World Cup of Poker

The World Cup of Poker is the annual event that sees nations battle it out to become world champion. Teams qualify online at PokerStars for a glittering live final, held as part of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure at Atlantis in January 2012. At the final qualifiers are joined by team captains selected by PokerStars, and the action takes place over two days of intense action.

How the World Cup of Poker Works

The teams are made up of a striker, midfielder, defender and a goalie, and each different position has its own qualifier tournament. You can play for free or just $1.10, and your team will get a UK pro player added to the line-up if you make it to the live final in The Bahamas.

All first-time depositors can also get a free $11 Stage 1 ticket when they use the bonus code ‘WCP8’. They will also be eligible for the regular PokerStars welcome bonus - see the First Deposit Bonus page for more.  

Stage 1 Qualifiers - Team Selection

Tournament qualifiers for every position on the UK national team run at the times and dates listed below. The winner of each tournament for that buy-in level will be awarded their place on the national team in this position.

Team Position	Buy-In	Date	Time
Goalkeeper	Free	August 20	12:00 ET
Defender	$1.10		14:00 ET
Midfielder	$11	August 21	12:00 ET
Striker	N/A - TLB only*		14:00 ET

*The qualifier tournaments for striker are invitation only, with the top-10 Tournament Leader Board (TLB) players from the 2010 annual rankings for each country being invited to take part.

To register for a Stage 1 qualifier, open the PokerStars lobby, click ‘Events’ & ‘World Cup’.

Stage 2 Qualifiers- Knockout Round

The four players selected for the UK national team will then get to compete against the players from other countries that won their spot on the national team for that position. The country team that performs best across all four tournaments will win their group and advance to the live final at the PCA (seven teams in total will go through from the group stages).

August 27
Position	Time
Goalkeeper	17:00 ET	12:00 ET	10:00 ET	04:00 ET
Defender	19:00 ET	14:00 ET	12:00 ET	06:00 ET

August 28
Positio	Time
Midfielder	17:00 ET	12:00 ET	10:00 ET	04:00 ET
Striker	19:00 ET	14:00 ET	12:00 ET	06:00 ET

Stage 3 - Live Final

All seven teams that advance from Stage 2 will be invited to play the live final, held in January, 2012 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in The Bahamas.

If you have any questions about the World Cup of Poker, please email support@pokerstars.com.