GPL Week 4: Anatoly Filatov, Jeff Gross are One-Man Wrecking Crews
As the inaugural Global Poker League (GPL) season goes on, larger point spreads between teams will likely develop so that we won’t keep seeing so much jostling in the standings week to week, but for now, with the teams so close together, the weekly upheaval is a blast. After last week’s Week 4, the Montreal Nationals took over the top spot in the Americas Conference, swapping places with the New York Rounders once again, and the Moscow Wolverines made a power play, jumping from third to first in the Eurasia Conference.
GPL Eurasia Conference Week 4 – Sit-and-Go 1
1st Place – Paris Aviators, Alexandre Luneau – 7 points
2nd Place – Moscow Wolverines, Anatoly Filatov – 5 points
3rd Place – Berlin Bears, Jeff Gross – 3 points
4th Place – London Royals, Chris Moorman – 2 points
5th Place – Rome Emperors, Walter Treccarichi – 1 point
6th Place – Hong Kong Stars, Celina Lin – 0 points
GPL Eurasia Conference Week 4 – Sit-and-Go 2
1st Place – Moscow Wolverines, Anatoly Filatov – 7 points
2nd Place – Berlin Bears, Jeff Gross – 5 points
3rd Place – Hong Kong Stars, Celina Lin – 3 points
4th Place – London Royals, Chris Moorman – 2 points
5th Place – Paris Aviators, Alexandre Luneau – 1 point
6th Place – Rome Emperors, Walter Treccarichi – 0 points
Starting with Eurasia Conference (don’t ask why I listed it second above), the hero of the week was Moscow’s Anatoly Filatov. Filatov played all of his team’s contests, placing first and second in the two Sit-and-Go’s for 12 points, then taking two of three heads-up matches against the London Royals’ Vanessa Selbst on Wednesday, bringing his weekly total to 18, the high water mark for any team in Week 4. With the Paris Aviators and Hong Kong Stars only earning 11 and 9 points, respectively, Moscow was able to make the leap all the way from third to first.
Another one-man show in Week 4 was Jeff Gross of the Berlin Bears. Berlin had been struggling mightily, getting nearly blanked in two of the three weeks, but Gross gave his team a much needed shot in the arm. He took a second and a third in the Sit-and-Go’s, but pulled off the rare sweep in the heads-up round, earning all 9 points against the Rome Emperors’ Todd Brunson. Gross’ 17 points allowed his team to also make a two-spot jump, climbing from sixth to fourth.
GPL Americas Conference Week 4 – Sit-and-Go 1
1st Place – LA Sunset, Olivier Busquet – 7 points
2nd Place – Sao Paolo Mets, Darren Elias – 5 points
3rd Place – San Francisco Rush, Anton Wigg – 3 points
4th Place – New York Rounders, Tom Marchese – 2 points
5th Place – Las Vegas Moneymakers, Jonathan Little – 1 point
6th Place – Montreal Nationals, Jason Lavallee – 0 points
GPL Americas Conference Week 4 – Sit-and-Go 2
1st Place – San Francisco Rush, Anton Wigg – 7 points
2nd Place – Las Vegas Moneymakers, Scott Ball – 5 points
3rd Place – Montreal Nationals, Jason Lavallee – 3 points
4th Place – LA Sunset, Olivier Busquet – 2 points
5th Place – New York Rounders, Tom Marchese – 1 point
6th Place – Sao Paolo Mets, Darren Elias – 0 points
So far, the New York Rounders and Montreal Nationals have alternated weeks in the catbird seat of the Americas Conference; Week 4 was Montreal’s turn.
The biggest movers in the conference were the bottom teams. The LA Sunset were the biggest points earners, adding 15 points, all from Olivier Busquet. That total moved the team from fourth to third. The San Francisco Rush, the bottom feeding team in the Americas so far, scored 13 points, which wasn’t enough to move them out of last place, but did help them narrow the gap.
Speaking of gaps, the Americas Conference has proven to be quite competitive so far; there are only 10 points separating first from last place. Compare this to the Eurasia Conference, which has two teams with more than 50 points and one team below 30.
Heads-Up Matches
Moscow Wolverines (Anatoly Filatov) 6, London Royals (Vanessa Selbst) 3
Hong Kong Stars (Randy Lew) 6, Paris Aviators (Bertrand Grospellier) 3
Berlin Bears (Jeff Gross) 9, Rome Emperors (Todd Brunson) 0
Sao Paolo Mets (Thiago Nishijima) 6, San Francisco Rush (Jonathan Jaffe) 3
LA Sunset (Olivier Busquet) 6, New York Rounders (Tom Marchese) 3
Montreal Nationals (Jason Lavallee) 6, Las Vegas Moneymakers (Scott Ball) 3
Global Poker League Week 4 Standings
Americas Conference
Montreal Nationals – 47 points
New York Rounders – 46 points
LA Sunset – 43 points
Las Vegas Moneymakers – 40 points
Sao Paolo Mets – 39 points
San Francisco Rush – 37 points
Eurasia Conference
Moscow Wolverines – 53 points
Paris Aviators – 51 points
Hong Kong Stars – 46 points
Berlin Bears – 39 points
London Royals – 35 points
Rome Emperors – 28 points
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