Under the watchful eyes of an interested poker world, the Global Poker League has entered it's draft phase yesterday, and we can now take a closer at the teams competing for the inaugural GPL title. The draft took place in Beverly Hills, California, and saw 203 players declare themselves eligible for the draft. The teams drew to see who would pick first in each round, and with the Rome Emperors getting things under way, we soon found out how the teams would shape up for the GPL.
Celina Lin working hard for her GPL draft picks
Hong Kong Stars: Weiyi Zhang, Raiden Kan, Dong Guo and Bryan Huang drafted
From an Asian perspective, all eyes will be on the Hong Kong Stars team, and captain Celina Lin made an unusual first choice in some respects, although she kept her pick relatively local, choosing Weiyi Zhang. He ranks 614th in the GPI standings, with $258,000 in live earnings, but has clearly been seen by Celina Lin as an asset to her team. The second pick for Hong Kong Stars is a little better known, and one of the best Asian players around. Reigning APPT Player of the Year, Raiden Kan is Lin's second pick. Third pick, is none other than Dong Guo, who has half a million in live earnings and is an established pro from China. The fourth and final pick, is accomplished Asian pro, Diwei Bryan Huang. An all Asian team for the Hong Kong Stars, and it will be fascinating to see how they shape up against the best in the world.
Weiyi Zhang, Raiden Kan, Dong Guo and Bryan Huang
Other teams
Here is how the other teams shape up at the end of draft day:
Rome Emperors – Mustapha Kanit, Dario Sammartino, Timothy Adams, Walter Treccarichi
Montreal Nationals– Mike McDonald, Martin Jacobson, Pascal LeFrancois, Xuan Liu
New York Rounders- Jason Mercier, Tom Marchese, Kevin MacPhee, Jason Wheeler
San Francisco Rush- Phil Galfond, Tony Gregg, Kitty Kuo, Anton Wigg
Las Vegas Moneymakers- Anthony Zinno, Jonathan Duhamel, Jake Cody, Jonathan Little
Sao Paulo Mets- Darren Elias, Byron Kaverman, Thiago Nishijima, Joao Pires Simao
London Royals– Igor Kurganov, Vanessa Selbst, Chris Moorman, Justin Bonomo
Moscow Wolverines- Dzmitry Urbanovich, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Andrey Pateychuk, Sergey Lebedev
LA Sunset- Fedor Holz, Olivier Busquet, Eugene Katchalov, Chance Kornuth
Berlin Bears- Brian Rast, Sorel Mizzi, Dominik Nitsche, Jeff Gross
Paris Aviators- Bertrand Grospellier, Davidi Kitai, George Danzer, Mike Leah
Louis Hartwell
Graduated in Media Communication at the University of Lausanne, Louis Hartman is a co-founder of somuchpoker.com. He began his career in Cambodia as freelance journalist. In same time he was making his living by playing poker every night at that time. Intense learner, he read dozens of poker strategy books to improve his skills during many years. With a strong interest about poker "behind the scene" in Asia and his communication skills, Louis launched Somuchpoker in 2014.
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