World Cup of Poker: More upsets as eight teams remain

The World Cup of poker delivered more shocks over the weekend as 16 teams were whittled all the way down to just eight. The most important story of the weekend was the elimination of pre-tournament favorites the USA, but there has been plenty else happening within the remainder of the draw - including an out of this world individual performance. Here's how the bracket looks for the quarter finals:

The situation to this point on this planet Cup of Poker (click to enlarge)

The opening match went to form with Russia putting an end to the Kiwi's fairy tale run. The antipodeans were hugely outnumbered and were eliminated when their final competitor was knocked out with twelve players remaining. The total victory was claimed by Russian 'marel4'.

The match between Ukraine and Italy was a miles closer affair. On paper the Italians would has been slight favorites, but at the day of the match they were heavily outnumbered by their opponents - comprising just 30 of the 204 runners. Because the tourney reached a crescendo though the Italians had closed the distance and had six of the general 16 player within the match. By the last four it was right down to two from each nation. With just two left it was in every single place - the Italians had closed it out and booked a spot within the last eight, with 'maxanagni' taking first place.

Germany went into their first knockout match as a great favourite over Spain, nevertheless it was never going to be a very simple match against a big European nation. The match began with a tangible advantage for Germany with 189 players against Spain's 73, and with four left the advantage had held up with just one Spaniard remaining. That Spaniard was 'el gaito' and he was to not be stopped - taking down his last two matches to cause another upset.

Venezuela and Peru made up the competition's not possible match, and the 2 small South American nations could only must 51 players between them. Venezuela held the good thing about numbers and showed no respect for Peru's status as former World Cup of Poker champions - they powered to a victory with ten players left within the tourney for the round's most dominant win. 'tony love953' had the honor of taking first place.

Australia against Kazakhstan was a beautifully balanced match, with just six more players representing Kazakhstan than Australia. It remained evenly matched throughout and it went down to the wire. Ultimately it was 'Medet1991' from Kazakhstan that took the distinction and sent his team through to the following round and ending Australasian interest.

France looked to have an easy route into the following round taking up a way smaller European nation in Switzerland. When the Swiss only managed to field eight players within the game it looked a formality for the French. However the Alpine nation had already pulled off a miracle to progress from the gang stage, with 'and73' going it alone with 128 players left to secure a spot within the knockout phase. So it proved to be again on this elimination match with one determined player doing the business to maintain the Cinderella story alive. That player was 'and73' delivering remarkable back to back victories to earn a spot for his nation within the quarter finals!

Former champions Poland were slight favorites for his or her match against Bulgaria and so they were made to work flat out. With eight to move there have been still two Bulgarians within the mix, but just one survived to the last four. In any case it was Pole 'jaarema' that finished the job for his nation to maintain hopes alive for regaining the title.

Finally it was the massive clash between america and Canada - with almost 1,000 players lining up for his or her countries. The Canadians made up a bit of greater than 1 / 4 of the field, so had greater than a hope of defeating the tournament favorites and previous champions. By the point the tourney had reached four players the numbers were reversed with only one American left to maintain his country within the competition. It proved too big a job because the Canadians locked up the win by the final, with the victory honour going to 'pacer18'.

The quarter final matches happen on Saturday, December 6 and can cost 25K play chips to go into. Each match could have 20M chips added to the prize pool.

To discover more in regards to the World Cup of Poker please visit the dedicated web page.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com]