Varun Goenka

Hong Kong to Host the 2023 Asian Nations Cup!

, , , , , , , , , ,

The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) and the Match Poker Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China are proud to announce that the 2023 Asian Nations Cup will be held in Hong Kong from 24-27 February and promises to be the biggest and most high profile Asian Match Poker Championship to date.

With a minimum of 12 national teams competing, this tournament promises to be a thrilling showcase of Asia’s best national Match Poker teams coming together to compete for the title of Champions of Asia and seal their qualification to the Nations Cup Finals scheduled to be held in Zurich later this year. Team India will be looking to defend its title after emerging victorious in Taiwan in 2019, with the host nation ensuring a thrilling last hand finish. Top 4 finishing teams will qualify to the World Championships and will also share the guaranteed HK$100,000 prize pool!

Match Poker events don’t involve any ‘buy-ins’ as national teams compete based on qualifying to the event. The individuals representing their national teams are selected by their national federations, who have their own processes for team selection usually based on tracking the performance of their player database over the course of a calendar year in the regular national federation events and tournaments.

This tournament boasts a prize pool, and unlike conventional poker tournaments, it is not made up of the ‘buy-ins’ from the participants themselves, and keeping in line with conventional sports and eSports it is infact a sponsored prize pool. This is a big step toward Match Poker’s recognition and acceptance globally as a mind sport and digital sport, moving it further away from the link with gaming and gambling.

Teams are made up of 6-10 individuals, with a mandate to include both male and female athletes. There are no restrictions based on age, gender or physical ability. Being a mind sport, Match Poker ensures a level playing field for all. The tournament will take place from 24-27 February at the Match Poker eSports Arena in Central, Hong Kong – a unique and first-of-its-kind venue catered to eSports, digital gaming & poker.

The event will be streamed live globally with multi-language commentary, broadcast to 60+ nations through IFMP’s global network, along with post-produced material to be circulated and broadcast on major channels and media across the member federation community.

“We are thrilled to bring the 2023 Asian Nations Cup to Hong Kong and have the support of the Match Poker Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China,” said IFMP President Patrick Nally. “The growth of Match Poker in Asia and in particular in Hong Kong has been incredible to see over the past couple of years. Our first national league and university league were both launched in Asia and Hong Kong has been integral to the adoption of the sport of Match Poker. We have no doubt that Hong Kong will provide the perfect stage for Asia’s best teams to showcase their talents and for fans from all over to come together and celebrate the exciting sport of Match Poker.”



Varun Goenka

Philippines are Eager to Impress after their 2019 Asian Nations Cup Debut

, , , , , , , ,

Team Captain of Team Philippines – Hermie Philipson Chua

He is 47 years old and and works in financing.

‘Poker runs in my blood, been playing since 2007 when I won as the first APPT online qualifier out of 5,000 players. Played the 2010 WSOP main event but busted out on day 1. Jointly organised the Poker Players Association of the Philippines and became its first President in 2011, lucky enough to survive 15 years of playing and enjoying each moment of it.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Lloyd Chua

He is 47 years old and and works in financing.

‘I started playing poker when it was first introduced here in the Philippines at ClubV and immediately fell in love with the game!’

 

 

Member of Team Philippines – Myra M. Adriano

She is 52 years old and works as a Manager, Site Acquisition and Management, for Globe Telecom Inc.

Myra is happily married with 3 children and currently works as a senior manager for a telecommunications company. She has been playing poker since 2005, both live and online. She has participated in various poker circuits and has also won some MTTs. She loves the challenge of playing against the best in the game and outwitting the poker pros. She looks forward to winning her next major tourney.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Lou Pacia

He is 58 years old and is an entrepreneur.

He started playing poker 50 years ago with his father! ‘Poker is the best’.

 

Member of Team Philippines – J Marco Aventajado

He is 45 years old and is a Professor, Entrepreneur and Gaming Consultant.

One of the trailblazers of Texas Hold’em poker in Manila in 2004. Tournament Director for WPT Philippines (2006) and WPT Manila (2016). Owned and operated several poker rooms in and around the Philippines.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Dexter A. Brillo

He is a 48 year old Customs Broker.

‘I started playing poker 15 years ago. At first, it was just a game that I played, until I found interest in poker and it eventually turned into a hobby. I love the complexity of the game and how it is determined by skill and not only through luck.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Romeo ‘Don’ Lerit Jr

He is a 44 year old businessman and is the President of Legalas Group of Companies.

Known in the poker scene as ‘Mr Blind All In’, Don is one of the more energetic players, his game is fun and loud with more than 10 years of experience.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Paul John G. Velasco

A 50 year old businessman, Paul John Velasco is an entrepreneur and founder of Tea Options Official, it currently has 4 stores inside and outside the metro. Before entering the world of business, poker was his first love. He is a consistent poker player who focuses more on cash games.

 

Member of Team Philippines – Anselmo Ferdinand B Adriano

A 55 year old lawyer, Ansel started playing poker in 2005, joining small live tournaments purely out of curiosity, fun and meeting new people. Since then, he has played in some major tourneys both locally and abroad, and participated in live and online events.

Varun Goenka

Israeli Championship of Online Poker 2020

, , , , , , , , ,

After a successful appearance at the 2019 Asian Nations Cup where Team Israel finished in 5th place and was 1 point behind Taiwan who finished 4th and qualified for the Nations Cup Finals, preparation for the upcoming Nations Cup 2021 are underway!

Israeli Poker Players Federation (IFMP Israel) has almost fully assembled its new Israeli Poker Team. Most of the Israeli Team members were chosen based on their results at the Israeli Online Poker League which ran for 52 tourneys during 2020.

The last members will be chosen based on ICOOP 2020 – Israeli Championship of Online Poker.

The first ever national online poker championship is being played in a virtual manner while Israel deals with Covid-19 like the rest of the world. Participation is available only for National Federation members who hold a 2020 Poker Player Card.

The entry fee is 250 NIS (~75$) and the prizes vary from packages to Israeli Poker Championship (IPC) played live in Bulgaria, the animated digital course “Pre-Flop Poker Secrets” by the Israeli Poker Academy, and poker equipment by “Lion Card”.

The championship has 4 semi-final stages in a satellite structure where 10% of the players in each semi-final qualify to the Final Stage. Each semi-final is played with 10,000 chips stack and 10 minutes blind levels.

So far at the first 3 semi-finals there was a total of 191 players and it is expected that a total of ~250 entries will be recorded.

The Final Stage will be held on Saturday 12th December and will be played with a 10,000 chip stack and 15 minutes blind levels.

We wish all the best for the Israeli poker sportsmen & women, and cross fingers for a historic qualification to the Match Poker Nations Cup Finals in 2021! – by Stas Tishkevich, Chairman of IFMP Israel.

Varun Goenka

Chinese Taipei Leading the Way with National Team Selections for 2021

, , , , ,

It’s official! The 2021 Chinese Taipei National Match Poker Team‘s player selection and coach charter opening ceremony kicked off at the CTP Poker Club, Taipei, Chinese Taipei on 7th October, 2020.

There were a total of 25 players who participated in this event and 5 of them will win their opportunity to become member’s of Chinese Taipei’s national team. On day one, the participants of the first round of  trial sessions 1 & 2 played over 5 hours of Match Poker and 200 hands, not only would they be ranked by the Match Poker system but they would also be given a score by Chinese Taipei’s team coaches after carefully watching them play! Day two of the selections, trial sessions 3 and 4 were also live streamed on Twitch – @CTPclub!

12345678910111213

Congratulations to newly appointed Mr. Nevan-Yu Chung Chang and Mr. Pete-Yen Han Chen on becoming official coaches for the national team, they will be assisting the team and provide training to players while also playing in future IFMP events.

The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee has authorised the use of it’s logo and for the national team to participate in Match Poker events.

Varun Goenka

2019 Year End Review

, , , , , ,
2019 has been a breakthrough year for Match Poker! It began with a slightly delayed 2018 Nations Cup held in Dublin, Ireland at the beautiful Boyne Hill House as the home nation were looking to defend their World Championship after being victorious at the 2017 Nations Cup in Oxford. Debutants Ukraine arrived with a large contingent and got their strategy spot on, beating the Irish and Germans who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively to clinch the Match Poker World Championship on their first attempt! This event also marked the first time Match Poker athletes were subject to WADA tests during competition – which has now become a norm at all IFMP events. Match Poker is a sport and we must function like any other sport, ensuring clean competition and adhering to global sporting rules & regulations set by the IOC & GAISF.

The excitement from the Dublin event lead to Kyiv, Ukraine securing the hosting of the 2019 European Nations Cup. This event would be the first in IFMP’s 2019 events calendar and would be followed by an Asian and America’s Nations Cup which would then culminate into the grand Nations Cup Finals. 13 European Nations came together in Kyiv to battle it out as the Irish defended their European Championships from the previous edition of this event held in Cyprus. All teams would play together in the group stages over the first 2 days after which they would break into a top 6 (Cup) and bottom 7 (Plate). With 7 European spots up for grabs, and scores being reset to 0 after the group stages, it was all to play for with every nation having a fighting chance at qualifying! Some debutants but many familiar faces lead to intense competition over 3 days and finally saw the Spaniards make an incredible comeback and lift the trophy! Ireland finished 2nd, Ukraine 3rd, Belarus 4th, Poland 5th and Germany 6th – all of whom secured qualification to the Nations Cup Finals. The last qualification spot was contested by Hungary, Serbia, UK, Lithuania, Denmark, Estonia and Italy with Lithuania stepping up to the occasion to be crowned winners of the ‘Plate’ and the last European nation to participate in the finals.

Next was the Asian Championships, held in Taoyuan, Taiwan after the Taiwanese also made their debut at the Dublin event. This event saw 9 Asian nations compete for continental glory as 5 qualification spots were up for grabs for the World Finals. Similar structure to the European event, all 9 teams play together in the group stages through 2 entire days after which they break into the top 4 (Cup) and bottom 5 (Plate). Top 4 automatically qualify but only the winner of the Plate joins them at the finals. Team India took an early lead and managed to ride some ups and downs to finish the group stages on top of the leaderboard with Australia and Singapore in 2nd and 3rd. The fight for 4th went right down to the wire and the home team Taiwan finally managed to get past the Israelis by just one point! A slight change in format saw the Cup play out 4-handed and the Plate 5-handed – with teams needing to adapt their playing styles and strategies constantly. A big push from the Indians secured the Asian Championship for them in the last 3 hands, away from the home team who lead for most of the final sessions! It was always two-horse race in the Plate as Israel and Korea kept putting the pressure on each other for the top spot with the Koreans breaking away and taking a lead in the last session of play to secure their qualification and win the Plate!

We then move to Mumbai, India for the 4th season of the world’s first pro Match Poker league – the MatchIPL (Indian Poker League). 9 franchises all representing different part of India were ready to dethrone the Pune Kings after their triumph in season 3. Group stages included all teams playing together for the first 6 sessions of play after which the bottom 3 teams would be eliminated and the top 6 would play 2 final sessions with 50% of their scores being carried over. The Mumbai All Stars (season 1 champions and season 3 runners-up) and Haryana Hawks (season 2 champions) established themselves as the teams to watch out for quite early on and maintained the top 2 spots through the group stages. A nail biting finish to the groups saw the Bangalore Royals make the top 6 by a single point over the Kolkata Diamonds! The final sessions saw the Haryana Hawks implement the perfect winning strategy by taking a lead in session 1 and consolidating it in session 2, leading to their 2nd National Championship in 3 seasons!

Unfortunate political and civil circumstances in Peru lead to the postponement of our Nations Cup Finals from December to the last week of February. We thank our participating nations for their support and understanding, and promise to deliver our most sensational Nations Cup event yet! 2020 will see Match Poker’s link with education and corporates strengthen as we launch University and City Leagues in various nations to complement our existing events calendar comprising of European, Asian and American Nations Cup events all culminating into our Grand Nations Cup Final at the end of the year. 2019 saw over 2,500 hands of Match Poker played by over 35 teams at IFMP events and 30 anti-doping tests successfully completed! We expect to have 50+ nations participating in these events and hope to bring Match Poker into many more territories as we continue to grow this exciting sport globally! We wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!