Duplicate Poker Nations' Cup kicks off November 17th in London

LONDON, UK - Thursday November 17th (today) sees the International Federation of Poker (IFP) put on its inaugral event as part of the London Mind Sports Festival. The event is the Duplicate Poker Nations' Cup which sees teams from 12 nations pit their wits in a version of poker that aims to eliminate luck from the outcome.

According to the IFP, lead by Tony Holden, the author of one of the best loved poker books ever "Big Deal", "Duplicate Poker removes the element of luck and conforms more to a truly sporting occasion. Rather than competing against those at their table, duplicate poker pitches players against opponents dealt exactly the same cards in exactly the same position on neighboring tables. With all players in a particular seat given the same allocation of cards the only determining factor in the result of the tournament is how skillfully each player uses them."

Each team will have ten players so that each nation will be represented at every table. Each table will play like a sit 'n go tournament where each table plays down to a winner.

Eleven of the twelve teams have been announced already, with one yet to be revealed. One of the "nations" involved is representing Zynga Poker, the company best know for its poker offering on Facebook. Some of Zynga Poker's team members have never played live poker before and they will be thrown into action against some of the world's best players.

Team USA is one of the early favourites to win the inaugral Duplicate Poker Nations' Cup with a team stacked with well known and respected players. Captain Barry Greenstein heads the team, which includes players such as Vanessa Selbst, Jennifer "Jennicide" Leigh, Isaac Haxton and Antonio Esfandiari.

Home hopes rest with Team UK, which is lead by Barny Boatman and features some excellent young players like Jake Cody, Sam Holden, Liv Boeree, Sam Trickett, James Akenhead and JP Kelly.

Team Ireland's captain is Padraig Parkinson and he is joined by father son duo Donnacha and Eoghan O'Dea, Marty Smyth and Andy Black.

Other Countries represented at the competition are Germany, Netherlands, Australia, France, Spain, Brazil and Japan. One team is yet to be revealed but it is surprising that not one team from any Scandinavian country is playing in this competition.

The two day Nations’ Cup event will be followed on November 19 by “The Table,” a featured event during the four day festival put in place by the IFP. “The Table” has invited 135 of the top players in the world to battle it out for a $500,000 prize pool, with $250,000 going to the eventual champion.