The Match Poker Online™ WORLD CUP is where eligible players, from all levels (not just the very best), get a chance to represent their country and play to see who is the best match poker player in the world!
These are not team trials – rather, we are identifying the leading individual players in the world who will represent their countries.
Eligibility
There are multiple ways to be eligible to compete in the World Cup Playoffs. All are achieved through your efforts in playing the Match Poker Online™ app.
To be eligible, you must have achieved at least ONE of the following, before midnight (23:59:59 GMT) on November 27, 2022.
- You have achieved an IFMP Rating of 1200 or above; OR
- You are in the top 15% of the Ivory, Sapphire or Emerald Tiers of IFMP Ratings (i.e. close to 1199, 799, or 399 respectively).
You can learn about our ranking system here; OR - You are among the top 15% of eligible players in any of Premiership Seasons 00 through to 09; OR
- You have won a Weekly Challenge (up until and including Week 37); OR
- You have won a Special Event, such as our May Cup or Battle Weekend.
As of Wednesday October 5, there are 385 players who have already achieved eligibility, but you can still qualify, in any of the ways set out above, until November 27.
Note: Management reserves the right to grant wild card entries to the playoffs based on exceptional performance during a season.
How do I know if I’m eligible for the World Cup Playoffs?
You would have received an email and a notification in the app at some point throughout the year if you achieved eligibility by being in the Top 15% in a Premiership Season. Players who became eligible by other means may not have received a notification.
Regardless, all players who are eligible for the World Cup Playoffs will be contacted by email, inviting them to play in the World Cup Playoffs. If you have not given us your email details, please do so in the app by going to Settings (you will then need to scroll to the bottom of settings) and entering it in the field next to ‘Email’. This is so we can notify you. Failure to give us your email will mean you will not be invited to the playoffs.
After you have been notified that you have qualified, you must accept your invitation by registering for the event.
All players who have qualified will be allocated into a competition based on their IFMP Rating
Playoffs will be held for each IFMP Rating Tier, meaning that we will crown an Emerald World Champion (IFMP Rating of 0-399), a Sapphire World Champion (IFMP Rating of 400-799), an Ivory World Champion (IFMP Rating of 800-1199), and a Ruby World Champion (IFMP Rating of 1200+).
The Ruby World Champion will also be crowned the overall World Cup winner!
Each of these competitions will be conducted the same way, with the Playoffs and Finals being exclusive to players from the same Rating Tier.
WORLD CUP COMPETITION FORMAT
In both the Playoffs and the Finals, players will be requested to play 2x TRIPLE BATTLES throughout the weekend.
What’s a TRIPLE BATTLE?
A Triple Battle is simply 3 Battle Royale Matches, held back-to-back. Players must do this twice in the Playoffs. Winners will have to do it twice again in the Finals.
[Don’t know what a Battle Royale is? Read about it by clicking here.]
In a Triple Battle, each Battle Royale starts every hour for three consecutive hours. For example, if the first Battle Royale is held at 1pm, then the second will start at 2pm and the third at 3pm.
Because each Battle Royale lasts for about 45 minutes, we expect a Triple Royale to last for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Please set aside 3 hours – and you will have to play TWO of these over the weekend.
At the end of each Battle Royale, players will receive scores in exactly the same way as during our Premiership Seasons: 5 points for having the highest score in your Match Ladder, 4 points for second-most, all the way to 0 points for coming 6th.
Because a Triple Battle consists of three back-to-back Battle Royale matches, each player will receive a score between 0 and 15 for each Triple Battle.
Because players must play two TRIPLE BATTLES throughout the weekend, by the end of the Playoff weekend, all players will have a score from 0 to 30.
We will show all players’ scores on a ladder.
The top 36 players will then be invited to play in the Finals.
The Finals will be held the following weekend in exactly the same manner as the Playoffs.
After all 36 players have played two Triple Battles, the single player with the highest score will be declared the winner – and the World Match Poker Champion in their Rating Tier.
Any ties will be broken by counting the net chips won/lost by each player.
The Ruby World Champion will also be crowned the overall World Cup winner!
The Playoffs – DECEMBER 3-4 (and make-up games on the 10-11th)
In each of the four IFMP Rating Tiers, we will hold Playoffs to narrow down the field of players before the FINALS.
All eligible players will be required to play 2x TRIPLE BATTLES during the first weekend in December.
Players will have four time slots where they must play these matches:
Time Slot |
Sydney | Hong Kong | Mumbai | London (UTC) | New York | Los Angeles | Your Time* |
1 | Saturday 1pm |
Saturday 10am | Saturday 7:30am |
Saturday 2am |
Friday 9pm |
Friday 6pm |
CLICK HERE |
2 | Sunday 12am |
Saturday 9pm |
Saturday 6:30pm |
Saturday 1pm |
Saturday 8am |
Saturday 5am |
CLICK HERE |
1pm |
10am |
7:30am |
2am |
9pm |
6pm |
||
4 | Monday 12am |
Sunday 9pm |
Sunday 6:30pm |
Sunday 1pm |
Sunday 8am |
Sunday 5am |
CLICK HERE |
2 |
Sunday 12am |
Saturday 9pm |
Saturday 6:30pm |
Saturday 1pm |
Saturday 8am |
Saturday 5am |
CLICK HERE |
3 |
Sunday 1pm |
Sunday 10am |
Sunday 7:30am |
Sunday 2am |
Saturday 9pm |
Saturday 6pm |
CLICK HERE |
*If your city is not on the same time zone as one of the listed cities, then please go to the links on the right. This will allow you to add your own city to see what the time is where you live.
Each row is one Triple Battle. You must play in two of these. Please choose two that suit you.
The Finals – December 17-18
Just like the Playoffs, a Final will be conducted in each Rating Tier.
The finals will be held the weekend after the Playoffs.
ALL finalists will be required to play two TRIPLE BATTLES, and must play these at BOTH of the following times:
Time Slot |
Sydney | Hong Kong | Mumbai | London (UTC) | New York | Los Angeles | YOUR TIME ZONE* |
1 | Saturday 1pm |
Saturday 10am |
Saturday 7:30am |
Saturday 2am |
Friday 9pm |
Friday 6pm |
CLICK HERE |
2 | Sunday 1pm |
Sunday 10am |
Sunday 7:30am |
Sunday 2am |
Saturday 9pm |
Saturday 6pm |
CLICK HERE |
The winner of each tier will be crowned World Champion of that Rating Tier, with the winner of Ruby Tier being crowned the Match Poker Online WORLD CHAMPION for 2022.
All of these players will display their country flag on their player icon, and so will be competing for the glory of their nation!
PRIZES!
The prizes below are in USD, for the winners of the Finals in each category:
Ranking Tier |
1st Place Prize |
2nd Place Prize |
3rd Place Prize |
Ruby |
$625 |
$250 |
$125 |
Ivory |
$450 |
$175 |
$75 |
Sapphire |
$200 |
$100 |
$50 |
Emerald |
$100 |
$50 |
$25 |
Yes, the winners will win ACTUAL MONEY, without it costing them anything to qualify!

FAQs
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