The Ukrainian team took the main trophy of the Nations Cup 2019. Six poker players from Ukraine showed the best result in the poker match competition that was held in Ireland from March 22 to 24. During six game sessions, the team managed to score 1307 points, 24 points ahead of the nearest rivals from Germany. Third place was taken by Ireland, who defended last year’s title in their native country. A total of 6 teams took part in the competition. Teams from India, Taipei and a team of online players also claimed the cup. This year, Ukrainian poker players took part in the competition for the first time. This became possible after poker was included in the list of official sports in Ukraine in August 2018. The team was assembled under the auspices of the All-Ukrainian Sports Poker Federation, the team was sponsored by the PokerMatch poker room. The team included Timur Azizov, Roman Golovko, Vladimir Drokin, Mikhail Kedrovsky, Andrey Lyubovetsky, Andrey Momot. The only woman on the team, Olga Ermolcheva, was named MVP of the tournament. The Nations Cup is organized by the International Match Poker Federation (IFMP), founded in Lausanne in 2009. The organization promotes sports poker and its variation Match Poker. The federation’s efforts are aimed at improving the image of the intellectual card game and separating poker from gambling. The team game format was developed by IFMP in order to eliminate the element of chance from the game as much as possible. Team members play at different tables, at each of which, thanks to the use of digital devices, the same distributions are realized. Thus, the players are placed on an equal footing, and the main thing is the skill of the poker players and the strategies they use. The first Nations Cup took place in London in 2011. The International Federation of Match Poker currently has 68 national poker federations.
