with The United States and Iceland bringing out their star players: PokerStars’ Greg Raymer came in for Netter and Halldor Sverrisson replaced Johannesson. Michael Watson, who was the champion in the first heat, came in for Canada.
Cristian Dragomir stayed on for Romania, and was able to keep Romania on track when his pocket kings made a set, and his all-in bet couldn’t be called by Iceland’s Halldor Sverrisson. Iceland’s stack was beginning to dwindle. Canada was also severely short-stacked, and 2004 WSOP Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu was hoping for the chance to still make a difference for Canada from the rail. Canada’s Michael Watson couldn’t get anything going, and USA’s Greg Raymer just pushed his chips around to build the US chip stack.
Watson eventually gave way to Negreanu at the end of his two-level allotment, and Negreanu looked to get things going for Team Canada. Shaun Deeb came in for the United States, and it wasn’t long before Deeb and Negreanu locked horns.
Deeb raised from early position and Negreanu went all-in with pocket 7s. Deeb saw his chance to knock out Negreanu and end the campaign of Team Canada and made the call with K-J. A king on the board spelled disaster for Negreanu, who only played two hands, and the elimination of Canada into 4th place.
Next to go was Iceland. Iceland’s captain Andri Bjorgvin bet from the button and Deeb moved all-in with Q-J. Bjorgvin called with A-9. Iceland seemed to be ahead pre-flop, but a Q on the flop improved Deeb’s hand and it was all over for Iceland at 3rd place.
Deeb had eliminated both Iceland and Canada, and Team USA kept him on to go heads up against Romania’s Cristian Rajala with a three-to-one chip lead plus the momentum of the winning rush. Romania’s Rajala was able to double up against Deeb with his 6-6 holding up against Deeb’s K-10. Romania tried to change strategy by bringing in Cristian Tardea but he couldn’t find any help from the board and eventually pushed his dwindling stack all-in with J-8. Deeb, holding A-Q, made the easy call and Romania couldn’t find a card to imrpove their hand. Romania goes out in 2nd place, collecting $60,000 for their team. Iceland received $40,000 for their 3rd place finish while Canada received $20,000 for their fourth place finish.
The United States were crowned as the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV Champions and earned $100,000 for their achievement.
PokerStars pro and team USA member Greg Raymer was delighted with the win, but was also impressed by the play of Romania.
“I was really impressed by Romania. I thought that one-through-five they had more depth than any other team in the competition. They didn’t make any obvious mistakes that I saw.”
PokerStars pro and team Canada member Daniel Negreanu wasn’t sorely disappointed by Canada’s loss, although he wished he could’ve played a little bit more hands.
“It’s been a lot of fun. I love this kind of environment. It’s not all about the money; it’s about five guys sacrificing personal goals for the whole team. I’ve really enjoyed it,” Negreanu said.
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