From the button, Jake Cody raised to 4,000 for Team Europe and Jason Mercier called from the big blind for Team America. The flop came down 
and Ben Lamb checked. Tony G checked behind.
The turn was the 
and Mercier bet 4,000. Cody studied and then raised to 12,000. Mercier called.
The river was the 
and Lamb checked. Tony G checked behind.
Team America showed a pair of threes, but Team Europe's pair of eights won the pot.
From the button, Team Europe's Jake Cody raised to 5,000. Team America's Jason Mercier called from the big blind and the flop came down 
. Ben Lamb was now up for Team America and he checked. Tony G bet 7,000 and Lamb called.
After the 
landed on the turn, Mercier was back up and checked. Cody checked behind.
The 
fell on the river and Lamb checked. Tony G also checked. Team America showed trip aces and Team Europe mucked their hand.
![[user112728]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Team America's vs. Team Europe
Level: 1
Blinds: 1,000/2,000
Ante: 0
The first match is just about to begin. For Team Europe, Jake Cody and Tony G will be facing off against Jason Mercier and Ben Lamb for Team America. In this first format, the two players on each team will share the same stack and the same hand, alternating action on each street.
The button will start with Team Europe.
Welcome to PokerNews' coverage of the 2011 Caesars Cup from here in beautiful Cannes, France at the World Series of Poker Europe. It's poker's version of the Ryder Cup and after a short hiatus, the competition is back pitting Europe against America.
On the American side of things, Phil Hellmuth is the captain with Jason Mercier, Ben Lamb, Johnny Chan and Daniel Negreanu joining him. Mercier and Lamb were late additions to the team in order to fill in the slot that opened up when Doyle Brunson and Huck Seed decided not to make the trip.
Going against them will be the Europeans headed by captain Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. He's joined by Jake Cody, Gus Hansen, Maxim Lykov and Tony G. Dario Minieri was originally on the team, but with him not making it, he'll be replaced by Tony G, which should make for some great Hellmuth-versus-Tony-G antics.
There will be three different variations of matches. First will be a match were two members of each team alternate streets of action playing the same hand. One player will play preflop, one post-flop, one on the turn and another on the river. The second variation will be two players playing the same stack throughout a hand. The third will be a straight heads-up match. Players will begin each match with 100,000 in chips and the blinds will increase every 10 minutes.
Play is set to kick off shortly, so stay tuned for all of the action.
Caesars Cup
Day 1 Started