The Hungarians are Eager to Make their Mark in Kyiv

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The Hungarian National Match Poker team for the 2019 European Nations Cup in Kyiv is:


Bianka Breda – Hungarian R’n’B DJ and amateur poker player. She’s playing poker for fun both live and online, but don’t misjudge her. Poker is in her blood.

Marcell Réti – Sport promoter and hobby poker player. He’s a cash game expert. Live poker player. He likes Match Poker and every sport, where one must to fight for the win. The youngest man in the Hungarian team.

Judit Zsoldos – From the start member of the Hungarian Match Poker team. Played in The Table in 2011 and in Cyprus at the European Nations Cup 2013. Hungarian Ladies Open winner. Cash game and Omaha player.
Laszlo Bréda – Laszlo from the start member of the Hungarian Match Poker team. Born a tournament player. One of the best amateur score table. Strong skills and intuition.
Gergely Tatár – The president of the Hungarian Poker Association since 2007. Founded poker clubs in Hungary and Slovakia. Played poker in USA, England, Cyprus, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Austria, Poland, France, Slovakia and Romania.
Peter Gal – For the first time I met with Texas Hold’em poker in 2005. At the beginning I worked as poker dealer, then I became a floorman and a professional leader. I had my own Poker Club, and I helped other clubs to improve. From 2010 to 2018 I was the floorman in the first poker club of Hungary. I am a recreational poker player, I just treat poker as a hobby. In 2013 I played Match Poker for the first time in Vienna as a member of the Hungarian team, then in Cyprus at the European Nations Cup.

Will the Irish Rise Up and Retain their European Crown?

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Team Ireland have been extremely impressive and their accolades speak for their incredible Match Poker skill:

Winners of the 2013 European Nations Cup in Cyprus

Winners of the 2017 Nations Cup in Oxford

Runners-up of the 2019 Nations Cup in Dublin

Following is the Irish squad for their defence of the European Nations Cup:

Fintan Gavin  – One of the most-decorated players in Irish poker history. Sixth in the all-time money listings having finished Runner-up in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event in 2008, won a UKIPT title in 2011, and dozens of more ranking events in his native Ireland. While not at the tables you will find Fintan in the Commentary booth as anchor for English broadcast teams during major festivals including the W.S.O.P.E & the Irish Poker Open.

Karen Muir – She has been an integral part of the Irish Match Poker team since 2017 and helped them to their various titles! Recent M.C.O.P Amsterdam support event champion. 10+ years NLH tournament experience. Regular on the Cash game festival Circuit. Finished top 10 player in her previous 2 Match Poker events.


Roy Brindley – Roy ‘the boy’ Brindley first tournament cash stretches back to early 2002. Since then Roy has amassed €800k+ in NLH & Omaha events throughout Europe. Author of the best selling biography Life’s a Gamble, Roy has more recently adapted his skill set to poker commentary & F1 sports punditry.

Johnathen McCullagh – better known as Johny from Ireland’s capital Dublin. “I love to travel to new places and meet new people which me and my partner Giulliana have done a lot of in our 3 years together, I like animals, going to the gym, cooking and tournament poker. My background is on-line MTT’s but I have transitioned to live tournaments in the last few years.”

Giulliana Olivera – Originally from Brazil I live in Ireland with my partner Johny. I’ve been part of the live poker scene coming on 4 years and have had some success including the Partypoker Ladies title in 2017. I like to meet new people travel and shop. I also love animals. To represent Ireland as part of the Match poker team is dream come true.

Chris Dowling – €800k in tournament winnings. Regarded as the most consistence Hold’em player in Ireland over the last decade. Final tabled several International ranking events. More recently competes & makes his living from high stakes Omaha cash games.. Like Karen and Fintan, Chris has also represented the Irish national Match Poker team since 2017 and done exceptionally well.

Team Italy Looking to Improve on 2nd Place in Oxford

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Team Italy, represented by the Federazione Italiana Gioco Poker (FIGP) will be eager to improve on their 2nd place performance from Oxford at the 2017 Nations Cup. Their team for the European Championships in Kiev is as follows:

Antonio Paolo Parlavecchio, the celebrity of the Italian team, a professional football player in the 90’s with a series of ceded cords after hanging up his boots and losing his hair. He was part of the 2017 Nations Cup team which finished runners-up to the Irish.

Katia Crisafulli, the beautiful part of the team. Everyone bets that it will be the surprise of the impenetrable tournament, the poker face of the team.

Giuseppe Ruggeri is 44 years old and a new entrant into Team Italy. He has been practicing Texas Hold’em since 2006 with excellent results, some of them: 1 in 2012, 5 in vpoker 2019 in Nova Gorica, 2 in Divonne in 350€ in 2019. He is delighted to have been chosen, and hopes with his contribution the team achieves even more prestigious results than those already achieved.

Massimo Majolino is 51 years of age and the old man of the group “at least to the registry office”, sporting from always. From 2006 he has practiced live and online Texas Hold’em, unfortunately now his work commitments rarely allow him time to participate in events. He was part of the 2017 Nations Cup team which finished runners-up to the Irish.

Silvio Pizzarello, poker player, poker coach and Nations Cup 2017 runner up with Team Italy. Actually promoting a bankroll challenge on his Twitch Channel “TheTopTard” playing on 888.it tracking and playing poker through a simulation of a rookie player starting with no bankroll.

Giuseppe Grimaldi, 50, architect with a passion for sport. He has practiced competitive youth and senior activities, in basketball, soccer and volleyball. About ten years ago, thanks to the FIGP, he met “Texas Hold’em live” and soon became one of the protagonists in the world of associations in his region (Sicily). Professional commitments do not allow him constant participation in international tournaments. Nevertheless, it has achieved excellent results by going to ITM frequently. The # 9 place at the “Battle Of Malta 2015” is certainly the most prestigious placement. He was part of the 2017 Nations Cup team which finished runners-up to the Irish.

Mario Sfameni, 49, pharmacist with a passion for Texas Hold’em. Since 2006 he has been attending the Texas Hold’em world first as a live player ($50,000 won in his career) and then as a tournament organiser especially in Malta from 2009 to present. Vice President of F.I.G.P. since 2013 in the IFMP family ready for the spread of Match Poker on the Italian territory. He was part of the 2017 Nations Cup team which finished runners-up to the Irish.

‘Who, if not us?’ Team Belarus is Ready for Ukraine

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Alexander Zholnerchik – born on 25/08/1975, he used to be a businessman, but several years ago came to the conclusion that if business prevents him from playing poker, then he should quit business. And since then Alexander has been passionately playing both online and offline, also being fond of extreme sports, travelling and psychology.

Kirill Denisenko – 27 years old. Professional poker player from Minsk. Regular player of Texas Hold’em live and online tournaments along with cash games. A member of the Belarussian National Poker Team.

Kim Pavel – Builder, 52 years old, 7 years poker playing experience and enjoys going spearfishing in his free time.

Maryna Khatskevich – She started playing poker in 2014 as a home game with friends. She liked the game because she won and then started playing in the Minsk poker club. It was a cash game. Her first tournament was a Ladies free roll organized by Belarusian Federation of Sports Poker where she took 3rd place and then decided to continue learning poker. She worked a lot on improving her game with trainers and coaches and still does this everyday. Her best tournament result is 4th place in EPT Prague. Now she spends most of her time in poker: playing offline tournaments and working on the game. Her hobby is karaoke and skiing.

Sergej Vladimirov – Born 01.11.1968. Businessman and a proud father of two children. Sergej finds amusement in both active sport arts such as snowboarding and windsurfing, and quiet evenings with closest friends and board games. His life is filled with traveling and adventures. Sergej has been a part of the poker world for more than 10 years and he enjoys Texas Holdem, Omaha and OFC the most.

Yauhen Burlo – 36 years old. Lives and works in Minsk, Belarus. Started playing poker 6 years ago. There are no victories in WSOP and WCOOP, but he believes and does not give up! In his spare time, he enjoys travels, motorcycles, fishing & hunting. Happy man, husband and father.

Mikalai Nikanovich – Born on 16.08.1978. He is a lawyer who loves football, music, old movies and poker. He started playing poker about 7 years ago and is going to Kiev with the slogan: “Who, if not us?”

Team Lithuania is ready for the European Nations Cup in Kyiv, Ukraine!

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The Lithuanian National Match Poker Team, represented by Sportinio pokerio klubas “Du Karaliai”, comprises of:

Skirmantas Tomkevičius – the President of National Federation of Poker of Lithuania.

Mantas Urbonas

Poker professional from Panevėžys, now resides in Vilnius. Mantas is also the owner and manager of the football team Top Kicker’s. He started playing poker 10 years ago, and his best achievement is last year’s 4th place at Battle of Malta winning 120,000 EUR. Ranks 31st in Lithuania by live earnings. Mantas was born on 1987/06/22 and he is the youngest member of the team.

Erikas Zukas

He is the youngest member of the national team, eager to learn and understand other players – once Erikas has won a tournament without even looking at his own cards!

Laimutis Kalvelis

He was born on 1970/06/26. He is pretty successful in federation tournaments and has won two of them since 2012. Works as a CEO in a company taking care of houses in the city. Was born and lives in Vilnius.

Diana Dvelienė

She was born 1976/11/09 in Kaunas. She lives there and together with her husband, who is also a poker player in the federation, runs their own plants growing business. Does not play often in any live tournaments, but if she does, finishes in the money.

Arūnas Valentavičius

He was born on 1975/09/25 and is a retired solder of the Lithuanian army. Plays only in federation tournaments.

Dainius Ulkė

He was born in Biržai, but since early days lives in Vilnius, works in IT sector since 1994. One of the most stable players in the federation.

Qualification structure was the following

Top 6 players of each year from 2013-2018 of the national federation’s annual rankings were able to play in the qualification tournaments to get into the national team. Three tournaments were held (6-max, Turbo, Deep Freeze-out) to determine 6 or 7 winners. Two tournaments were won by Mindaugas Jonuškis and one by Mantas Urbonas. The tournaments took two days to complete and the national team was created.