(Los Angeles, March 14, 2011) At World Team Poker’s Championship Event, details of which will be announced in the coming weeks, China will have to defend its title against no fewer than 15 teams from around the world. Team China’s formidable players, experience, tenacity and patience will be difficult to beat.
Team China won World Team Poker’s Inaugural Event last year after an epic 19 hour poker marathon, besting seven teams of the best players in the world. Co-Captains Johnny Chan and David Chiu, and team members Derek Cheung, Chau Giang, Maria Ho, Winfred Yu and Rich Zhu, worked together to bring the win to China.
The Team
Legendary poker pro, Johnny Chan, is known for his 10 World Series of Poker (“WSOP”) bracelets and over $10 million of tournament winnings. His championship win against Erik Seidel was made famous by the movie Rounders. Johnny is one of only a handful of players to win back-to-back WSOP main event championship bracelets. He made a deep run in the 2010 WSOP Main Event, where he finished in156th place out of a field of 7,319.
Johnny will be using his years of poker experience to co-captain Team China with David Chiu. Co-captain, David Chiu, is a top poker player in his own right. With four WSOP bracelets and a World Poker Tour World Championship Title, there is no doubt that Chiu is an amazing poker player. Boasting over 80 career tournament cashes, David is considered one of the best limit hold’em players in the world and is one of the most respected tournament players on the poker circuit. David had an amazing run at the WSOP in 2010, making three final tables and coming in second in the Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha event.
Derek Cheung is a successful businessman who owns a buildings materials business in Hong Kong and China. He started playing poker 15 years ago, starting with 5 card stud, 7 card stud Hi/Lo, Omaha Hi/Lo and Limit Hold’em before eventually picking up No Limit Hold’em. Derek has been primarily a high stakes cash player in Macau, but he started playing tournaments in 2008. Derek made deep runs in the 2009 Aussie Millions Main Event and the 2010 ANZPT Adelaide Main event, and finished 8th place in the 2010 Aussie Million Event #14. Most recently Derek finished 3d in Event #4, No Limit High Rollers at the 2010 APT Macau.
Chau Giang is regarded by many as one of the top high-stakes cash players in the world. An all-around player with well-developed skills in all forms of poker, he has spent much of his poker career focusing almost exclusively on cash-game play, with the exception of the WSOP where he has earned three bracelets, in Ace to Five Draw, Omaha Eight or Better and Pot Limit Omaha. Chau has a total of 51 WSOP cashes and is eighth on the WSOP all time-money list. Recently at APT Macau Festival he won more than HKD $20 million (approximately USD $2.56 million) in the No Limit Hold’em cash game.
Maria Ho was introduced to poker in college at friendly home games, and quickly became hooked. After graduating she decided to pursue a career as a professional poker player with the bankroll and confidence she had built from playing recreationally during her college years. In 2007, Maria was named “Last Woman Standing” in the WSOP Championship Event, finishing in 38th place out of 6,358 people. Maria considers herself a limit specialist and can play a variety of games. More than just a one-hit wonder, in 2009, Maria finished 11th in the WSOP $10K Limit Hold’em Championship Event, and just finished second in the Aussie Millions 8 Game Mixed Event.
Mr. Winfred Yu has played in numerous Poker Tournaments in Las Vegas and Major International Poker Tournaments across the globe for over 10 years. With a Bachelor Degree in Mathematics for Commerce, Yu is considered among many to be a Poker expert. His experience and knowledge in the game of Poker will be a great asset to Team China.
Yueqi “Rich” Zhu has been playing poker since 1996. Although his main focus is on cash games, Zhu manages to make the annual pilgrimage to Vegas every summer for the WSOP, where he has made 5 final tables and cashed 27 times to date, most recently placing 3rd in the $10,000 Omaha 8 or Better Championship Event.
World Team Poker Inaugural Event
World Team Poker’s Inaugural Event was a shoot-out style tournament consisting of limit hold’em, pot limit Omaha and no limit hold’em. There were five tables, each of which played down to two players. The final two players at each table qualified their team to advance to the final table. A team only needed one player to qualify to advance to the final table.
Only five of the eight teams made it to the final table. Team Israel was the first knocked out, followed by Team England and Team USA. China had three players qualify and went to the final table as the commanding chip leader with 142,550 in chips. Greece was in second with 101,800 in chips, followed by Vietnam with 75,650 chips, Brazil with 45,350 in chips and Australia with 34,650 in chips.
Despite going into the final table with the chip lead, Team China had to contend with the short stacks put up a strong fight. It took six and one-half hours to get heads up. Team China started the heads-up short stacked against Team Brazil with 3-1 chip lead. Both Team Co-Captains Johnny Chan and David Chiu played a very patient game against the aggressive style of Team Brazil's Leandro "Brasa" Pimentel in this three hour heads-up match, which ended around 8:50 a.m. Both teams chanted enthusiastically when their players dragged a big pot and, at times, hollered out notable accomplishments to both encourage their own player and as a means to intimidate the other team.
It took more than an hour for Team China to chip up to even with Team Brazil's monster stack and then another hour to gain the lead. Team Brazil nearly evened the playing field for a second time during Level 21 (a limit round), however the chips were all-in the middle just 10 minutes into Level 22, Pot Limit Omaha. Team China won the hand and the match for a $300K payday. Team Brazil received $100K for second place.
World Team Poker Championship Event
World Team Poker’s three day Championship Event will be held May 24-26, 2011 at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa. Teams currently scheduled to play include Team Australia, Team Brazil, Team Canada, Team China, Team England, Team Germany, Team Greece, Team Iran, Team Israel, Team Italy, Team Korea, Team Lebanon, Team Pakistan, Team Russia, Team Spain, Team Ukraine, Team Vietnam and Team USA and a Wild Card team of celebrities captained by Dr. Jerry Buss.
Other teams have expressed their interest in playing and are finalizing their rosters and schedules with the hopes of participating, including Team Costa Rica, Team Denmark, Team France, Team Norway, Team Philippines, Team Russia and Team Wales.
ABOUT WORLD TEAM POKER
World Team Poker brings exciting, unique elements to the game of poker that are seen in professional team sports. Teams will play in up to four league matches a year, culminating in an annual Championship Event where the teams battle it out for “Pride, Passion, Country.” Text “Poker” to 45424 for updates.
