The World Cup of Poker IV is another excellent event organized by Poker Stars. Not only is it a great way to make some money with no investment whatsoever, it’s also a very appealing concept in more ways than one.

It’s basically about national teams of poker players battling each-other through a set of tournaments in 8 divisions. Each team is made up of poker players from the same country, but the good news is there’s a whole lot more than national pride on the line. The World Cup of Poker features no less than a quarter million dollars in prize money.

The winners of the 8 divisions will automatically receive travel packages including travel and accommodation to Barcelona where the rest of the Poker World Cup will unfold. 
The finals will be televised, and the winners will be crowned Poker World Champions. 
The latest WCOP event was won by Poland who beat the USA in the finals. 
Before the actual World Cup begins, teams will be required to qualify for it. Each team will be made up of 4 individuals, that is, right up until the live stages of the event (that means that the division-battles will be waged by 4-player teams).
Another player will be added to each of the teams once they get past the division stages and move on to compete in the live event in Barcelona.

The first two players for each team will be selected through a series of freerolls. Those who manage to reach the final table in the pre-qualifying rounds will play at an 18 player table. The first two finishers will be the first two players for their national teams. 
The other two players will be selected from the tournament Leaderboards. Naturally, the top two players for each nation will become the 3rd and 4th members of their respective national teams. 
The 5th player will be chosen by PokerStars and he or she will only play in the live games in Barcelona.

The highlight of the WCOOP is of course the $5,000,000 No Limit Texas Holdem guaranteed main event, taking place on the last day. Buy-in for this tournament is $2,600, and I’m dying to see what the winner will end up taking home. 
If you consider yourself a serious poker player, the Pokerstars WCOOP is a poker event you simply cannot afford to pass on.