Sweden defied huge odds to pull off a spectacular triumph at the
PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup in Cardiff. The winning team,captained
by Bo Sehlstedt, included 2006 WSOP bracelet winners Anders Henriksson
and Mats Rahm, as well as Johan Storakers, William Thorsson and online
qualifier Hans Isoz.
The team scooped $100 000 in a televised tournament that saw players
pursuing personal and team glory, along with the honor of representing
their home nation.
Sweden owe their success to the calm prowess of Henriksson. Heads-up
with the USA's team captain Robert Williamson III, Sweden had 12 000
chips compared to 88 000 for the USA. The contest appeared to be over,
the USA camp was triumphant and the Swedish supporters despondent
until Henriksson doubled up once and wore down the US captain in an
intense psychological battle.
Swedish captain Sehlstedt said: "I have won bigger sums
of money but this is a real career highlight, I am so proud of my
team. Anders is one of the top international players around right
now, and rarely seems to lose. Even when we were almost out I was
scared but confident that Anders can beat anybody shorthanded even
from such a weak position."
Henriksson himself was delighted. "It is great to win.
I always thought we were in with a chance because we had a very strong
team. It didn't seem to be going good for a while but once I had doubled-up
from almost nothing my confidence started to rise."
USA captain Williamson III was devastated to have thrown away such
a huge chip lead and could only say, "I don't need a bar
right now, I need a doctor."
The tournament was dramatic from start to finish. Defending champions
Great Britain featuring Dave, "The Devilfish" Ulliott, Ram
Vaswani and Joe Beevers steamrollered the field for the first few
days and were runaway favorites to win going into the final. The short
stack for the final was team USA which had been on the receiving end
of a terrible week. Captained by Robert Williamson III, the line-up
featured Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Clonie Gowen, Kevin O'Donnell
and Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly. The stars and stripes had taking
a mauling from the Europeans all week until Williamson won the heat
the night before the final to give them a small chance.
The USA cruised from short stack to big stack in the final mainly
thanks to a marathon session from Antonio Esfandiari, who exhibited
all the bluffing skills he is renowned for. After a big Clonie Gowen
double-up it seemed that nobody would stop the USA. All this time
the Swedish team were middle of the field, keeping out of trouble.
First out in the final was Germany, captained by Michael Keiner, in
less than an hour. Next to go was Denmark, captained by Theo Jorgensen,
and then Holland, led by Marcel Luske.
It was when it was three handed between Great Britain, Sweden and
the USA that Sehlstedt brought on his super substitute Henriksson.
Devilfish tried to talk the Swedish star into oblivion but Anders
just calmly sucked it all in and added to his stack. Eventually Williamson
busted Devilfish and became the huge favorite to win only to be taken
down spectacularly by the quiet Swede.
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: "If you were to ask any
pro who the two strongest poker nations in the world were right now,
most would say the USA and Sweden, and this tournament is evidence
that this is the case. It was a great spectacle and will make compelling
television."
The tournament saw one lucky PartyPoker.com qualifier on each team
playing alongside five poker professionals from the same participating
nations (except the USA who have Tilly instead of an online qualifier).
Over six heats, each player competed once to score points for their
team. All six teams then take these points into a "tag"
final where each team captain's judgment is vital, as it is up to
them to make tactical substitutions and strategic "time outs."
The show will be produced for Channel 4 in the UK by Presentable.
The event will be broken down into 9x60 minute episodes and will be
aired during March and April 2007. Each show will feature commentary
by Vicky Coren, alongside Barny Boatman.