Icelandic Match Poker Team 2021

Daníel Pétur Axelsson

Age: 42

Profession: trainer, taxi driver, poker player

Playing poker for about 15 years almost exclusively tournaments. Icelandic champion in online PLO and online NLH in 2020. Want to test my skills in this format where luck has been taken out of the equation.

 

Egill Thorsteinsson

Age: 29

Profession: Shipping manager / poker player

I have been playing poker for 9 years.  In the beginning mostly cash games but for the last few years I have also been playing tournaments. Icelandic PLO champion in 2020 and runner-up in the Icelandic championship in 2019.

 

Einar Th. Einarsson

Age: 48

Profession: Technical Director/Software Engineer.

Playing poker for 20 years, almost exclusively tournaments. As an old competitive Bridge player, Match Poker sounds like a perfect blend of the two games to me.

 

Gardar Geir Hauksson

Age: 31

Profession: Salmon fishing guide, poker player

Started in small home games at 15 years old, played professionally since 18. Very competitive and love the team format. Proud to represent Iceland in Match Poker. Live: Notts Cup champion (#8) UKIPT 5, Icelandic high-roller champion 2015. Online: Sunday 750k FTP winner, Sunday Warm up runner up, Double Deuce runner-up.

 

Gunnar Árnason

Age:41

Profession: Warehouse manager, poker player.

I have been playing poker on and off for the past 20 years. Last 4-5 years I have been focusing more and more on poker and training. I have specially been focusing on tournaments so Match poker should be an interesting addition to that. Notable results include Icelandic PLO champion in 2019 and 4th in 2020, runner-up in NLH Icelandic championship in 2020.

 

Halldór Már Sverrisson

Age: 49

Profession: Real-estate broker.

I have been playing poker regularly since 1990 and bridge with breaks from 1990. I think that is a good combo for Match Poker. Icelandic PLO champion in 2018, few final tables in the Icelandic championship. 

 

Inga “Poko” Gudbjartsdóttir

Age: 40

Profession: Business consultant

I have been playing poker on and off since 2006 and also worked as a poker dealer from 2011, alongside working on a BS degree in Business Administration at the University of Iceland. I enjoy playing NLH, PLO and PLO Hi/Lo and have played poker on four continents: Europe, America, Asia and Africa. I enjoy competitive sports and have represented Iceland in snooker and 10-ball pool. I am proud and excited to represent Iceland in Match Poker. Notable results include 1st NLH Bulgarian champion, Bulgarian Open, Varna, Bulgaria 2006, 18th NLH Icelandic Championship 2019 and 14th NLH Icelandic Championship 2020.

 

Kristjana Gudjónsdóttir (Jana)

Age: 36

Profession: Student

Playing poker since 2010. I find Match Poker an exciting concept as it relies on skill and the luck factor has been minimised.

Notable results include Icelandic online champion 2015, 40th EPT Esterellas Barcelona 2015, 72th EPT Esterellas Barcelona 2014.

 

Magnús Valur Bödvarsson

Age: 37 

Profession: Head Groundsman at KR football club and referee for Icelandic FA.

Playing poker since 2006, mostly tournaments. Match Poker is a fun game and tests the skills of players and it’s an honour to be a member of the national team. 4th in Icelandic poker championship 2019, 96th Barcelona cup 2014, multiple wins in Icelandic online poker series.

 

Saevar Ingi Saevarsson

Age: 39

Profession: Truck driver, bus driver and tour guide.

Playing poker for about 14 years. Want to test my skills in this format of poker and Im proud to represent Iceland in Match Poker. Runner-up in the Icelandic championship in 2018 and Icelandic champion in online poker 2019.

 

Team Korea being represented by the Korean Poker Association (KPA) for the 2021 Nations Cup Qualifiers:

Jiwoon Kim – Jiwoon Kim is one of the most famous professional poker players in the country, ranked 19th with $327,248 in the all time money list of South Korea. In 2019 he got 47th place in the WSOP Main Event, which is also the best records in South Korea. He has also won 4th place at a High Roller Event in APPT in 2019. 

 

Junyeob Song – better known as Sammy Song, is a professional poker player. In 2014 he became the Champion of the APT Cebu NLH Event, that brought him $5,256 of live earnings. However, his best cash $18,801 was for the 2nd place in the Mega High Roller of the J88PT Korea in 2021. 

 

Kyuwan Sim – better known as KIPPEUM. His best result was in this year when he won the 4th place at Mega High Roller of the J88PT Korea and got his biggest cash – $7,162. 

 

Jaekyung Sim – Jaekyung Sim, also known as “Simba”, is a professional poker player ranked 6th in the all time money list of South Korea. In 2013 he became the Champion of the APPT Cebu Main Event, that brought him $95,487 of live earnings. However, his best cash $103,256 was for the 3rd place in the Main Event of the EPT 2014 with 609 entries. A member of Korean National Poker Team since the 2019 Asian Nations Cup in Taoyuan city, Taiwan in 2019. 

 

Chulhan Choi – Chulhan Choi is a famous top ranked professional Go player from South Korea. The similarities between Go and poker attracted Chulhan Choi to accept the new challenge. He joined J88Poker in his quest to have poker accepted as a mind sport. 

 

Junga Choi – She started playing poker in 2019. Her best result was in this year when she won the 3rd place at the Super High Roller of the J88PT Korea and got her biggest cash – $18,865.

 

Chulwoo Park – Chulwoo Park is a famous professional poker player. In 2009 he won his first live tournament – WSOP $1500 NLH, in which he has won $3,528. His best live cash is $45,268, and he has got in 47th place in South Korea All Time Money List. 

 

Jaechul Chang – Jaechul Chang has won for total live earnings of $498,340. He has got in138th place in Texas, USA all Time Money List.In 2008 he became the Champion of the WSOP Circuit Event, that brought him $96,807 of live earnings. Jaechul Chang also has wins at various tournaments and a lot of final tables on his account. 

Introducing Team Austria for the 2021 Nations Cup Qualifiers for Europe:

Theresa Berthold (34, HR Manager) likes the entertaining aspect of poker as much as the competitive characteristic. In her profession she often has to “read” human behaviour and interests which brings her an advantage on the poker table. She loves both talking about poker strategy and enjoying the beauty of the game when playing with friends.

 

Sebastian Klebert (35, Corporate Identity Specialist) started playing poker in 2008 at the club he has now been president of for a number of years. He tremendously enjoys the sense of community in the poker world and trying to understand new poker concepts together with his poker friends.

 

 

Alexandra Enders (36, Associate Manager) plays Poker since 2007. She is the first female player ever who won the Austrian Poker Masters. Poker requires skill and self-control to win consistently and that’s why she is obsessed by the game. It’s a great honour for her to be part of the Austrian team and her goal is helping Austria to qualify for the Nations Cup Finals 2021.

 

Jörg Liwa (47, IT Expert, self employed) started playing home game poker after watching movies like “The Sting” and “The Cincinnati Kid”. As a former national youth bridge player for Austria he is also experienced in matchplay and looks forward to this new competitive style for poker.

 

Martin Sturc (36, Teacher) founded the Austrian Pokersport Association back in 2006 and wrote his diploma thesis about poker being a mind sport rather than a game of chance. He worked as poker coach in Austria and Germany and was the only poker professional that could not be beaten by DeepStack, the most sophisticated poker AI on the market, in a study executed by researchers of the University of Alberta in Canada.

 

Jakob Enders (39, Consultant) is board member of the Austrian Pokersport Association (APSA) and plays Poker since 2007. He has been #1 of the Austrian Ranking for about 2 years as well as two times Viennese Poker Champion. He loves playing poker and is looking forward to represent Austria at the Nations Cup Qualifier 2021.

 

Herbert Bieber (69, IT-Security and Privacy Consultant, retired) has been playing poker for about 20 years and loves this game. His favourite discipline is live MTT and he has already played in several countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, England). He highly appreciates poker theory, loves to analyse quizzes and invest a lot of time to increase his poker skills.

 

The Israeli National Poker Team:

#42 Stas Tishkevich

35 years old lives in Hod Hasharon with his wife and 2 children. Team coach/player. Stas is a professional poker player and entrepreneur. He plays both Cash & MTTs and his best results to date include a 7th place finish at SCOOP Main Event 2013 for 90,877$, and a deep run in the WSOP Main Event 2020 where he finished 20th for 34,116$. He is a co-founder of the Israeli Poker Academy, a co-founder of the Poker-Fighter Training App, and the chairman of the Israeli Poker Union.

 

#89 Ifat Levy

47 years old, lives in Gedera. Married with 5 children, retired from IDF 3 years ago and now works as a history and citizenship teacher. Started playing Hold’em a few years ago but only after graduating the Israeli Poker Academy she discovered poker tournaments and fell in love with them.

#666 Eyal Pearl

Lives in Ramat Hasharon. Started playing poker 7 years ago. Loves the game, feels a great honour in representing Israel. As an Ultra-man finisher, he believes that both at the ultra-man challenge and at poker, patience is essential in order to succeed.

 

#8 Shachar Zvang

Lives in Ganne Tiqva with his amazing wife and 3 boys. Plays NLH for 15 years, mostly with friends. In the last 2 years he studied in the Israeli Poker Academy and started to think like a pro poker player. He’s thrilled to represent Israel in the Match Poker championship.

 

 

#19 Shimon Yaffe 

52 years old, lives in Tel Aviv. CEO of the Israeli Poker Union. Tournament Director of the Israeli Poker Championship company.

 

#17 Omri Elmaleh 

Lives in Ashdod. 34 years old. Playing Texas Hold’em for about 17 years, mostly tournaments, dreaming big.

 

#73 Ziv Leinwand

49 years old from Tel Aviv. Plays Texas Hold’em since 2010, mostly cash. A passionate advocate for poker regulation & legalisation, Ziv is hi-tech executive and entrepreneur.

 

 

#10 Ronen Val

Lives in Yavne. Plays Hold’em for 6 years. Graduated at the Israeli poker academy. Happy to be a part of team Israel and promoting the game in Israel.

Team Hong Kong, being represented by the Match Poker Hong Kong Sports Federation (Operated by Hong Kong Game Club, HKGC), to participate the 2021 Nations Cup Qualifiers from Asia, will be comprised of:

 

Ricky Wai Ki Cheung (Team Captain) – also known as the God Father of Poker in Hong Kong by TV media. Ricky is pioneer of poker in Hong Kong and the founder of Hong Kong Game Club (HKGC) which has been promoting poker and hosting poker tournaments in HK for 14 years since 2007. He is also the owner of the biggest poker club (5,000 sqf) in HK: Heart Spade Diamond Club for 12 years. Ricky also owns a poker society in Hong Kong Open University. HKGC partnered with the biggest organisation in Japan named All Japan Poker Championship (AJPC) since 2018. Ricky signed with Asia Poker League (APL) as their Ambassador since 2019. HKGC signed with Hong Kong TV Station (TVB) to produce 2 Seasons of “Celebrities Poker Show”. HKGC is the only legal Poker Organisation in HK approved by the Communication Authority of HK. A poker YouTuber since 2019. A cash game player for 18 years. Started to play live tournaments around Asia since 2018, have won 5 trophies and 30 ITMs finishes.

 

Kathy Yang Kam Tong – is the President of Hong Kong Women’s Poker Association. She has 4 years experience in live poker tournaments in Asia, she played in Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. She is also a cash game player in Hong Kong for 4 years and Ambassador of Celebrities Poker Show of TVB. She was the champion of AJPC Incheon 2018 No Limit Hold’em and has 16 ITM finishes in 2018.

 

Eric Wailey Kwok – 47 years old, he is a famous music producer & artist. Co-captain of Match Poker Hong Kong Team. Producer and host of the first Cantonese celebrities poker show on YouTube: “Round Table Poker”. Started playing poker in 2004. Love the excitement of bluffing and hero calling. Love the observation of players while playing poker on the table.

 

Wilfred Lau Ho Lung – 44 years old, he is a famous movie artist and singer. Co-captain of Match Poker Hong Kong Team. Producer and host of the first Cantonese celebrities poker show on YouTube: “Round Table Poker”. Experienced poker player for 16 years. Learn the game of poker in 2004 while playing with some friends at home.

 

JW, Wong Ho Yee – She is a famous singer & movie actress, learnt playing poker with her friends during secondary school, then started playing regularly with friends just for fun!

 

Gary Chun Hei Lai – 23 years old, Team Pro of HKGC. He has came across poker in 2019. His first time playing poker was at the University Poker League held by HKGC at Open University of Hong Kong.

 

Ray Kin Wing Ng – He is a Esports manager, grew up learning to play competitive games with his friends. Ray has been working in the esports industry for the last 6 years and started playing poker in 2018.