WSOP Europe / Dave Allan / 19 August 2009 / Leave a comment

Phil Hellmuth and reigning WSOPE champion John Juanda are the latest confirmed members of a star-studded Daniel Negreanu captained Americas team at the inaugrual Caesars Cup to be held on September 26 at the Empire Casino in London.

The pair will join November Nine final table member Phil Ivey making Team America of the most formidable poker team line-ups of all time for the eagerly awaited televised clash.

European captain Annette Obrestad has also made her second draft picks with the Norwegian ace opting for two of the brightest young Internet stars in Dario Minieri and Bertrand Grospellier.

The pair will join reigning WSOP champion Peter Eastgate in Team Europe with three further members set to be announced as well as one lucky player who will qualify exclusively on Betfair Poker.

Phil Hellmuth

Love him or loathe him, Phil 'The Poker Brat' Hellmuth has won more WSOP bracelets than anyone else in history, and his eleven bracelets make him a force to be reckoned with in any no limit hold'em tournament. Although his style of play has been widely criticized in recent years - particularly by the up and coming internet generation - his results in hold'em tournaments are truly phenomenal, and he will cause even the best opponents a huge amount of trouble.

Perhaps Hellmuth's only main weakness is the ease with which he blows up when the bad beats start rolling in, and we can be sure to see some fireworks if things do not fall his way. If the cards stay with him, it is very difficult to pick anyone who would be considered a favorite over Hellmuth, although such is the nature of poker that this is a pretty big ask over any long format.

John Juanda

Winner of the 2008 World Series Of Poker Europe, Juanda is one of the most accomplished tournament players in the world. He has won four WSOP bracelets, and has total live winnings of just under ten million dollars. Juanda is known for his calm and thoughtful manner at the table, and it is rare that he seems to ever be flustered by events around him. At one point a door to door bible salesman, Juanda has progressed to become one of the most talented professional poker players in the world.

Juanda is not just a great tournament player. He has been playing and winning in the biggest online cash games in the world - both online and live - for many years now, and is a tough competitor in any poker format. As shown by his recent win at the WSOPE, Juanda is a player more than capable of winning the highest stakes tournaments in the world, and his consistency and diligence make him a threat in any game at any stake.

Dario Minieri

One of the most talented and aggressive of the online generation, Dario Minieri made his name playing in the highest stake heads up sit and go matches available on the internet, as well as destroying the biggest online multi-table tournaments available. He splashed onto the live scene at the 2007 WSOP Main Event, where he held the chip lead for a considerable time before finally finishing 96th.

Quickly showing that his first live success was no fluke, Minieri returned the very next year and claimed his first WSOP bracelet when he took down the $2,500 No limit hold'em six handed event for $528,418. Minieri has also had considerable success on the European Poker Tour, having had three final tables and total winnings of over $600,000. Minieri plays a style of poker that borders on psychopathic when at the table, constantly raising and re-raising and exerting total pressure on his opponents, and as a result is one of the most interesting and exciting players to watch in any format.

Bertrand Grospellier

Originally a professional Starcraft player, Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier switched his attentions to poker in 2004 and has never looked back. Cutting his teeth in the biggest stake heads up sit and goes available online, Grospellier soon became one of the most respected and feared players online, regularly winning millions in both sit and goes as well as multi table tournaments. In an attempt to maximise his time in games he even experimented with Leonardo Da Vinci's reported sleeping pattern of having a fifteen minute nap every two hours instead of regular sleep, a behaviour which he later admitted did not have the best results.

Grospellier soon turned his attention to live poker, with arguably the best set of live multi table results of any of the young online generation to appear in the last few years. He has won both an EPT and a WPT title, being one of only three people in the world to have achieved such a feat. His live winnings exceed $5,500,000, and he holds the Guinness World Record for largest number of sit and goes played in an hour, which ended up being 62 - at the $6.50 stake level - for a total profit of $23.60. A calm and collective figure at the table, Grospellier is one of the most dangerous hold'em players in the world right now, and will be a challenge for any player sitting opposite him.

You can exclusively qualify for your chance to represent Europe on Betfair Poker