Carlos Mortensen to Head Spanish World Team Poker 2011

The Spanish poker superstar Carlos Mortensen has been chosen to captain the national squad going into December’s World Team Poker event in Las Vegas.
Carlos Mortensen has been a dominant force on the tournament circuit since cashing in at his first event in 1999. Mortensen has since gone on to win almost $10 million from live tournaments, picking up two WSOP bracelets and three WPT titles along the way.
Spain has a relatively underdeveloped poker industry and were absent from the inaugral World Team Poker Event in May this year, which was won by Team China lead by Johnny Chan. Mortensen will be looking to emulate China’s success and as a captain will be responsible for making substitutions mid-matches and coaching team members.
Chosen to star along Carlos Mortensen is a strong line-up of pros which include Leo Margets, Raul Paez, Santiago Terrazas, Oscar Blanco, and Cayetano Garcia.
Lady luck will be represented on the Spanish team by Leo Margets. The stunning Barcelona pro has $478,078 in live tournament winnings including an impressive 27th place finish at the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $352,832.
Full Tilt Pro Raul Paez hailes is also from Barcelona and has $1,073,921 in tournament wins to his name including six WSOP and two EPT cashes. He is also Spain’s second biggest earner on the All Time Money List.
Santiago Tarrazas has around $650,000 in tournament cashes including a 3rd place finish at the 2009 EPT Barcelona Championship Event.
Finally, Oscar Blanco was voted the best All-Around Player in 2006 and has career earnings of more than $400,000 while Cayetano Garcia has earned around $250,000 so far with $82,000 of that amount coming in 2010.
Team Spain will surely have a tough time ahead of them competing against the more experienced teams such as USA, Australia, and Canada but are sure to put on a good performance come December.
The World Team Poker Event is then expected to be shown on Fox Sports Net later on in the year.