Phil Hellmuth and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier have officially announced their chosen teams for the World Series of Poker Europe Caesars Cup, currently scheduled for October 19. The event is designed as a face-off between two 5-player teams, with Hellmuth serving as captain of Team Americas and Grospellier acting as Team Europe’s leader.
For Team Europe, Grospellier selected Maxim Lykov of Russia, Dario Minieri of Italy, Gus Hansen of Denmark and Jake Cody of the United Kingdom. Grospellier hails from France.
Grospellier based his decisions on recent wins in favor of overall experience. Each member of his team, which has an average age of only 27k, has earned a single WSOP bracelet.
In contrast, Hellmuth chose to stack his team with some of the most experienced and successful North American players in poker history, even if several of them are lacking in recent tournament victories. His team includes Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Huck Seed and Daniel Negreanu. The team has an average age of 51, and has won an incredible total of 39 WSOP bracelets.
In an official WSOP press release, Hellmuth exhibited his usual boisterous humor when he joked that “decades of experience” would easily win out over “clicking a mouse while sitting in your pajamas,” referring to the fact that much of Team Europe’s overall experience has been gained in the online poker world.
The last Caesars Cup was played in 2009 in London, where Team Europe ultimately won. Grospellier, Minieri, Hansen, Hellmuth, Brunson and Negreanu participated in that event as well.
The WSOPE Caesars Cup is set to take place in Cannes, France at the Casino Barriere de Cannes Croisette, with other WSOPE events set to take place there and at the Hotel Majestic Barriere. The event will utilize a heads-up format and nothing will be at stake aside from bragging rights and the title.
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