The Global Poker League (GPL) Summer Series entered Heat #2 last week with every team back in action inside ‘The Cube’. The big story heading into play was the Americas conference winning all six matches in the first week. The pressure was certainly on the Eurasia conference and they had their hands full with some talented poker minds from the Americas.
The first match of the week featured Canadian poker legend and the GPL’s second-overall top scorer Mike Leah of the Paris Aviators taking on Las Vegas Moneymakers’ Jonathan Little. After 30 hands, Little emerged from the cube victorious in the first game. The second game was a little shorter with Leah tying up the match after 20 hands. Little would claim the match after 21 hands in the third and final game, sealing a 2-1 victory.
The league-leading Montreal Nationals were in action in the second match of the week. Martin Jacobson was scheduled to play but was making a deep run in a World Series of Poker event so Team Manager Marc-Andre Ladouceur took a last-minute flight to Las Vegas to play Igor Yaroshevskyy of the Moscow Wolverines. Yaroshevskyy took game one in just 29 hands putting the pressure on Ladouceur. The Nationals boss was up to the task though taking the next two games in 68 and 42 hands boosting the Nationals by six points up to 121.
The Eurasia conference was feeling the heat entering the third match of the week. The Americas was dominating play winning every match of the summer so far. Hopes were high for Justin Bonomo and the Eurasia top-seeded London Royals. Bonomo’s opponent from the Sao Paulo Metropolitans was Thiago Nishijima. Nishijima had strong results thus far in the augural season and wasn’t going to be pushed around. The Brazilian extended the Americas shutout streak sweeping Bonomo 3-0 to claim all nine points.
That wasn’t the only sweep of the week. Randy “Nanonoko” Lew of the Hong Kong Stars would finally end the Americas conference run putting all of the Eurasia teams on his back. After just two hands in the first game against the New York Rounders’ Jason Wheeler, Lew caught Wheeler with his hand in the cookie jar to take the lead. Nanonoko used the momentum to propel his team to a 3-0 victory and a big nine points.
Match five of the week seen the Summer Series debut of Canadian Sorel Mizzi. The Berlin Bears’ high roller was looking to pull his team out of the gutter against Fedor Holz and the LA Sunset. Mizzi had no such luck against Holz, who has been crushing everything he plays lately. Holz took all three games, sweeping Mizzi and earning the Sunset nine points.
The final match of the week seen another Canadian in action as Rome Emperors’ Timothy Adams was back in the cube facing Phil Galfond of the San Francisco Rush. Adams was on the verge of a sweep of his own after taking down game one and two in 51 and 31 hands. Galfond would spoil the party winning game three in just 12 hands. Adams’ six points earned were huge for the basement dwelling Emperors who are struggling in the Eurasia conference.
Updates standings after heat #2 of the Global Poker League Summer Series:
The GPL Summer Series will host five more weeks of heads-up cross-conference matches. Stay tuned to Canada Poker for weekly updates and follow the Montreal Nationals as they make a push for the playoffs. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for live updates over the series.
