19th January 2021, Mumbai, India: The International Federation of Match Poker (IFMP) and its official Indian member federation, Match Poker India, have entered into an agreement with Saran Sports to launch Match Poker into corporates in India. Since 1996, Saran Sports has always believed in introducing new concepts for the benefit of their corporate clients. […]
We are proud to announce two newly recognised member federations – Switzerland and Canada.
Switzerland will be represented by the Swiss Poker Sport Association which has been promoting poker as a sport in Switzerland for a number of years, running a successful national league and are eager to focus their efforts towards Match Poker.
Match Poker Canada will be IFMP’s Canadian NF, run by individuals who are well-versed with sport governance, management and administration, looking to introduce Match Poker to their nation.
IFMP has previously had members from both nations but due to non-adherence with IFMP’s national federation rules and obligations, the board and congress decided to rescind recognition of those organisations. We are proud to be associated with both these newly recognised national federations and are excited for the future of Match Poker in both Canada and Switzerland.
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.
Remembering Gary Bowman (Roman Olynch), a legend:
Gary Bowman was the founding father of IFMP (International Federation of Match Poker). He was both a visionary and a pioneer. He saw the need for sporting enthusiasts, especially those American Football (NFL) supporters (based overseas), wanting to bet, and add to the excitement of following their team. This awareness was at a time prior to the digital revolution when communication was restricted to primarily postal, telephone and later fax contact. Having initially set up a postal system, and seeing the positive response, he developed a sophisticated telephone system, taking bets in real time by telephone. In essence Gary was the first to create what became known as “The Offshore Sports Book”, started by Gary and of course copied by many.
Gary Bowman with Dmitry Lesnoy at the 2013 Asian Nations Cup in Sanya, China
IFMP Vice-President Pedro Trengrouse with Gary at the 2017 Nations Cup in Oxford
Gary started in the UK, in Manchester, where he built an impressive structure which was later moved to Mauritius. His structure was a substantial 24 hour telephone call centre providing a betting service on a global scale.
As Gary was heavily committed to his telephone structure he did not switch to a digital structure as quick as his competitors. With more and more restrictions being placed on offshore gaming he decided to sell up and look for new horizons. Gary moved to his parents’ original homeland – Ukraine, settling in the City of Lviv. He fell in love with a building and gradually purchased every apartment in the centrally located apartment block. Once securing full ownership of the whole building he created The British Club where I became the second member following the first member, Lord Tom Pendry. Pendry and Gary formed a close relationship when Tom, a past Labour Shadow Sports Minister, helped Gary with licensing matters. http://britishclub.org
Gary with IFMP President Patrick Nally in Oxford
Gary once ensconced in Lviv started to invest in other projects, including a garlic farm as well as committing himself to many important local charities. His one burning ambition however was to make Poker a recognised sport and became both the founder and the patron of the original IFP (International Federation of Poker) which later became IFMP when his vision was realised and Match Poker became officially recognised as a sport in 2017.
Without Gary‘s vision and determination the International Federation would not exist, it was his perseverance that has enabled the project to move forward, it was his personal support, especially with the hosting of the first digital European Nations Cup event held in Cyprus in 2013, that enabled the sport to proceed. Gary was one of the founding directors of the sport, he will be sorely missed by the entire Match Poker family. To honour his memory and invaluable contribution to the sport of Match Poker, a Gary Bowman Cup will become a major international event within IFMP’s annual calendar.
RIP Gary we will miss you madly.
Written by Patrick Nally, close personal friend of Gary’s and president of IFMP.
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!
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.