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Team Croatia make their Match Poker Debut this Saturday!

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The Croatian National Match Poker squad, represented by the Croatian Poker Players Association, is as follows:


Team Member – Goran Vejnović

Age: 48

Profession: Professional Poker Player

Bio: He is playing poker since his high school and has a very good regional result. One of his best results where he had prize pool rewards were Gorica (Slovenia) 1,000,000 E tournament, Split (Croatia) 200,000 E tournament and his latest and favourite tournament in Barcelona (Spain). He is also a huge fan of a local football club, Hajduk Split.

 

Team Member – Hana Šoljan

Age: 36

Profession: Founder of Croatia Women’s Poker team

Bio: She was among the first sponsored players in Croatia. For years she has been promoting poker as a sport in her country and other countries. She is the founder of the first women’s poker team in Croatia. She has always encouraged women to play poker and and has won several international ladies tournaments herself. The topic of her thesis at the Faculty of Economics was “Analysis of the Applicability of Poker Skills in Business Situations”. She believes that the skill of playing poker helps in business, but also in life. Today she works as a copywriter and designs commercials and also works in one of the largest retail companies in Croatia.

 

Team Member – Marko Bojanović

Age: 32

Profession: CEO of Canetti Porte company

Bio: Ex-dealer who decided to stop creating luck for other players, but for himself instead. Entrepreneur with MBA in project management who likes to take risk, both in poker and private life.

 

Team Member – Zdravko Rajić

Age: 56

Profession: Private family hotel owner

Bio: Zdravko is a passionate poker lover and player. He is been in a business for a long time and lately he is having most luck in Czech Republic and Germany. He also likes water skiing.

 

Team Member – Željka Kvastek

Age: 42

Profession: Financial Accountant

Bio: Passionate poker player whose poker skills are more than pure numbers. Players don’t take her easily since they know their chips might end on the wrong side of their balance sheet. She plays poker for more than a decade now.

 

Team Member – Ivan Bojanović

Age: 57

Profession: President of the Croatian Poker Players Association

Bio: He has been in the poker business for more than 20 years. He organised several international poker tournaments in Croatia and is determined to present poker as a mind sport and game of skill, not as a “game of luck”.

 

Team Member – Visnja Luetic

Age: 45

Profession: Model and photographer

Bio: Most versatile player in a team. She is a Poker player, Artist, Dreamer, professional Fitness model and a photographer. She is also a traveler and dog lover.

 

Team Member – Petar Sosic

Age: 57

Profession: Restaurants owner

Bio: Owner of several of the most professional restaurants on the Adriatic coast who likes life and enjoys playing poker. He follows poker actively and promote it as a sport. He is also a humanitarian.

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The Norwegian Poker Federation are ready for their Match Poker debut

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Introducing Team Norway, making their Match Poker debut at the 2021 Nations Cup Qualifiers:

Captain: Sigurd Eskeland (47 years)

Profession: President of the Norwegian Poker Federation.

Sigurd is a former professional poker player, the highlight of his career was winning a WSOP bracelet in 2010 in the $2500 8-game tournament in addition to final table appearances from EPT and WPT. He was named Player of the Year in Norway in 2011. He has been the leader of NPF since 2013.

 

Ørjan Skommo (33 years)

Profession: Poker player

Ørjan has a wide variety of final tables from all over the world, and he has won two Norwegian championship titles. He was inducted into Norway’s poker Hall of Fame in 2019.

 

Ylva Thorsrud (36 years)

Profession: Poker player/Streamer

Ylva combined playing live poker with being a dealer for years, but after covid-19 she turned her focus to streaming and now has one of the biggest poker streams in Norway. She recently won the Ladies event at the Norwegian online Championship.

 

Morten Klein (52 years)

Profession: Investor

Morten had his first international final table 15 years ago, and has since then had great success both in poker and as a businessman. He has a third place finish from EPT, and a second place finish from WPT and has a Norwegian Championship title.

 

Frode Fagerli (50 years)

Profession: Head of affiliates

Frode is the Organizer of the Norwegian Championship of Poker that take place in Dublin every year. He’s an entrepreneur and an experienced poker player with his first international cash in 2004. He was inducted into Norway’s Poker Hall of Fame in 2013.

 

Tobias Leknes (28 years)

Profession: Poker player

Tobias is a mixed games specialist with 3 Norwegian Championship titles and 6 WCOOP titles. He’s on the board of the Norwegian Poker Federation.

 

Henrik Tollefsen (33 years)

Profession: Poker player

Henrik became the youngest player to ever win a Norwegian championship main event when he won it in 2009. Since then he has had great success in tournaments all over the world. He was named Player of the year in Norway 2016 and was inducted into the Norwegian Poker Hall of Fame in 2017.

 

Oskar Wedde (25 years)

Profession: Student

Oskar had his first registered cash when he won the Norwegian Turbo Championship in 2017. He has since then built up a successful poker stream while completing his studies. 

 

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Team Singapore are Going for Gold

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Team Singapore will be lead by a female, becoming the 2nd nation to have a woman captain after Belarus. A strong squad with a mix of experience and youth, the Singaporeans will be eager to show their skills once again and make a run at the World Championship! Here is their squad:

 

Team Captain – Lisa Tan Meiling

Profession – In Tech Industry

Bio – Fell in love with the game since my university days, and been firmly in love with the game since. It’s been a thrilling and empowering ride being a female player in this game, and I encourage more females to try Match Poker!

 

Team Coach – Phua Tzai Wei

Profession – Cryptocurrency investor

Bio – I started playing poker in 2013 back in my college toilet/library. There are many transferrable skills to life itself, skills I have equipped myself with over the years have helped me in many ways in real life and games which rewards hard work and effort, where performance/results mostly correlated with effort and hard work one puts in.

 

 

Team Manager – Ivan Tan

Retired 

Bio – I started playing in 2000. I enjoy the social aspect of the game, and that it is a skill game which requires a lot of self-discipline in order to excel. 

 

Team Player – Lee Jia En Bernice

Student 

Bio – I started playing poker in 2017. I love meeting new people and love the thrill of poker

Team Player – Kevin Quek

Retired Hedge Fund manager

Bio – Picked up poker in 2004 when I was working in Wall Street, New York City. Got to play more when I was working in HK as Macau was just a 1 hour hop away. I would typically play for 20-25 hours straight on the weekends. Love the game as it has many similar characteristics to trading, where a mix of probabilities, psychology, bankroll management and patience comes into play!

 

Team Player – Foo Jie Long 

Profession – Banking

Bio – Started playing poker since university days where I started off playing cash games and slowly transitioned to tournament. Love how poker is multifaceted and like life there’s always a chance to win no matter the cards you are dealt!

Team Vice Captain – Zefirelli Noordin

Profession – Dogecoin Investor

Bio – Loved the game since school days. Played on and off, loves the competition and social aspect of the game.

 

Team Player – Lin Ruizi

Profession – Lawyer

Bio – I first learnt how to play poker shortly after A levels and before the start of my national service, and was very drawn to the strategic aspect of it as I was then a competitive Magic: The Gathering player, amongst various strategy games. Further, although the money wasn’t the main aspect of it for me, it was nice to have a hobby that potentially paid, as opposed to just continually outlaying money! 

 

Team Player – Keith Joel Seah Jia Qiang

Profession – Entrepreneur

Bio – I started playing at the age of 21 and I love the money aspect of it.

 

Team Player – Desmond Oh

Profession – Public Servant

Bio – I love card games since I was young, and enjoy grinding online (Former PokerStars Supernova). As a mind sports lover, I like the competitive nature of the game.

 

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Match Poker reaches Iceland!

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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.

 

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Team Korea are Aiming for More Silverware

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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.