World Team Poker has added several new countries to the international organization’s line up of 30 national teams.  New team captains join the league’s poker superstars from the ranks of the world’s top players.

World Team Poker is an international sports organization with teams and players drawn from around the globe.  Team captains select professional players who represent their national team.  They play in a series of competitions for a lucrative prize purse and the distinction of winning the World Team Poker Championship.

Growing from eight teams playing in the inaugural tournament held in May at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, World Team Poker will be featured in a new television series broadcast by Fox Sports Net.  The series is set to air on Sunday nights beginning January 2, 2011 for a 13 week run.

New Team Captains: Greg Mueller Canada, Hasin Habib and Faraz Jaka (Co-Captains) Pakistan, Jean-Robert Bellande Caribbean Islands, Peter Costa Cyprus, Max Stern, Costa Rica, Chris Bjorin Sweden, Martin Pollak Austria, Dan Heimiller Germany, Bruno Fitoussi France, Vivek Rajkumer India, Toto Leonidas Philippines, Antonio Esfandiari Iran, Kevin Song Korea, Marco Traniello Italy, Lenny Martin Russia, Carlos Mortensen Spain, Roberto Rominelli Wales, Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea (joint captains) Ireland and Vladimir Shchemelev Ukraine.

New Players: Here are just a few of the  new players that have agreed to represent their countries: Team Canada, Shawn Buchanan, Kyle Wilson, Eric Cloutier, Owen Crowe, Daniel Idema and Terrence Chan; Team Caribbean Island Nations: Jean “Prince” Gaspard; Amnon Fiippi, Team Cyrpus, Tommy Vedes; Team Germany John Galbraith, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Leigh and Cindy Violette, Team Korea, Steven Sung, David “Chino” Rheem, John Myung and Michael Kim; Team Mexico, Kristy Gazes; Team Norway, Annette Obrestadt and Andreas Hoivold;  Team Iran, Reza Golestani,  Mojgan Stringham, Shahram “Shawn Sheiky” Sheikhan and Soheil Shamseiddin; Team Pakistan, Hafiz Khan, Moshin Charania, Ahmed Owais , Avaz Mahmood and Ozzy Sheikh, Team England, Praz Bansi, Julian Gardner and Richard Ashby.

The website “worldteampoker.com” contains player information and updated news as well as videos of the inaugural tournament in action.

Amongst the players that will be taking part within these teams we have several WSOP 2010 bracelet winners including:

Event #2:  $50k Poker Players Championship

Michael Mizrachi         $1,559.046/Bracelet                            Team Israel

Event #5: $1.5k No Limit Hold’em

Praz Bansi                               $515,501/Bracelet                   Team England

Event #21: $1.5k Seven Card Stud

Richard Ashby                        $140,467/Bracelet                               Team England

Event # 32: $5k No Limit Hold’em (6 Handed)

Men “The Master” Nguyen   $412,746/Bracelet                     Team Vietnam

Event #33:  $2.5k Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha

Jose-Luis Velador       $260,522/Bracelet                                Team Mexico

Event#35: £10k Heads Up No Limit Hold’Em World Championship

Ayaz Mahood               $625,682/Bracelet                             Team Pakistan

Event #44: $.25k Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit)

1^st Gavin Smith                     $268,238 Bracelet                   Team Canada

World Team Poker would like to congratulate Michael Mizrachi (Team Israel) for reaching the final table of the £10,000 WSOP main event. World Team will be announcing soon some more of the November Nine players who will be joining WTP teams to represent their countries.