WCOOP League Teams Set as PokerStars Ambassadors Look to Stop Team Lex
The teams are set for the inaugural WCOOP League as a handful PokerStars ambassadors gear up to battle for bragging rights and to make their teams proud during the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
Team captains Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Fintan Hand, Parker "Tonka" Talbot, Sebastian Huber, Andre Akkari and Lex Veldhuis, who earlier won the first-ever SCOOP League, selected their teams in a snake draft at PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona.
Each team includes one of the top six players from the WCOOP Boot Camp tournament leaderboard: "farrokh674", "zidix", "So00oSick", "FollowTheBreath", "Revenge4Dodo", and "king153246", all of whom won $10,300 WCOOP Gold Passes.
Follow the Action at EPT Barcelona!
Team Lex
- Lex Veldhuis
- Denis "aDrENalin710" Strebkov
- Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser
- Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky
- “Farrokh674”
Veldhuis had the first pick and went with SCOOP crusher Denis "aDrENalin710" Strebkov before choosing SCOOP GOAT Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser and rounding things out with Ukraine's Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky, while also picking up “Farrokh674” from the WCOOP Boot Camp leaderboard.
Team Tonkaaaa
- Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot
- Niklas “Lena900” Astedt
- Jerry “PerryMejsen” Odeen
- “ShipitFTW911”
- “Zidix”
Talbot, who was fresh off a final table finish in the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event and has been having an all-round spectacular year, was next to pick and went with Swedish online poker legend Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, followed by another Swede, Jerry “PerryMejsen” Odeen, and “Zidix” from the WCOOP Boot Camp leaderboard.
"I’ve got a nice Swedish squad, I decided to go with the Swedes," Talbot told PokerNews after the draft. "I wanted (Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson) but didn’t get him, Spraggy grabbed him in the first round. So fair enough.”
SCOOP League didn’t go great for Talbot earlier this year, but the streamer noted he was "a little bit busy last time around" and that “I’m taking this one a lot more serious."
"I’m going to be in there myself a decent amount more and I drafted a much better team. I’ve got the solid Swedish power. I think we’re going to be really good.”
Team Huber
- Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber
- “Fal1st”
- Thiago “tgrigoletti” Grigoletti
- Lasse “Wistern” Jagd Lauritsen
- “King153246”
Huber went with “Fal1st” as his first choice, who he called "probably one of the best online mixed game players that there is out (there)." After that, Huber went with Thiago “tgrigoletti” Grigoletti and Lasse “Wistern” Jagd Lauritsen, who is “a good friend of mine and I think we could make something cool happen together.”
From the Boot Camp leaders, Huber selected “King153246” and noted that "this guy’s a really good mixed game player and plays almost all the formats.”
Team Akkari
- Laurie “LaliTournier” Tournier
- Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski
- Felipe "lipe piv" Boianovsky
- Pedro "PadiLhA SP" Padilha
- “FollowTheBreath”
Akkari went with fellow Brazilians Laurie “LaliTournier” Tournier, Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski, Felipe "lipe piv" Boianovsky and Pedro "PadiLhA SP" Padilha. Meanwhile, Akkari chose “FollowTheBreath” from the list of available Boot Camp leaders.
Team Fintan
- Fintan “easywithaces” Hand
- Patrick “Pads1161” Leonard
- Renan “Internett930” Bruschi
- Adrian “Amadi17” Mateos
- “So00oSick”
Hand went with streaming legend Patrick “Pads1161” Leonard as his first choice, followed up with Renan “Internett930” Bruschi and Spain all-time money leader Adrian Mateos.
Team Spraggy
- Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg
- Kelvin "kelvin_fp:ar" Kerber
- Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson
- Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic
- “Revenge4Dodo”
Last to draw was Spragg, who went with Kelvin "kelvin_fp:ar" Kerber and Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson and Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic before picking up “Revenge4Dodo” as the last of the Boot Camp leaderboard players.
Who Will Win WCOOP League?
Who has the best chance of taking down WCOOP League? Most eyes are on Veldhuis after the veteran streamer's dominant SCOOP performance.
“He’s got a really good team, and honestly the scariest part of Lex is you know he’s going to be in every event every day from the start playing most of the high all the way down to the low," said Talbot. "I’ll play a decent amount, Spragg will play a decent amount, but Lex will play 27 tables and play every event running. He’s older than I am, but I’m just a little too old to do that.”
“Lex’s team is going to be tough because he makes himself a lot of points," Huber added. "It’s going to be very tough to compete with him. Besides that, it’s pretty much an open game.”
Bet on the Right Team to Win a Power Path Gold Pass
Did you know you can win a Power Path Gold Pass by engaging in the WCOOP League?
Head over to the PokerStars Sports client and back your favorite team. If your team comes out on top, not only will you win your bet, but you'll also receive a free ticket to an exclusive freeroll on October 5, with these fantastic prizes up for grabs:
- 1st – Power Path Gold Pass ($10,300)
- 2nd – Power Path Silver Pass ($2,500)
- 3rd – NAPT Las Vegas satellite ticket ($530)
- 4th-9th – Power Path Bronze Pass ($109)
- 10th-18th – NAPT Las Vegas satellite ticket ($55)
- 19th-75th – Power Path Step 3 ticket ($11)
- 76th-125th – NAPT Las Vegas satellite ticket ($5.50)
To take part you must place a minimum $/£/€5 bet in PokerStars Sports on the team you think is going to win before 23:59 CET on Sep 12.
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In this Series
- 1 Here's How to Play for a Share of $20,000 Worth of WCOOP Tickets in September
- 2 NAPT, EPT and Sunday Million Bundles Up for Grabs With Power Path in November
- 3 WCOOP League Teams Set as PokerStars Ambassadors Look to Stop Team Lex
- 4 PokerNews Ambassador "RobinPoker" Selling WCOOP Action on StakeKings
- 5 Spraggy and Lex Ready to Battle Again in PokerStars WCOOP League
- 6 Team Akkari Off to a Flying Start in the 2024 WCOOP League as Team Spraggy Falters
- 7 Lex Eyes First WCOOP Title as Spraggy Still Draws a Blank
- 8 Booyakasha: Lex Veldhuis Bags $130K & First WCOOP Title Dressed as Ali G
- 9 Jerry "Perrymejsen" Odeen Wins Seventh WCOOP Title for Team tonkaaaa
- 10 Sebastian Huber's Team peace&loove Take the Lead in the WCOOP League
- 11 Parker Talbot Wins HORSE Championship for Fifth WCOOP Title
- 12 Denis Strebkov's 12th WCOOP Title Aids Team L.Veldhuis' Ascent Up the WCOOP League
- 13 Team tonkaaaa Closes Gap with Talbot's Second WCOOP Title in Four Days
- 14 Niklas "Lena900" Astedt Wins Two WCOOP Titles in One Hour!
- 15 "FAL1st" Three Final Tables Propel Team peace&loove Into WCOOP League Lead
- 16 Lex and Tonkaaaa Both Through to WCOOP Event 55-H Day 2
- 17 Check Out This Crazy WCOOP Satellite ROI; $1.50 into $68,000!
- 18 Patrick Leonard Crowned Razz World Champion; Claims Tenth WCOOP Title
- 19 How to Win Your Way into the PokerStars WCOOP Main Events
- 20 Team tonkaaaa Closes WCOOP League Gap After Talbot's SEVENTH WCOOP Title
- 21 Renan Bruschi Completes Weekend WCOOP Double for Sixth Title
- 22 Mateos Reels in Fifth WCOOP Title; FAL1st Bags Fourth of Series
- 23 Fourth Title of the Year for Tonka, But WCOOP League Victory Looks Out of Reach
- 24 Sebastian Huber Bags Second WCOOP Win as Team peace&loove Close In On League Title
- 25 Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot Hungry for More As WCOOP Enters Last Rest Day
- 26 PokerStars Player Turns $1.50 Power Path Ticket Into WCOOP Title and $36K
- 27 Astedt Wins 10th Career WCOOP Title as Tonkaaa Bags Fifth of 2024!
- 28 Unstoppable! Fantastic FAL1st Captures 5th Title of WCOOP 2024
- 29 Veldhuis Makes $109 PLO Main Event Final Day; Goh Leads $10,300 NLHE Main Event
- 30 Jones Completes WCOOP Main Event Double as PLO Champions Crowned
- 31 Samuel Vousden is the 2024 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event Champion
