World Team Poker Launches New League with Star-Studded Teams

World Team Poker (WTP) has announced the formation of teams and the premiere date of the league, which is May 19. The project aims to elevate poker to a new level, similar to how NBA has done for basketball, NHL for hockey, or ATP for tennis.

Each team will have a captain who selects professional players, and the captain can also play and make substitutions during the game. The teams will play up to four matches a year, culminating in an annual championship. WTP plans to attract maximum star power and an unusual format to increase poker's popularity.

All games will be broadcast online with live card visibility, and then edited into four-hour programs for television. The first tournament will feature teams from the USA, China, Vietnam, Australia, England, Israel, Brazil, and Greece. The USA team will be captained by Doyle Brunson, with players including Allen Cunningham, Chris Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Mike Matousow, Erik Seidel, and Annie Duke. The China team will be co-captained by Johnny Chan and David Chiu, with players including Zelong Dong, Maria Ho, Winfred Yu, Rich Ju. The Vietnam team will be captained by Men “The Master” Nguyen, with players including Scottie Nguyen, David Fam, John Fan, Kenny Tran, Karina Jett, Tim Fan, and Van Nguyen. The Australia team will be co-captained by Jeff Lisandro and Tony Guoga, with players including David Saab and Gary Benson. The England team will be captained by Ben Roberts, with players including David “Devilfish” Ulliot, Peter Costa, David Colclough, Surinder Sunar, and Joe Beavers. The Israel team will be captained by Eli Elezra, with players including Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Robert Mizrachi, David Levi, and Moshe Elazar. The Brazil team will be captained by Juliano Maezano, with players including Rodrigo “Zidane” Caprioli, Umberto “Kima” Kim, Christian Kruel, Paul Oliveira, and Leandro “Brasa” Pimentel. The Greece team will be co-captained by Georgious Kapalas and Georgious Theophanopoulos, with player Alexis Zervas.