List of initial players, countries qualified for Global Poker Masters 2015 revealed

The inaugural Global Poker Masters, deemed poker’s World Cup, will take place on March 21 and 22 during the EPT Malta Festival. The two-day event will feature most of the game’s best players with national pride on the line. It will not conflict with the EPT Malta Main Event as participants will be able to play Day 1B of the Main once the GPM competition will be completed. Eight countries will participate in the Global Poker Masters with each team consisting of five players.

Although the event format has yet to be officially announced, Day 1 will feature a mixed tournament format where participants will compete against players from each other country in a series of single table tournaments. Players will accumulate points for their countries throughout the day. The team with the least amount of points following Day 1 play will be eliminated from the competition.

Day 2 will begin with players continuing to battle for points in heads-up matches. The bottom team will once again be eliminated leading to a six-nation final table for worldwide bragging rights.

“GPI’s is to Sportify the game of poker and the presentation of this innovative event will go a long way towards accomplishing that goal” revealed Global Poker Index Chief Executive Officer Alexandre Dreyfus. “There is no buy-in for the event, we want to create an international competition where players are playing for pride, country and for the love of the game in hopes to showcase the game’s best. Through the GPI, it will create a solid platform for poker to be promoted through new distribution channels and mainstream partners.”

Dreyfus continues: “With the GPI’s association with Swiss watchmaker Roger Dubuis, who will reward GPI Players of the Year in three regions with unique timepieces worth over $50,000, we hope to continue attracting major sponsors in hopes of creating a true “World Cup of Poker” in the coming years.”

QUALIFYING NATIONS

The eight qualifying nations were determined by calculating the number of players ranked in the GPI300 for each country as of December 31, 2014.

While Team USA was the overwhelming #1 nation, a three-way tie between Argentina, Denmark and the Ukraine required a tie-breaker to determine the final team that would be included in the field. In order to break the tie, we calculated the total number of GPI300 points accumulated by the Top 5 players in each country. Lead by Eugene Katchalov, the Ukraine won the tie-breaker and will be part of the eight-nation field:

#1 Team USA: 140 players in GPI300 (46.67%)
#2 Team UK: 25 players in GPI300 (8.33%)
#3 Team Germany: 18 players in GPI300 (6%)
#4 Team Canada: 17 players in GPI300 (5.67%)
#5 Team Russia: 16 players in GPI300 (5.33%)
#6 Team France: 7 players in GPI300 (2.33%)
#7 Team Italy: 6 players in GPI300 (2%)
#8 Team Ukraine: 5 players in GPI300 (1.67%)

NATIONAL TEAM ROSTERS

A total of 40 players will qualify for the Global Poker Masters. Each nation will be represented by five players: the 2014 National Player of the Year, the nation’s Top 3 ranked players on the GPI World Poker Rankings and a wildcard. Criteria for each team’s wildcard will be announced shortly.

Here is a look at each country’s first four qualifiers:

TEAM USA  

Dan Smith (GPI#2)
Daniel Colman (GPI#5, National Player of the Year)
Pratyush Buddiga (GPI#6)
Jacob Schindler (GPI#7)

TEAM UNITED KINGDOM  

Stephen Chidwick (GPI#11)
Jack Salter (GPI#29)
Simon Deadman (GPI#34)
Oliver Price (GPI#36, National Player of the Year)

TEAM GERMANY  

Ole Schemion (GPI#1, National Player of the Year)
Marvin Rettenmaier (GPI#25)
Martin Finger (GPI#46)
George Danzer (GPI#48)

TEAM CANADA  

Ami Barer (GPI#4, National Player of the Year)
Sorel Mizzi (GPI#13)
Mike McDonald (GPI#16)
Andrew Chen (GPI#21)

TEAM RUSSIA  

Anatoly Filatov (GPI#32, National Player of the Year)
Vladimir Troyanovskiy (GPI#55)
Ivan Soshnikov (GPI#63)
Vitaly Lunkin (GPI#77)

TEAM FRANCE  

Erwann Pecheux (GPI#59, National Player of the Year)
Benjamin Pollak (GPI#61)
Sylvain Loosli (GPI#155)
Fabrice Soulier (GPI#174)

TEAM ITALY  

Dario Sammartino (GPI#17)
Mustapha Kanit (GPI#41, National Player of the Year)
Andrea Dato (GPI#54)
Giuliano Bendinelli (GPI#170)

TEAM UKRAINE  

Eugene Katchalov (GPI#53, National Player of the Year)
Oleksandr Gnatenko (GPI#207)
Artem Metalidi (GPI#218)
Oleksii Khoroshenin (GPI#283)

Should a player not be able to attend, the nation’s next ranked player on the GPI World Poker Rankings as of December 31, 2014 will then receive the invitation to attend. Dreyfus confirms that he has already talked to Daniel Colman, who has advised him he will not be in Malta for the EPT, so, in this case, Bryn Kenney will be invited to participate in Colman’s place.

Dreyfus hopes to have the list of confirmed players and final rosters set within the next few weeks.

LIVE STREAM, LIVE BETTING

The event is set to be live streamed in at least five different languages. The event will be broadcast 100%, with no delay, which means that fans will be able to see every move, every play, as it happens, from the comfort of their own homes. Look for an announcement about the Global Poker Masters’ live stream distribution partners shortly.

With live coverage comes the possibility of placing bets on the action live as well, bringing a whole new element to the viewing audience, making fans chose between railing their country or a player they might have placed a small wager on. More information on live betting during the Global Poker Masters to be made available in the coming weeks.

“We hope this will become an annual “must-watch” event in sports,” added Dreyfus. “The qualification format ensures that the best poker player on the live tournament circuit will participate in the event, those watching will be able to see the world’s best go head-to-head in hopes of winning it all for their country.

Prizes for the winning team will be announced later.

The 2015 Global Poker Masters, live from the Hilton Portomaso in Malta, March 21st and 22nd, 2015 and live streamed to the World!