Ukraine win the Match Poker Nations Cup

One of our members took Bronze in this niche 'Match' event which also saw Team Singapore get disqualified.

At the end of last month the International Federation of Match Poker hosted its annual event, albeit in a different way. Match Poker is a format where every table deals the same hole cards as the other table, so if the Big Blind on table 1 gets dealt Pocket Kings, the Big Blind on table 2 will also get dealt Pocket Kings. 

The point of the format is to argue the skill side of the game more, suggesting that the better players will make more of the same holding than their peers. It is, however, quite logistically difficult to manage which is why it never took off. 

It does have some enthusiasts though and the Nations Cup saw 12 countries come together on a video conferencing software to compete in the event. 

The top six teams after 50 hands then progressed to the next stage to compete for another 50 hands, after which the team which had won the most on average were declared the champions. It was defending champions Ukraine who managed the repeat victory, with Australia in 2nd and Lithuania in Bronze position. 

Speaking of which, congratulations to our forum hero and blogger Mantelo who was one of the members of Team Lithuania to get that podium finish. He shared in his blog that he was one of the best performing players in the tournament.

Controversy also erupted at the event as Singapore were disqualified from the tournament for playing their hands in a questionable manner. They were said to have used additional information in the tournament to get an unfair advantage, which is odd given no money was at stake.

Normally this event takes place live and this year teams from Ukraine, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea all took part.

Do you like the sound of Match Poker? Let us know in the comments: