09 Feb 09
Team PokerStrategy wins BM Soccer Battle - Pictures inside
In a dream final the PokerStrategy.com team could narrowly defeat the Fixed Limit Black Member team, followed by the No Limit team and the bwin team on places 3 and 4.
The game mode:
The event started off in a group phase where all four teams competed against each other in three matches. The play time was set to 15 minutes and two games were carried out at a time. At the end of the group phase, the two leading teams fought it out for the title in the final (2x10 minutes).
Match 1: The two black member teams had to face off right in the first match in what initially was a close battle. After taking an early lead, the no limit players could hold on to a draw for some time, but in the end the strong fixed limit team could prevail with a clear 4:1. The self-proclaimed tournament favourite thus managed to catch a good start.
In the game between bwin and PokerStrategy, the poker school got an early lead of three goals - and didn't give it up until the very end.
Match 2: In the fixed limit versus bwin match, the team lead by captain pokersellers managed to easily keep up their momentum and take the win, thus already establishing their team as the first competitor in the final, even before the last group match.
The match between the no limit and PokerStrategy teams was a whole different story. While our VIP supporter Hamid's team around was in the lead most of the match, the NL players managed to pull off a draw with 5:6. Wait, what? How come 5:6 was a draw? After the match, there was a fifteen minute-long and heated discussion about a potentially illegal handball from PokerStrategy during the match, which lead to a goal only a few seconds later. During the heat of the match, both teams weren't able to take in the opposing team's opinion, so the play was resumed right away. To make matters worse, PokerStrategy was only in the lead by a single goal by the end of the match. As it was impossible to reach a conclusion to this controversy, even after the match, it was decided to let the last group match show whether the result had any relevance at all.
Match 3: Our partners from bwin had to take a final loss against the NL players in the last match of the group phase. This also meant that the NL players managed to secure a first win and could possibly still be in the run for the final.
However, the PokerStrategy team put up another good good performance in their final group match against the FL finalists. Thanks to solid teamwork and a conservative FL team - possibly saving up their energy for the final - they could take a 4:2 victory and grabbed their place in the final, where those two teams would meet yet again.
Consolation final: The bwin team was able to keep up in the first minutes and an exciting match was thus expected to take place. In the end, their team consisting of only six players (leaving room for only one substitute) ran out of stamina, however, and the no limit players could thus secure the third place.
Final:
Ironically, Pius from the PokerStrategy team as well as both pokersellers and Boomslang from the FL team expected a clear victory for their respective team before the match.
In the end, it turned out to be not quite as clear as they had wished for. Both teams started out with top motivation and it was quickly obvious that the match would turn out to be a bit more rough than the group phase. After 14 of the 20 minutes, PokerStrategy took the lead anew, but shortly afterwards they failed in their plan to secure the victory through a defensive game, leading back to a draw.
The score didn't change thereafter up to the final whistle, meaning penalty kicks would determine who would obtain fame, glory and the cup. Both teams picked five players, and these chosen ones would keep scoring more or less confidently until the very end. It was only at the very end that the PokerStrategy goalkeeper TheJoker (who, like Wishmaster and Fenris, is both Black Member and PS employee) could fend off the last ball and secure the win for his team. The cup will therefore stay here with PokerStrategy and will certainly have a place of honour in our office in Gibraltar.
Kudos to all four teams for their terrific dedication and the ambition poker players are so well-know for, many thanks for the nice matches. Due to the tremendous success, it's hard to imagine that we won't continue this event (maybe in another discipline) at upcoming parties.
At the time we are writing this, the diamond event has started at the night residency here in Düsseldorf for about an hour now. At midnight, we expect the Black Members and their company to arrive at the club, too. The first batch of pictures can be expected on Friday - first the soccer-event, possibly followed by the first party photos over the course of the night.
Next, you will find a small pre-selection of pictures - still uncommented. There will be more, some time between midnight and noon.
