Team Europe Too Strong For America In Caesars Cup

Team Europe proved too strong for the American team as they convincingly took four out of five matches to win the inaugural Caesars Cup.
The action got started with the two-on-two matches where players would take it in turn to play different streets in the same hand until the hand was completed. A 50 blind structure and 10 minute blinds ensured the action would be fast and aggressive.
The first pairing  saw Finns Patrik Antonius and Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies get off to a 1-0 start against Phil Ivey and Huck Seed. American team captain Daniel Negreanu then decided to pair himself up with Phil Hellmuth against Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier and Betfair qualifier John Harvey. A push pre-flop by Harvey with A-3 was called by Hellmuth holding a higher Ace hand but team Europe made a wheel on the turn to take a 2-o advantage.
Poker legend Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harman went into match 3 needing a win and a pocket pair of aces turned quads saw them keep their side’s hopes alive at 2-1.
Match 4 took all of 20 minutes with team John Juanda and Barry Greenstein taking on the Danish contingent of Gus Hansen and current WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate. A raise by Greenstein with K-Q was re-raised all in by Hansen with A-8 and the board failed to improve the American’s holding handing the Europeans a commanding 3-1 lead.
Match 5 was a heads-up encounter between Team Captain Annette Obrestad and the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Huck Seed. Nine minutes later Seed’s all in with A-3 was defeated by A-7 and Team Europe had nipped the best of 7 tournament in the bud to win 4-1.
The jubilant Team Europe Captain, Annette Obrestad commented on the tournament, “We destroyed them. I think the Caesars Cup is a really cool concept. It is something that has never been done before. I hope the Caesars Cup goes on for every year, from now on.”
The Caesars Cup can be seen February 7th on ESPN in a two-hour show.