A revolutionary concept sweeping the industry is the concept of “team poker.” The first Dream Team Gaming event was held last week at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas and, at the end of the day, Team Bluff was crowned champions of the tournament. The group of three consisted of Eric Morris, Matt Parvis, and Bodog poker pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo.
The winners pocketed $39,000 for their efforts in the $1,000 per person buy-in tournament as well as commemorative rings valued at $5,000 apiece. Daniel Delshad, CEO and Co-Founder of Dream Team Gaming, stated in a press release, “We are extremely pleased with the outcome of the premiere of Dream Team Poker. We sold out our premiere and everyone enjoyed the new concept. The Hard Rock Poker Lounge couldn’t have been a more ideal location to host it and we look forward to sharing the concept with the public and expanding into other markets locally, nationally, and internationally.” No date for a second installment has been announced.
Poker players and celebrities flocked to the Hard Rock in order to play in the event. Each player received a score based on their finish in the tournament. The inaugural edition saw a high-profile group of poker pros take to the felts, including 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jamie Gold, Bodog pro and “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande, and WSOP bracelet winner and Full Tilt Poker pro Kenny Tran. Physician turned poker player and WPT event champion Roy Winston was also in attendance, as was Erica Schoenberg, one of the world’s top female poker pros and winner of a $2,500 buy-in World Poker Tour preliminary event at Mandalay Bay in 2007.
The celebrity contingent included actor Mekhi Phifer of “ER” and “8 Mile” fame, “24” actor Roger Cross, Holly Montag (sister of Heidi Montag) of MTV’s “The Hills,” former Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors player Chris Mills, and Co-Creator of “The Simpsons” animated series Sam Simon. The latter was featured prominently during the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, as he made a deep run to finish 329th out a field of 6,358 players and cashed for $39,000. Simon also placed 16th in a $1,000 rebuy event earlier in that year’s tournament series for $35,000.
Poker player Jason Lilley was the individual winner of the Dream Team Poker tournament and scored a ring and bottle of Cristal champagne for his efforts. The allure of the team gaming concept is that each player’s success is based both on their own finish and that of their other two cohorts. As is the case with other team games, it has numerous spin-off possibilities, including siblings versus siblings, show actors versus show actors, and athletes in one sport versus athletes in another. The press release claims, “Dream Team Poker benefits greatly by capitalizing on the desires of people who want to play games as teams, compete as teams, share experiences as teams, and increase their chances of winning as teams.”
The results of each team member are added up in order to determine team’s score. Scores are based on what place each player finished in and cash prizes are awarded to both the highest-ranking team and overall individual winner of the tournament. Each team is allowed two time outs per tournament prior to the final table and any team member who has been eliminated can give advice on a particular hand. Once a team reaches the final table, they are allotted an additional time out.
Dream Team takes specific precautions against collusion, such as not allowing any members of the same team to be seated at the same table until there are 14-16 players remaining. There were a total of 25 teams at the Hard Rock, or 75 players.
