The Polish National Team have a new Sports Director!

European Nations Cup, GAISF, IFMP, Match Poker, Mind Sport, News, Poland

After the success of the inaugural season of the national Match Poker league in 2022, the Polish national federation (Związek Pokera Sportowego) decided to create a new position in the structure of the association – Sport Director for the National Team.

This honour was bestowed upon Adam Pawlikiewicz, who has been an active member of the Souther Match Poker Conference.

Adam is an IT and internet marketing specialist with a deep passion for the digital sport of Match Poker and loves to play & compete on a level playing field while putting his skills on display.

Adam Pawlikiewicz

The main responsibilities of the Sports Director are primarily organisational management of the Polish national team, ensuring good & regular communication between the squad and the coach, planning activities related to the development of the team such as training & strategy discussions, and taking care of the image of the team.

Adam, thank you for your contribution to the sport and we wish you many successes with the Polish National Match Poker team!

March 15, 2023

2021 saw IFMP make considerable progress after a rather quiet pandemic hit 2020. With the constantly changing situation caused by Covid, we didn’t want to be dependent on live events for Match Poker activity this year. We therefore decided to run virtual qualifiers for the 2021 Nations Cup Finals for our member nations in Asia and Europe. Being the world’s only recognised digital sport, Match Poker has the unique advantage of digital gameplay as compared to other conventional sports which are more physical in nature. We used this to our advantage and re-created the live Match Poker environment linking a video conference platform in with Match Poker gameplay, thus enabling the athletes to see and talk with each other just like they would at a live event, while playing Match Poker for their nation.

We ran a total of 10 qualifiers, which produced 5 Asian and 6 European qualifiers who will attempt to stop Ukraine from wining their 3rd World Championship in a row! 200 unique hands of Match Poker were played in each qualifier, giving us 2000 hands played by 25 participating nations. Over 200 athletes competed for their nations, testing themselves in this skill-based format with the aim of securing a spot at the finals. The qualified nations are India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Singapore from Asia, with Austria, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Macedonia and Switzerland from Europe. The virtual qualifiers allowed many nations, who have previously not been able to participate in live events, to play, compete and experience Match Poker. It has been fantastic to see our sport grow and reach so many new countries this year.

One prime example of this effect is the birth of the Mongolian National Match Poker League! 12 teams participated in the first season of the league, which took place on 11th and 12th December in Ulaanbaatar and saw 500 hands played across the 2 match days. Every team had atleast one male and one female member in their squad, across various age groups once again reinforcing that Match Poker is a fully inclusive sport. Team Pokerfriends were crowned Champions with 749.5 points, Team Shrup came 2nd with 723 points and Team Megamind was 3rd with 710 points. Trophies, medals and prize money was awarded to the top 3 finishing teams and top 3 individual players. The Mongolian NF will use this event and the content captured to approach their National Olympic Committee (NOC) and National Sports Authority (NSA) for the formal recognition of Match Poker as a sport in Mongolia and for their national federation as a national governing body of sport, linked to IFMP as the global representative.

IFMP’s observer membership of GAISF was extended for another 2 years as we continue our fight for full recognition. One of the main aims of encouraging local Match Poker activity by way of national leagues was to be able to evidence to the NOC and NSA of your nation that we are a sport, recognised globally, played digitally, and are not anything like conventional gaming or gambling. Once the authorities see it in action, being played in teams, without the presence of physical cards or chips, they will better understand what we have been trying to explain to them for so long. We are hopeful that this all will work to our advantage and we can provide the GAISF membership council with plenty of new national recognition certificates in the coming year.

We are working hard towards a packed events calendar for 2022, with a Champions League style finale event for our many national league champions, a Global University Challenge involving student Match Poker teams from universities and colleges across the globe, and of course our Continental Championships (Asia, Europe, America’s) all culminating in a Nations Cup Final at the end of the year. There have been a few nations that have expressed their desire to host an event and we are evaluating our options, and would encourage other nations who are interested to let us know at the earliest.

Finally can we take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful holiday period. Stay safe, take care of yourself and your loved ones and let’s make 2022 the year where Match Poker really takes off! Happy Holidays and wish you a fantastic New Year!

December 31, 2021

The Poles are ready to put themselves in pole position for the 2021 Nations Cup Finals

IFMP, Match Poker, Member Nations, Mind Sport, Nations Cup 2021 Qualifiers, News, Poland

Representing Zwiazek Pokera Sportowego, here is the Polish national Match Poker squad:

1. Krystyna Jakubowska

31 years old – Warszawa

She works as a corporate lawyer. Used to play Texas Holdem live & online tournaments and cash games on a regular basis, however for the last 3 years has been focusing on her professional career. A member of Polish National Poker Team since the European Nations Cup in Cyprus in 2013.

2. Olga Konieczna

22 years old – Szczecin

She is a speech therapist and works with children. She has been playing Texas Hold’em poker as a hobby for 3 years. She likes competition and good coffee.

3. Jakub Wiśnicki

34 years old – Kraków

Polish National Team captain. Happy husband and father, fanatic gamer and passionate poker player. Unstoppable, lucky as hell and hard to beat – deal with it!

4. Radzym Jankiewicz

32 years old – Mogilno

He represented Poland in the Match Poker Nations Cup. Works for local government in Dabrawa. Social activist and book lover.

5. Krystian Kazaniecki

33 years old – Warszawa

PhD in Mathematics. Mathematician by education and by passion. In his free time he is an avid gamer, both computer and board games. He started playing poker with friends in his dormitory and hasn’t stopped since.

6. Rafał Rogosz

35 years old – Kraków

Experienced poker player, professional croupier, Polish National Team member in Match Poker, author of board games.

7. Piotr Sarnecki

32 years old – Wrocław

He manages early notification of risk in the supply chain in “riskmethods” company. He has been playing poker for many years. After winning the regional tournament, happy to participate in all further competitions created by Polish Federation and international organisations.

8. Michał Panek

40 years old – Warszawa

Playing head coach of the Polish National Team, former captain of Polish National Team since the beginning of its existence. Proud co-creator of team’s success that manifested by winning the majority of its international matches. Privately, happy husband and father.

May 5, 2021

The Polish Team is Ready for the European Championships

ENC 2019 Ukraine, Poland

The National Match Poker team of Poland will comprise of the following individuals:

KRYSTYNA JAKUBOWSKA

Born 10/03/1990, works as a corporate junior lawyer. Used to play Texas Hold’em live and online tournaments along with cash games on a regular basis, however for the last 3 years has been focusing on her professional career. A member of the Polish National Poker Team in the European Nations Cup in Cyprus, 2013.

SEBASTIAN DURAK

Chef in a restaurant and a passionate gourmet by day, competition and rivalry enthusiast by night. E-sports, fantasy football games, party games, poker – you name it, he’s anywhere you can compete with others and take risks. Has been playing for the Polish National Poker Team since 2010, for an impressive period of nine years. Winner of two local large scale Polish tournaments (Championship of Mazowieckie & Łódzkie Voivodeship).

RADZYM JANKIEWICZ

Born 1989/08/12. Represented Poland in four international matches. Works in a local government in Mogilno. Social activist and book lover.

MICHAŁ PANEK

Captain of the Polish National Poker Team from the very beginning of its existence. A proud co-creator of the team’s success that manifested by winning the vast majority of its international matches. Privately, a happy husband and father.

PIOTR SARNECKI

31 years old. On a daily basis manages early notification of risk in the supply chain in “risk methods” company. Won a county tournament in Gliwice after qualifying online organized by Full Tilt Poker. After joining the Polish National Poker Team, he has never lost a heads-up game.

JAKUB WIŚNICKI

33 years old. Happy husband and father, fanatic gamer & passionate poker player. Unstoppable, lucky as hell and hard to beat – deal with it!

This Polish team will participate at the European Nations Cup in Match Poker in Kyiv, Ukraine from 24-27 September 2019 and attempt to win the Championship along with their spot in the World Nations Cup Finals being held in Lima, Peru in early December!

August 21, 2019