suedunnell wrote: Hi Again - I should add my name to comment #1 above and ask that if anyone has questions, they can either post them here or ask me directly:
Sue Dunnell
PowerBuilder Product Manager
978 287 1752
sue.dunnell@sybase.com
GIBRALTAR, February 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Sweden defied huge odds against them to pull off a spectacular triumph at
the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup in Cardiff last week. The winning team,
captained by Bo Sehlstedt, included 2006 WSOP bracelet winners Anders
Henriksson and Mats Rahm, as well as Johan Storakers, William Thorsson and
online qualifier Hans Isoz. They scooped $100,000 in this unique televised
tournament that saw players pursuing personal and team glory, along with the
honour of representing their home nation.
Sweden owe their success to the calm prowess of Henriksson. Heads-up with
the USA's team captain Robert Williamson III, Sweden had 12,000 chips
compared to 88,000 for the USA. The contest appeared to be over, the USA camp
was triumphant and the Swedish supporters despondent until Henriksson doubled
up once and wore down the USA captain in an intense psychological battle.
Sweden captain Bo Sehlstedt said: "I have won bigger sums of money but
this is a real career highlight, I am so proud of my team. Anders is one of
the best players around right now, he just doesn't seem to lose. Even when we
were almost out I was scared but confident that Anders can beat anybody
shorthanded even from such a weak position."
Henriksson himself was delighted. "It is great to win. I always thought
we were in with a chance because we had a very strong team. It didn't seem to
be going good for a while but once I had doubled-up from almost nothing my
confidence started to rise."
USA captain Williamson III was devastated to have thrown away such a huge
chip lead and could only say, "I don't need a bar right now, I need a
doctor."
The tournament was dramatic from start to finish. Defending champions
Great Britain featuring Dave, "The Devilfish" Ulliott, Ram Vaswani and Joe
Beevers steamrollered the field for the first few days and were runaway
favourites to win going into the final. The short stack for the final was
team USA who had been on the receiving end of a terrible week. Captained by
Robert Williamson III, the line-up featured Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari,
Clonie Gowen, Kevin O'Donnell and Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly. The stars
and stripes had taking a mauling from the Europeans all week until Williamson
III won the heat the night before the final to give them a small chance.
The USA cruised from short stack to big stack in the final mainly thanks
to a marathon session from Antonio Esfandiari, who exhibited all the bluffing
skills he is renowned for. After a big Clonie Gowen double-up it seemed that
nobody would stop the USA. All this time the Swedish team were middle of the
field, like they had been all week, keeping out of trouble.
First out in the final was Germany, captained by Michael Keiner, in less
than an hour. Next to go was Denmark, captained by Theo Jorgensen, and then
Holland, led by Marcel Luske. It was when it was three handed between Great
Britain, Sweden and the USA that Sehlstedt brought on his super substitute
Henriksson. Devilfish tried to talk the Swedish star into oblivion but Anders
just sat calmly sucked it all in and added to his stack. Eventually
Williamson busted Devilfish and became huge favourite to win only to have the
spirit from inside him extracted by the quiet Swede.
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "If you were to ask any pro who the two
strongest poker nations in the world were right now, most would say the USA
and Sweden, and this tournament is evidence that this is the case. It was a
great spectacle and will make compelling television."
The tournament saw one lucky PartyPoker.com qualifier on each team
playing alongside five poker professionals from the same participating
nations (except the USA who have Tilly instead of an online qualifier). Over
six heats, each player competed once to score points for their team. All six
teams then take these points into a "tag" final where each team captain's
judgement is vital, as it is up to them to make tactical substitutions and
strategic "time outs."
The show will be produced for Channel 4 in the UK by Presentable. The
event will be broken down into 9x60 minute episodes and will be aired during
March and April 2007. Each show will feature commentary by Vicky Coren,
alongside Barny Boatman.
PartyPoker.com is a popular member of PartyGaming Plc's growing suite of
online games that includes PartyCasino.com, PartyBingo.com, PartyBets.com,
PartyGammon.com, Gamebookers.com and EmpirePoker.com.
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For more information or photographs contact Warren Lush - warrenl@partygaming.com +44-7947307899