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‘Who, if not us?’ Team Belarus is Ready for Ukraine

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Alexander Zholnerchik – born on 25/08/1975, he used to be a businessman, but several years ago came to the conclusion that if business prevents him from playing poker, then he should quit business. And since then Alexander has been passionately playing both online and offline, also being fond of extreme sports, travelling and psychology.

Kirill Denisenko – 27 years old. Professional poker player from Minsk. Regular player of Texas Hold’em live and online tournaments along with cash games. A member of the Belarussian National Poker Team.

Kim Pavel – Builder, 52 years old, 7 years poker playing experience and enjoys going spearfishing in his free time.

Maryna Khatskevich – She started playing poker in 2014 as a home game with friends. She liked the game because she won and then started playing in the Minsk poker club. It was a cash game. Her first tournament was a Ladies free roll organized by Belarusian Federation of Sports Poker where she took 3rd place and then decided to continue learning poker. She worked a lot on improving her game with trainers and coaches and still does this everyday. Her best tournament result is 4th place in EPT Prague. Now she spends most of her time in poker: playing offline tournaments and working on the game. Her hobby is karaoke and skiing.

Sergej Vladimirov – Born 01.11.1968. Businessman and a proud father of two children. Sergej finds amusement in both active sport arts such as snowboarding and windsurfing, and quiet evenings with closest friends and board games. His life is filled with traveling and adventures. Sergej has been a part of the poker world for more than 10 years and he enjoys Texas Holdem, Omaha and OFC the most.

Yauhen Burlo – 36 years old. Lives and works in Minsk, Belarus. Started playing poker 6 years ago. There are no victories in WSOP and WCOOP, but he believes and does not give up! In his spare time, he enjoys travels, motorcycles, fishing & hunting. Happy man, husband and father.

Mikalai Nikanovich – Born on 16.08.1978. He is a lawyer who loves football, music, old movies and poker. He started playing poker about 7 years ago and is going to Kiev with the slogan: “Who, if not us?”

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Team Spain is Coming to Ukraine!

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The Spanish national Match Poker team that will participate in the European Nations Cup is as follows:

Cesar Garrido – 41 years old. Involved in many different areas regarding poker. He has worked as a tournament director, written poker articles, occasional TV commentator and along with captain Yossi Obadia, have developed both, a method to play the final eight in a poker tournament in a best-of-3 heads up knockout stages, and also a heads Up tournament with best-of-x format, combining Swiss system and knockout stages, in order to reduce luck and favour skills. Loves mathematics, statistics and fast mental calculus.

Laura Gallardo Ribot – Born in Barcelona on August 12, 1987. Chess player until age 23, when she changed the board and the pieces for the mat and poker chips. This resulted in winning the Ladies Event of the EPT in 2014, a FT in the 2015 Spanish Poker Championship in Barcelona and in the WSOP of Marrakech. She loves to travel, play sports and live life to its fullest.

David Lebron – Born on 01/12/78. Professional beach volleyball player, who changed the sand for business and poker. He likes to play both cash and live tournaments.

Yossi Obadia – Captain of the Spanish team. Financial advisor/gemologist and pilot. At the moment mostly involved in real estate business. He was, together with Juan Manuel Pastor, a Spanish TV commentator for EPT and WSOP tournaments for several years. He also wrote many poker articles and a book on poker from a very personal perspective and lifelong poker career.

Jose Luis Puente (Amavis) – 38 years old, lawyer, politician and a very passionate poker player. He likes to play both cash and tournaments and has been playing frequently for the last 10 years.

Nabil Abdien Cardoso – 28 years old, loves to travel and try out local foods wherever he goes. Loves to combine his passion for poker with travelling as much as he can.

Juan Manuel Pastor – 51 years old, President of the Spanish national federation. He has been involved in the poker industry for the last 20 years in many different areas: consultant, entrepreneur, professional poker player, etc.

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Team Lithuania is ready for the European Nations Cup in Kyiv, Ukraine!

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The Lithuanian National Match Poker Team, represented by Sportinio pokerio klubas “Du Karaliai”, comprises of:

Skirmantas Tomkevičius – the President of National Federation of Poker of Lithuania.

Mantas Urbonas

Poker professional from Panevėžys, now resides in Vilnius. Mantas is also the owner and manager of the football team Top Kicker’s. He started playing poker 10 years ago, and his best achievement is last year’s 4th place at Battle of Malta winning 120,000 EUR. Ranks 31st in Lithuania by live earnings. Mantas was born on 1987/06/22 and he is the youngest member of the team.

Erikas Zukas

He is the youngest member of the national team, eager to learn and understand other players – once Erikas has won a tournament without even looking at his own cards!

Laimutis Kalvelis

He was born on 1970/06/26. He is pretty successful in federation tournaments and has won two of them since 2012. Works as a CEO in a company taking care of houses in the city. Was born and lives in Vilnius.

Diana Dvelienė

She was born 1976/11/09 in Kaunas. She lives there and together with her husband, who is also a poker player in the federation, runs their own plants growing business. Does not play often in any live tournaments, but if she does, finishes in the money.

Arūnas Valentavičius

He was born on 1975/09/25 and is a retired solder of the Lithuanian army. Plays only in federation tournaments.

Dainius Ulkė

He was born in Biržai, but since early days lives in Vilnius, works in IT sector since 1994. One of the most stable players in the federation.

Qualification structure was the following

Top 6 players of each year from 2013-2018 of the national federation’s annual rankings were able to play in the qualification tournaments to get into the national team. Three tournaments were held (6-max, Turbo, Deep Freeze-out) to determine 6 or 7 winners. Two tournaments were won by Mindaugas Jonuškis and one by Mantas Urbonas. The tournaments took two days to complete and the national team was created.

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Team Estonia’s National Match Poker Team announced for the European Championships in Ukraine

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Estonian National Match Poker Team

The Estonian national team that will participate in the Match Poker European Nations Cup, to be held in Ukraine, will consist of the same individuals who competed in this sporting format also in 2012-2013. Back then, they won the preliminary round of the European Nations Cup and achieved fifth place at the European Championships in Cyprus. Despite their great tournament experience, all members of the Estonian teams are still amateur players!

Henri Käsper

One of Estonia’s best known poker players whose earnings from live tournaments exceed half a million dollars and who can boast with four individual Estonian champion titles. As a successful public relations manager, he has taken poker into the media, shaped its reputation, and engaged thousands of new players. At the table, Henri’s main virtues are his vast experience and the ability to read his opponents.

Laur Sibold

Wonderful player, characterised by his good sense of humour as well as bold actions even in the most difficult situations. Although Laur is mainly known as a showman and event organiser, he has also become Estonian poker champion and won tens of thousands of Euros at live tournaments. We could also let you in on the secret that he is quite the expert in heads-up and the short-handed game. Mostly, he joins the table to enjoy good vibes and nice company.

Herli Olop

One of this decade’s most valued poker persons in Estonia, active in both the OlyBet poker room and the games portal Jokker.ee. This means that he knows poker through and through as a player (he is also a two times poker champion of Estonia) and as an organiser. In poker, Herli values both good company and interesting game situations. At the table, he does not ask for too much attention but could always make it quite far!

Marko Kolk

Mathematician who has stood out not only in poker, but also in other thinking games. For several years, nothing could be heard of this colourful old-timer… Until in 2016, he won two tournaments in one night at the Estonian championships of online poker and, naturally, also won the Player of the Year title at the championships. Marko is sneaky and a bit unusual, he is not easy to read.

Kelly Limonova

Entrepreneur, living in Spain, who became one of Estonia’s brightest poker stars at the beginning of this decade. Her success and the title of the female player of the year 2011 was achieved thanks to her “unwomanly” – aggressive, fierce and daring – playing style which made Kelly an uncomfortable opponent to all of her competitors. Kelly actively plays poker also today and her tirelessness, patriotism and sociability make this woman one of the pillars of the Estonian national team.

Katti Järvsoo

Tough athlete who enjoys competing and participates in tournaments with great passion and enthusiasm. It is her great will to win that has allowed her to become a strong poker player and no matter how difficult the situation is, she will not give up! Katti has been successful on several different tournaments, she has also become the Estonian champion and won the title of the Estonian Female Player of the Year.

Marek Reinaas

President of the Estonian Tournament Poker Federation since 2010. He is a successful businessman who is known in Estonia also as a columnist, presenter, and politician. As Marek is amazing at communication and has a good intellectual sense of humour, whatever he says or writes always gets lots of attention. Tournament poker is one of Marek’s many hobbies and presumably he is strongest as a team player.

The national team’s support person is Tanel Reisi, board member of the ETPF, who has been one of the main leaders of Estonian poker in the recent years. Tanel will not be playing at the Match Poker European Nations Cup but he shall be observing everything from behind the scenes, helping our players as he can, and also shaking hands with the other competitors, as a sign of good will.

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Inaugural Tournament by the Barbados Federation of Poker

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On August 24th 2019, the Barbados Federation of Poker Inc. will be launching an inaugural tournament in their beautiful home country. Having overcome a few minor setbacks, the team is now better positioned to host a competitive and fun-filled event aimed at providing an exceptional experience for all registered participants. 

The event which is scheduled to take place at Skymall Conference Centre St. Michael, has been supported by the country’s National Sports Council, the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and the IFMP. Registration is open to both locals and international players who can sign up by visiting https://getmein.events/events/bim-poker/

Through these events, the Federation’s management team will continue to push poker as a sport, and will further set their sights on selecting a National team, who will be eager and ready to compete against the best of the best at IFMP’s America’s Nations Cup event, set to take place in Lima, Peru later this year. The President of BFP, Damien Haynes, encourages all members of the poker community to follow their social media pages in order to keep current with all relevant updates. Should persons be interested in further information you can feel free to contact the team at [email protected] or directly through their social media platforms.”

Their social media information is as follows: 

Website – https://www.barbadosfederationofpoker.com

Facebook – Barbados Federation of Poker Inc. 

Instagram – @Bimpoker 

Twitter- @Bfpoker1

Contact Number: 1(246) 841-6342