GPL: Montreal Nationals Make Big Moves in Week 7
In the week that it was announced that the Global Poker League playoff are going to take place at TwitchCon in San Diego, there were a whole host of talking points from Week 7 of the Global Poker League. This week marked the halfway point of the Six Max competitions and is also the penultimate week before the ‘Summer Series’ portion of the competition in Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker.
Eurasia Conference
Players continued to make their GPL debuts for their respective franchises, and it was one such player, Sorel Mizzi, who shined this week. Although he didn’t even make it to heads-up in the Six Max section of proceedings, his scoop of Paris Aviators Captain Davidi Kitai in heads-up play saw the Berlin Bears biggest points haul since Week 4, extending their gap over the Rome Emperors at the bottom of the Eurasia conference to six points.
The Moscow Wolverines still lead at the top of the Eurasia conference, but the commanding lead they held this time last week has been cut to only eight points, with the remaining teams lining up to capitalize on any mistakes from Anatoly Filatov’s squad. The top three sides all lost their heads-up match this week, but the Paris Aviators and London Royals outscored the Wolverines in the Six Max matches thanks to wins from Alexandre Luneau and Chris Moorman.
A standout performance from the Hong Kong Stars’ Guo Dong resulted in him finishing second in both Eurasia Six Max matches. It had been a while since we saw Dong in action, with his only previous participation coming in Week 2 Six Max, where he finished last with zero points for his team.
Americas Conference
Meanwhile, in the Americas conference the Montreal Nationals overtook the New York Rounders at the top of the standings, thanks to a win and a second place from Mike McDonald in the Six Max matches, with Pascal Lefrancois losing his heads-up match 2-1. The Rounders on the other hand won their heads-up match 2-1, but lost ground in the Six Max matches. Tyler Kenney, having never previously finished outside the top three, managed only a fourth and sixth place for a total of just two points.
It was a disappointing week as well for the Sao Paulo Metropolitans, who in the last few weeks had looked to overcome a slow start and make a push for the playoff places. Brazilian Felipe ‘Mojave’ Ramos, another player who had never finished outside of the top three in his four previous starts was in action again, He couldn’t continue that form, finishing fourth and sixth as the Mets lost ground on the sides above them.
Another side that missed the opportunity to gain ground on teams above them was the Las Vegas Moneymakers. Moneymakers’ Scott Ball won the first Six Max match, beating Mike McDonald heads-up. However, the second match didn’t quite go to plan as he finished fifth, earning a single point.
Week 7 MVP
Mike McDonald helped the Montreal Nationals overtake the New York Rounders for top spot in the Americas Conference, but another player did more for his team this week.
Paris Aviators team manager Fabrice Soulier scored zero points in the Six Max matches last week with two sixth place finishes. This week however, Aviators’ Alexandre Luneau managed to eliminate seven straight players. Luneau won his first match and secured a respectable third place in the second for a return of 10 much needed points for the Paris Aviators.
Standings
Americas Conference
TEAM
Eurasia Conference
