Barny to captain Europe

BARNY TO CAPTAIN EUROPE!

We are proud to announce that Barny has been appointed as European team captain for the inaugural heads up match against America to be staged in Baden this October.
The World Heads Up Organisation has issued the following statement:

EUROPE VERSUS THE USA
· Casinos Austria backs inaugural match
The first ever poker match between two continents will be held later this year when teams from Europe and America clash heads up.
Agreement has been reached between the World Heads Up Organisation and Casinos Austria to stage the match on October 2nd at Casino Baden - the day before the start of Poker EM, the world's biggest 7-card-stud tournament.
Casinos Austria will be providing accommodation for both 12-player teams, adding prize money to the winning side's purse, laying on a live internet broadcast and funding the infrastructure.
The match will be staged under the auspices of the World Heads Up Poker Organisation which is in negotiations with a number of American casinos to stage a return match in the USA in 2003.
Team captains have already been appointed. Barny Boatman of England will head the European side and Phil Hellmuth, a partner in WHUPO, will run the USA team.
Each member of the 12 person team will play two games heads up. If the match is tied 12-12 the captains will choose one team member each to play in a sudden death tie breaker.

Barny say's:

" I am delighted, honoured and surprised to have been offered this opportunity. This is going to be a fantastic event, which will take poker to a new level as a game of skill, a team sport and as entertainment which will be accessible to a wider audience."

"I take my responsibility extremely seriously and will not be making any rush decisions on team selection. The final twelve will be announced this September and will include the top two in the WHUPO rankings. The other nine will be picked by me. All twelve players will play a no-limit hold-em match, half will play limit seven card stud and half will play pot limit Omaha. Because of the format I'll be looking for people who are strong heads up players in two games."

"I'll be picking a team to represent the whole of Europe. I'll also be picking a team to win. The Americans will no doubt be fielding a powerful squad, sporting more bracelets than Dave Ulliot flogs in a year. They'll probably consider themselves to be the favourites, but I don't see it that way. There are a lot of great European players, and my biggest problem is who to leave out. We have a couple of distinct advantages over the Americans which I won't go into now but which give me every reason to be confident."

"Whatever happens, this is a great thing for poker, and I know our team is going to do us proud. "