PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, has unveiled the Americas Cup of Poker, bringing players from 13 countries in the Western Hemisphere together to do battle. Up for grabs is a $250,000 prize pool.
Players from the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, Canada, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay will take to the felts as part of the quarter-million dollar Americas Cup of Poker. The tournament is a hybrid of live and online poker. In the end, eight teams will make their way to a ski resort in Bariloche, Argentina with the Andes Mountains serving as a picturesque backdrop. Text found on the PokerStars website touts the unique experience: “It’s the trip of a lifetime that gives you the chance to explore one of South America’s most beautiful regions – and play poker for cash and the glory of your country while you are there.” Bariloche serves as the gateway for mountain crossings into Chile.
In a similar setup to a soccer tournament, the 13 participating countries have been divided into four groups, labeled A, B, C, and D. The United States, Mexico, and Ecuador will battle in Group A. Canada, Columbia, and Uruguay will compete as part of Group B. Chile, Venezuela, Peru, and Costa Rica will take to the felts in Group C. Finally, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay will comprise Group D. Each group except C will include a wild card country, which will be determined by the nationality of freeroll winners on July 24th, 25th, and 26th.
Countries in each group will do battle in daily freerolls, $0.20 buy-in tournaments, and $0.50 buy-in tournaments. A total of three rounds will play out: July 27th through August 2nd, August 3rd through August 9th, and August 10th through August 16th. Players who reach the Top 100 in each tournament will receive points for their country and the two countries with the most number of wins in each group will qualify for the live final in Argentina. Players with the top five point tallies from each country will make the sojourn, with the following prizes up for grabs. Each will be distributed evenly among the finalists for each country:
1st Place: $100,000
2nd Place: $60,000
3rd Place: $30,000
4th Place: $20,000
5th Place: $10,000
6th Place: $10,000
7th Place: $10,000
8th Place: $10,000
For wild card countries, the player who won the qualifying freeroll will automatically head to Bariloche should their country finish as one of the top two in the Group; the top four point earners will join them. In addition, a member of Team PokerStars Pro will be added to each team in Argentina to bolster the skill level. Members of Team PokerStars Pro from Americas Cup countries other than the United States include J.C. “PrtyPSux” Alvarado (Mexico), Leo Fernandez (Argentina), Maridu Mayrinck (Brazil), World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup V winner Alexandre Gomes (Brazil), Andre Akkari (Brazil), and Humberto Brenes (Costa Rica).
Here are the Round 1 match-ups in the Americas Cup of Poker, which will play out from July 27th to August 2nd:
Group A:
United States versus Ecuador
Mexico versus Wild Card
Group B:
Canada versus Uruguay
Columbia versus Wild Card
Group C:
Chile versus Venezuela
Peru versus Costa Rica
Group D:
Brazil versus Paraguay
Argentina versus Wild Card
First place in a daily freeroll awards 600 points to a player. Winning a $0.20 tournament results in 1,500 points, while champions of each $0.50 event will receive 3,000 points.
The final event in Bariloche is tentatively scheduled to take place from September 4th to 6th and will be filmed for television. Players who claim allegiance to multiple countries will be assigned to the nation that their PokerStars account is registered to. Starting on July 27th, the daily tournaments can be found by visiting the “Tourney” lobby of the PokerStars client and then clicking on “Regional.”
