Phil Ivey Selects Teammates for Caesars Cup

Team America is now in place for the 2013 Caesars Cup, as team captain Phil Ivey has chosen four fellow pros to join him in competition against Team Europe and Team Asia Pacific.

Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Greg Merson and Daniel Negreanu were selected by Ivey to make up the five-player American squad and defend the title, which was last played and won in 2011 at the World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes. Hellmuth was the captain of that winning team and was joined by Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Ben Lamb and Jason Mercier.

This year, the Caesars Cup will be contested at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia as part of the WSOP Asia-Pacific on April 14. Team Europe is captained by Sam Trickett, the UK’s all-time tournament money winner. Trickett has not announced his teammates as of this writing.

For the first time, Team Asia will field a squad of pros and will be led by 2005 WSOP Main Event champ Joe Hachem. Fans can make suggestions on who Hachem should select via his Twitter account.

Merson is the reigning WSOP Main Event champion, winning the bracelet and over $8.5 million in 2012. Hellmuth won the WSOP Europe Main Event last year, which was his his all-time leading 13th WSOP victory. Esfandiari won $18.3 million in 2012 as the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop champion. And Daniel Negreanu is, well, Daniel Negreanu.