Eight national teams are now in Barcelona to play in the World Cup of Poker IV live finals. Only one can walk away with the championship. Here's a look at the players who will be representing their countries in the live finals.

World Cup of Poker IV Teams

TEAM USA - USA Division

shaundeeb - One of PokerStars best known tournament players, shaundeeb is likely best known for turning a $30 deposit into $33,000 in just a couple of weeks. Since then, shaundeeb has rocked the online and live tournament world and has turned himself into a well-known tournament pro. More on shaundeeb.

D-28 - Forty-eight year-old player from North Carolina who has been playing poker recreationally for the past 30 years. He entered the World Cup of Poker qualifier on a whim and is now representing his country in Barcelona. More on D-28.

principe4 - Thirty-eight year-old father of two who is called the Prince of Poker by his home game friends. He calls the World Cup experience a dream come true and is excited to be in Barcelona. More on principe4.

tnetter - Well-known tournament player on PokerStars with a number of large tournament cashes to his name.

Greg Raymer - A man who needs no introduction, Raymer won $5 million and the gold bracelet in the 2004 World Series main event. Since then, the champion known as FossilMan has joined Team PokerStars Pro and competed around the world in some of the biggest poker tournaments on the planet. More on Greg Raymer.

TEAM CANADA - Canada Division

tilterino - Well-known online tournament player from Newfoundland. This 26 year-old player is Canada's team captain and has already won the PokerStars $162 $100,000 guaranteed tournament twice and chopped it another time. More on tilterino.

SirWatts - Twenty-three year-old poker pro from Newfoundland. He's been playing poker for the past three years and once won $75,000 in the PokerStars Super Tuesday tournament. He has also won the $100 rebuy tournament on PokerStars twice. More on SirWatts.

Poppyoppy - One half of a father and son team on Team Canada. He's a 62-year-old semi-retired electrician who has been playing poker recreationally for 50 years. More on poppypoppy.

gummer2004 - The younger half of Team Canada's father and son pairing. Gummer2004 is a IT instructor for the College of the North Atlantic and marks the World Cup of Poker as his biggest achievement in poker. More on gummer2004.

Daniel Negreanu - In his first year as a member of Team PokerStars Pro, Negreanu comes to the World Cup as one of the finals' most experienced players. Known worldwide as one of the most successful poker players on the planet, Negreanu is looking to represent his home country with every ounce of skill in his arsenal. More on Daniel Negreanu.

TEAM GERMANY - German Division

Rennwurm - Team Germany captain, 26-year old student at University of Applied Sciences. He's been playing online poker since 2005 and plays small stakes no-limit hold'em cash games online. He claims to not have played many tournaments, but managed to score himself a spot in the live finals of the World Cup of Poker. More on Rennwurm.

kosa28 - Twenty-one year old computer science student from Augsburg, Germany. He's been playing poker seriously for nearly two years. He calls himself a "microstakes donk" and considers his place on Team Germany as his biggest achievement in poker. More on kosa28.

Corn0815 - Twenty-five year old student and poker player. He's worked his way up from playing freerolls to low stakes limit poker. He's been practicing single table tournaments to get ready for the World Cup of Poker. More on Corn0815.

Bolsans - Forty-eight year-old engineer who works at the University of Erlangen-NuernbergErlangen-Nuremberg. He's been playing poker for more than 30 years and has won major tournaments playing seven-card stud and Omaha. More on bolsans.

Katja Thater - Team Germany's celebrity player, Katja Thater recent won her first World Series bracelet in the 2007 World Series Razz event. Thater is also a member of the elite Team PokerStars Pro. More on Katja Thater.

TEAM IRELAND - Britain and Ireland Division

ROONEY_DIVES - Team Captain for the five players from Ireland, this 24-year-old has won the weekly Tournament Leader Board on PokerStars twice. He hasn't played a lot of poker in 2007, but aims to change that at the World Cup of Poker finals. More on ROONEY_DIVES.

luckysod - Thirty-eight year-old computer engineer living in Cork. This is his second time representing his country in the World Cup of Poker. More on luckysod.

Cono!!y - Twenty year-old poker player from Connemara County Galway in Ireland. Stared Started with a small deposit on PokerStars and recently pushed his bankroll Above $7,000. He is looking forward to representing Ireland in Barcelona. More on Cono!!y.

greenrizla - Derek Murray from Galway, Ireland, was a semi-professional soccer player until injury forced him to give up the game three years ago. The 27-year-old accountant won a PokerStars $100 re-buy tournament at the beginning of the year and also qualified on PokerStars for the World Series of Poker. Although he didn't cash at the Rio, he did manage to pick up $42,000 in a freezeout event down the road at the Venetian.

Micky McCloskey - Well-known Irish player who has been around the block and knows his poker.

TEAM MEXICO - Rest of World Division

onasis16 - This team captain is Greek-born, born and raised in Germany, and now living full-time in Mexico as a sales manager for a group of resort properties. Onasis16 has been playing online poker for several years and recently played in the World Series after winning a seat on PokerStars. More on onasis16.

CORONABEACH - Thirty-three year old American-born poker player who now lives in Mexico. CORONABEACH is now a resort property sales manager in Nuevo Vallarta and started playing online poker after watching someone play it in a bar on his way home from work. Making the finals of the World Cup of Poker is his biggest achievement to date. More on CORONABEACH.

elricardomty - Twenty-three year old communications student at University of Monterrey. He plays a number of different sports and is preparing to graduate from college. More on elricardomty.

xmeteorox - Eighteen-year-old student who enjoys playing chess and has been playing poker since the age of 15. He started playing poker for play money online and has since escalated to small stakes real money play. More on xmteorox.

marene - Celebrity player for Team Mexico. Well-known online as a tough player, she's known in the real world as Martha Herrera.

TEAM ICELAND-Europe Division I

Frikki - Twenty-six year-old marketing company owner.  Started playing poker a little more than one year ago and focuses on 45-player turbo tournaments.  More on Frikki.

Uglyjoes - Forty-two year-old sales manager who spent 15 years of his life working as a fisherman.  He took third place in the Icelandic championship last year and first place in the Icelandic Open.  More on uglyjoes.

krossmajo - Thirty-four year old poker player from Hafnarfjordur, Iceland.  He’s been playing poker for about three years.

casinoice - Team Iceland’s celebrity player and one of Iceland’s best known tournament players.

TEAM PORTUGAL

Spxdes - Team Captain for Team Portugal.

Guto - Business attorney based in Lisbon who divides his free time between poker and his passion for contemporary art.  He’s been playing recreation poker since his teens but only started playing online a few years ago.  Since then, his game has improved a remarkable amount and he has found himself at several final tables. More on Guto.

zumytime

jojo19713

Zkinha - Team Portugal’s celebrity player.  This is his second consecutive year playing for Team Portugal in the World Cup of Poker.

TEAM ROMANIA

razvan1ian - Razvan Bengulescu, 25, a stockbroker from Timisoara, is the Romanian team captain. Razvan took up poker about three years ago and for tournaments he mainly plays Hold 'em. However for cash games, he specialises in Lo-Ball 2-7 Triple Draw.

alin111 - For 27-year-old Florin Constantin, a hotel events organiser from Bucharest, the PokerStars World Cup of Poker is his first live tournament. He and fellow Romanian team-mate Cristian Dragomir grew up together in the same building and have been best friends since childhood.

Tardeea - Cristian Tardea, 29, says that making the World Cup team is the biggest poker success he's had so far. Cristian, who runs his own timber company, is a heads-up specialist and has also won a PokerStars $200 Sunday heads-up tourney.

keke22 - Cristian Rajala, 24, an electronics engineering student from Bucharest, has been playing poker for around three years. He loves the fact that playing poker gives him an opportunity to travel and has already played in Switzerland and in side events at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo last March.

unluckybs - Cristian Dragomir is Team Romania's celebrity player. He won the Romania Poker Tour main event last November and also the Masters event at the Budapest Poker Open. He also cashed at a side event at the EPT Grand Final in March. Cristian, a civil engineer by day, likes gambling and the casino 'lifestyle'.

Divisional Play-Off News

PokerStars would like to congratulate the teams that are packing their bags for Barcelona!  Seven of the eight finalists in the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV won their spots during the Division Finals on Sunday, August 5.  Over the course of eleven hours, poker players from around the world battled to secure their spot at the televised final table and a chance to win an international poker title for their home countries.

After a playoff between Hungary and Romania, the final eight teams will be set and ready to go to Barcelona to determine the World Cup of Poker IV champions.

For a complete look back at the Division Finals coverage, including the scores of all the matches, be sure to visit the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV Division Finals Live Blog .

Below are the teams and players who will represent each division from around the world.

Barcelona Live Final Teams

USA National Team 1
tnetter, shaundeeb, principe4, d-28
(USA Division)

Canada Province Team 1 (Newfoundland)
tilterino, SirWatts, gummer2004, poppyoppy
(Canada Division)

Bayern--Province Team 3
Rennwurm, bolsans, kosa28, Corn0815
(German Division)

Team Ireland
ROONEY_DIVES, luckysod, Conno!!y, greenrizla
(Britain and Ireland Division)

Team Iceland
Squrell, uglyjoes, @tl@sinn, frikki
(Europe Division I)

Team Portugal
spxdes, zumytime, Guto ,jojo19713
(Europe Division II)

Team Romania
razvan1ian, alin111, Tardeea, keke22
(Europe Division III)

Team Mexico
onasis16, coronabeach, xmeteorox, elricardomt
(Rest of World Division)

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Qualifying Round News

It's time for the Division Finals of the World Cup of Poker IV! The action has already been hot as some of the world's best poker players squared off against people from their home countries. Now it's time for the state, province, and national teams to face off in the next step toward the championships.

The action started with more than 75,000 players participating in Round 1 action.  All of the national, U.S. state, and Canadian and German province teams have already been set.  Now that these players have shown how tough they are against their fellow compatriots, they move on to face the other counties to determine who will go to Barcelona to play in the live finals.

Last year, Team Poland proved that it could face the world by making it all the way to Barcelona and taking down the World Cup of Poker III championship. For a look back at what the live finals in Barcelona looked like, be sure to check out the 2006 World Cup of Poker photo gallery.

If you are one of the players who have made the cut, get ready to represent your home this weekend. You will receive an email this week with details on the next step--the Division Finals on Sunday, August 5th.

Regardless of whether you are on your country's World Cup team, be sure to support your team as it fights its way toward Barcelona. You can see all the Division Finals this Sunday by clicking on the Events > World Cup > Division Finals tabs in the PokerStars lobby. If you miss any of the action, be sure to check in at the PokerStars Blog for World Cup of Poker news.

World Cup of Poker III

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at wcp@pokerstars.com.

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