Varun Goenka

An Experienced Estonian Team is Focused on the 2021 Nations Cup Finals

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Introducing the Estonian national Match Poker team, ready to participate in the 2021 Nations Cup qualifiers within Europe with the aim of securing their spot in the finals!

Carmen-Elina Vist, 31 years – Carmen is an Estonian Tournament Poker Federation board member. One of the most aggressive Estonian female poker players. Carmen is also two times poker champion of Estonia. Besides poker Carmen likes to run and play disc golf. 

Karev Tralla, 35 years – Wonderful player, characterised by his good sense of humour as well as bold actions even in the most difficult situations. Although Karev is mainly known as a showman, he is Estonia’s best poker blogger. Mostly, he joins the table to enjoy good vibes and nice attitude.

Herli Olop, 40 years – 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. Herli has been representing his nation at IFMP events since 2012. 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, 52 years – 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.

Kaidar Viikman, 36 years – Kaidar is the Estonian Tournament Poker Federation board member. He has been playing poker since 2008 and is one time online poker champion if Estonia. Besides organising ETPF online and live events, Kaidar likes to run, play volleyball and watch Twitch poker streams. He is very analytical and is not afraid to make big hero calls. 

Kelly Limonova, 40 years – Entrepreneur,  who has been representing Estonian national team since 2012 when they won the European Nations Cup in Vienna. Kelly is an uncomfortable opponent to all of her competitors. She actively plays poker also today and her tirelessness, patriotism and sociability make this woman one of the pillars of the Estonian national team

 

Roland Luik, 33 years – Roland is a man with many talents. If he is not busy managing his projects in Estonia, Finland and Norway, he is participating in most of the major poker festivals in Tallinn. He is known for his aggressive playing style and often puts players on tough decisions. If he is not wearing headphones, Roland likes to take part in poker discussions and hand analysis. He, as all the other Estonia Team members, think that poker is a hobby where people can socialise and sometimes also make some extra money.

Varun Goenka

The First Match Poker World Champions, Germany, are ready for 2021

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Introducing the German national Match Poker squad for the upcoming European qualifiers, leading up to the Nations Cup Finals 2021.

Name: Daniel Eylenfeldt

Age: 41

Profession: Poker Coach / Professional Poker Player

Bio: I’ve been playing poker regularly since 2007. I think it’s great that even though it’s been around for so long, it’s still possible to improve your poker game. During my poker coaching in particular, I find it very rewarding to watch my students continuously improve.

Name: Jan Heitmann

Age: 44

Profession: Keynote Speaker and Trainer

Started playing: 1996

Bio: I fell in love with poker quite early, when it was still very underground in Germany. During my studies at university (management), I played more regularly. Once I got my diploma in September 2003, I travelled around Europe for a year, playing poker in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Vienna, London, etc., culminating in my first WSOP in 2004 and turned professional after that. I had quite a long and successful career, spanning 15 years, including doing lots of promotional work for poker in Germany (as a commentator, trainer for celebrities and a part of Team PokerStars Germany). These days poker is still a big part of my life, but in a very different way. I use poker as a model for decision making, holding keynote talks and trainings for managers, leaders and decision makers.

Name: Timm Albrecht

Age: 40

Profession: Business, Life and Poker Coach and a Professional Poker Player

Bio: I play poker since 13 years, mostly online cash games but also MTTs and SnGs. I love discussions, books, videos and quizzes about poker and want to travel playing all over the world.

Name: Kai Rieche

Age: 40

Profession: CEO

Bio: Started around 20 years ago in my hometown of Berlin and still playing the game. Had so many good times with this game around the world, so it is in my opinion still the most beautiful hobby. I hope we can play live soon again, so long let’s do it online. Looking forward to the first qualification round.

Name: Niklas Andrews

Age: 24

Profession: Psychology student

Bio: I’ve been playing poker for about 3 years, focusing on cash games since the beginning. What I love the most about poker is the complexity of the game. The fact that the room for improvement seems to be endless is why I keep falling in love with poker.

Name: Stefanie Haffke

Age: 35

Profession: Civil Engineer

Bio: I have about 4 years of experience in playing poker as a mind sport. Mostly live, what I definitely prefer. As an engineer I love solving puzzles. That combined with playing a game, poker is my absolute favourite.

Name: Arash Fazeli

Age: 39

Profession: IT Specialist / electronics technician

Bio: I have been playing poker since 2003. I’m a poker coach and passionate tournament player. Heads-up is my favourite discipline. I love Poker… You grow with your decisions and keep developing. The mixture of strategic thinking and tactical action, taking incomplete information into account, is what makes this game so fascinating.

Name: Alexander Kleppe

Age: 39

Profession: IT architect and project manager

Bio: Alexander is 39 years old and loves to play poker – has been for over 20 years, especially online cash games and tournaments, as well as the German Heads-up live championship. He works as an IT architect & project manager and plays for the German Nations Cup Team since 2019. Alex loves the idea of poker as a mind sport along with the international challenges with players from different nations and wants to see Match Poker advancing to the next level of recognition.

Varun Goenka

The Swiss are Ready to make their Match Poker Debut

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Introducing, for the first time, the Swiss National Match Poker team that will participate in the IFMP Nations Cup Qualifiers from Europe.

The Swiss team has been created by the official Swiss member federation of IFMP, Swiss Poker Sport Association (SPSA).

Claudia Chinello

Claudia Chinello – 42, Entrepreneur and Business Poker Coach – Life is a game! We negotiate every day in business and in private, and my poker know-how definitely makes me more successful in everyday life.

Chantal Funk

Chantal Funk – 40, Trance Healing and Mother – As a mother of three children, I seek a balance from everyday family life in work, sport and poker.

Chris Reiser

Christoph Reiser – 43, Film Journalist – I am a film journalist, podcast operator and have been a passionate poker player for 20 years.

Kaspar Schmid

Kaspar Schmid – 64, Senior Consultant Finance – Poker is never boring, but it is challenging and makes demands on mathematical knowledge, the ability to concentrate, but also on intuition and feeling.

Oliver Lutz

Oliver Lutz – 46, Floorman – I have been playing poker for more than 20 years. Since then, I have been particularly enthusiastic about the competition that this game entails. I love to compete with players all over the world.  

Manuel Vögtlin

Manuel Vögtlin – 36, Team Leader Payment Branch – I have been playing poker for 17 years, and have also been playing in international tournaments for 11 years. I am fascinated by the many facets of the game and the fact that you have to constantly develop and adapt in order to play successfully.  

Bashkim Nexhipi

Bashkim Nexhipi – 36 – I have been playing poker since 2002. What I love about it is that you can read players and read their minds as the game goes on.

Arnold Schuler

Arnold Schuler – 49, Investment Advisor – Started playing poker with friends in 2010. He then became more and more involved with game variants and strategies. He especially likes the fact that poker is played globally by young and old.

Hubert Prachoing

Prachoinig Hubert – 44, Floor Layer – He came into contact with poker as a child and it has never let him go. During the last big poker boom, he became intensively involved with the game for the first time, and subsequently also internalised a lot online. What he finds fascinating about poker is that the rules are child’s play, yet the game remains challenging for life.

Iwan Tschubarow

Iwan Tschubarow – 36, Croupier – Started organising home games with buddies in 2005 and got to know the first moves. Since then I am an enthusiastic player and spend a lot of time at the Cash Game tables.

Varun Goenka

Team Macedonia are Ready for the 2021 Nations Cup Qualifiers

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Introducing the National Match Poker squad for Macedonia, based on a number of qualification tournaments, and ready to battle with the other nations for the Nations Cup qualification spots:

Sofija Dzadzeva – has been playing poker for the last 15 years and was awarded Macedonian female player of the year in 2016.

Marijana Josifovska – Macedonian female poker player of the year in 2017.

Katarina Tasevski , mother of two children , favorite to be crowned Macedonian female player of 2020

Aleksandar Trajkovski – 3 times crowned Macedonian player of the year and the only one who played in the live Euro qualifications in Vienna in 2012. He is a professional poker player for the past 10 years and captain of the Macedonian team.

Tomas Spaseski – He is a professional poker player and one of the best Macedonian players over the last few years.

Andreja Andreevski – He works at one of the best Macedonian TV channels and enjoys playing poker as his main hobby.

Petar Filipov – He is one of the 3 professional poker players in the Macedonian poker team, been playing since 2009.

Aleksandar Naumoski – He is professional soldier, works in the Macedonian army and loves playing poker for fun.

Miki Jovanov – He works as a manager at the local jail (government institution) and plays poker as a hobby. Winner of the online Macedonian poker league in 2020.

Spase Klenkovski – A businessman who plays poker for fun for many years. Regular player of the Macedonian online poker leagues last 5 years.