LIVE COVERAGE OF THE IFP NATIONS CUP

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Events Nationscup7PM: POKER HISTORY SET TO BEGIN

Welcome to live coverage of the IFP Nations Cup, a unique duplicate poker tournament taking place in 12 capsules (not “pods”) of the EDF Energy London Eye on the banks of the river Thames.What we have ahead of us is as many rotations (“orbits?” “revolutions?” “circuits”?) as it takes to play 72 hands, dealt identically in each capsule, where 12 teams are divided.

Who are those teams? Here’s how they’ll line up:

Team UK
Barny Boatman, Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, Sam Trickett, JP Kelly, James Akenhead and Sam Holden.

Team USA
Barry Greenstein, Antonio Esfandiari, Isaac Haxton, Ali Eslami, Jennifer Leigh, Vanessa Selbst and Matt Matros (reserve).

Team Ireland
Padraig Parkinson, Marty Smith, Andy Black, Donnacha O’Dea, Eoghan O’Dea, Cat O’Neill and Dermot Blain.

Team Denmark
Gus Hansen, Lars Bonding, Theo Jorgensen, Mads Wissing, Mads Andersen, Simon Ravnsbaek and Pernille Ravn.

Team France
Fabrice Soulier, Nicolas Levi, Jean-Paul Pasqualini, Hugo Lemaire, Lucille Cailly and Clement Thumy.

Team Germany
Hans Vogl, Konstantin Buecherl, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Moritz Kranich, Time Reese, Tobias Reinkemeier and Sandra Naujoks.

Team Brazil
Andre Akkari, Alex Gomes, Felipe Ramis, Christian Kruel, Thiago Nishijima, Caio Pimenta and Daniela Zapiello.

Team Holland
Rolf Slotboom, Marcel Luske, Noah Boeken, Rob Hollink, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Jorryt van Hoof and Koen de Bakker.

Team Spain
Jose Obadia, Raul Paez, Juan Maceiras, Raul Mestre, Leo Margets, Oscar Blanco and Tomeu Gomila.

Team Australia
Mel Judah, Tony G, Gary Benson, Vesko Zmukic, Mike Guttmann, Marsha Waggoner and Jackie Glazier.

Team Japan
Takuo Serita, Mari Fukunaga, Gen Watanabe, Takuyu Suzuki, Kinichi Nakata, Tsuneaki Tafeda and Kiyomi Tagawa.

Team Zynga
Jennefer Gallenberger, Brian Turnbull, Margaret Hailey, Roei Shalev, Roger Ellis, Geoff Kinnune and Ricky Greer.

Pick your favourite, and if your nation isn’t represented, and if you use the internet now and again, Team Zynga, the first Digital Federation in the world, will happily take your allegiance.

With an hour to go the teams have been photographed, filmed and the national pride oozes down the corridors of County Hall, where teams are being briefed on the events of tonight. To paraphrase Spanish Federation President Juan Manuel Pastor; “you can smell it on the streets”.

With entry into one of the capsules denied we’ll be following the action from ground level as these poker pioneers take to the skies. We’ll have regular updates from inside and outside County Hall, as well as the scores as we get them. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.