The industry has begun paying attention to the first-ever Global Poker Masters (GPM), as indicated by the fact that Bet365, one of the most prominent bookmakers in Britain, has begun accepting bets on the event. The Global Poker Index (GPI) is organizing the GPM.

According to Bet365, the event will most probably be a fight between Team USA and Team Canada although Team Germany also has a good chance of winning the title. The going is a bit tough for the other participants. Team Italy, Team UK, Team France, Team Russia, and Team Ukraine are hardly the favourites.

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The GPM is scheduled to begin on March 21 at Malta’s Hilton Hotel. Currently an invitational tournament, it aims to become the official World Cup for poker.

Alex Dreyfus, the CEO of the GPI, says that the GPI’s aim is to establish partnerships with new digital companies. He told PokerNews that, although the Internet has changed life in a big way, the way poker has been presented by the media has hardly changed. He spoke of the need “to be proactive and look for new channels and new platforms to reach new audiences.”

He further said: “If we really want to promote poker as a sport, we need an international competition like this one. We need something that gives the best players and the best countries the right exposure. With our initiative, we are creating another reason for the industry and mainstream media to keep talking about poker.”

Here are the eight teams that will take part in the event: Team Canada comprising Amichai Barer, Sorel Mizzi, Andrew Chen, Marc Andre Ladouceur, and Jonathan Duhamel; Team USA comprising Dan Smith, Olivier Busquet, Bryn Kenney, Jacob Schindler, and Isaac Haxton; Team Germany comprising Ole Schemion, George Danzer, Marvin Rettenmaier, Christopher Frank, and Philipp Gruissem;

Team UK comprising Jack Salter, Oliver Price, Simon Deadman, Sam Trickett, and Louis Alter; Team Italy comprising Mustapha Kanit, Andrea Dato, Dario Sammartino, Rocco Palumbo, and Giuliano Bendinelli; Team France comprising Erwann Pecheux, Sylvian Loosli, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrick Bruel, and Paul Tedeschi;

Team Russia comprising Anatoly Filatov, Ivan Soshnikov, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Alex Bilokur, and Vitaly Lunkin; and Team Ukraine comprising Eugene Katchalov, Oleksii Khoroshenin, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, and Igor Yaroshevksy.

Players can bet on the GPM at Bet365. All those who open a new account at Bet365 will receive a warm welcome bonus of 100% up to £200 from BookieSmash.com.