The 2011 Caesars Cup featured two teams who had star-studded lineups, but one who was looking for redemption after a tough loss back in 2009. Back in 2009, Team Europe took down the event with a score of four to one, but Team Americas was determined to make this years’ Caesars Cup a closer affair. This years’ match-up featured Phil Hellmuth leading Team Americas, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier leading Team Europe.
The Caesars Cup works very similar to the Ryder Cup in Golf. Both of the two players listed above pick four players to play for their side, and then it is a best of five series with multiple different heads up and two player poker events. Hellmuth had a team filled with stars such as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Jason Mercier (who took Huck Seed’s spot), and the current Player of the Year leader Ben Lamb (who replaced Doyle Brunson). Team Europe had their own star studded lineup of Grospellier, Gus Hansen, Jake Cody, Tony G, and Max Lykov.
The series kicked off with a tag team match, which included two players from both sides. Team Americas sent out Mercier and Lamb against Jake Cody and Tony G. Team America was able to take the first event, and get a 1-0 lead. Then came another tag team match, with Hellmuth pairing up with Negreanu, who actually paired up together back in 2009; but lost the event. This time they were up against Hansen and Lykov, and they had the same result as 2009, which evened up the series at 1-1.
At that point, came the heads up matches, and the first even put Chan against Team Europe’s captain Grospellier. In the end, having the “C” for captain was not enough to take down the strong Johnny Chan, and Team Americas went up 2-1. Hellmuth entered the last heads up match to finish the deal for Team Americas, and he knocked off Lykov to give Team Americas the win, and take home the 2011 Caesars Cup.
An interesting side note to this is that Hellmuth and Lamb both represented Team Americas, and are the two players who head the current Player of the Year race.