Team France
It's often a running joke in poker circles that French players lack skill. Then you look at this team of players, and you can't help but question what people are talking about — Erwann Pecheux, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Paul Tedeschi, and Sylvain Loosli? What's there to joke about?
Maybe we'll give you Patrick Bruel, as the French singer, actor, and poker player as may a tad out of his league in this event, but even Bruel has shown he can lock horns with the best and perform. He holds a World Series of Poker gold bracelet and nearly won a second a few years later after he scored his first.
Team France is without a doubt headlined by Grospellier, who boasts nearly $11 million in live tournament earnings and is regularly talked about as one of the game's best, but it's Pecheux who currently holds the team's highest Global Poker Index country rank at No. 2. Rounding out the team is Tedeschi and Loosli, both very respected players with strong backgrounds in online poker. Tedeschi hasn't exactly broken out yet on the live scene, but Loosli certainly has thanks to reaching the WSOP Main Event final table in 2013 and finishing fourth.
Overall, this French team is underrated, and it wouldn't be a total surprise if they finished in the top three.
| Player | Lifetime Earnings | Current GPI Score | GPI Ranking | GPI National Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erwann Pecheux | $863,519 | 2,376.51 | 83 | 2 |
| Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier | $10,893,264 | 2,320.36 | 92 | 3 |
| Paul Tedeschi | $685,461 | 2,000.70 | 146 | 5 |
| Sylvain Loosli | $3,050,173 | 1,915.05 | 166 | 6 |
| Patrick Bruel | $1,489,740 | 557.93 | 2,192 | 98 |