European Nations Cup Analysis

In Paphos, Cyprus on Saturday 13^th and Sunday 14^th April 2013, 14 national teams battled at Match Poker for the inaugural IFP European Nations Cup.

The four 3-hour+ sessions of play contained 51, 65, 71, and 72 hands respectively (259 hands in total).

As in all Match Poker events, the same order of cards was used at all 14 tables, dealt electronically to players’ smartphones and the tables’ community devices. The “seat draw” dictated that teammates played on different tables with one specific player from each team sat in each of the different seat positions, and that all teams were split evenly across the tournament tables. Over the course of a hand, therefore, each team received each set of hole cards in the same positions. A team’s collective skill in playing these hands and consistently outperforming the other teams determined their finishing position. In no way did the quality of the cards a player or team received influence their chance of winning the tournament.

Team chip-scores were compared each hand with a linear 14-1 points structure applied. After 259 hands scored this way, the top 6 teams qualified through to the IFP Nations Cup Finals at the end of November 2013.

The final scoreboard was as follows:

Additional individual prizes (Player of each Seat) were also awarded. In essence there were 6 mini-contests going on between the sets of 14 players in each seat position (based on total tournament chip-count). And finally, the “Player of the Tournament” award was given to Ireland’s Michael Graydon – the Seat Winner whose total chips minus the average for their seat position was greatest.

Here are the complete individual standings: