button in SafariWill Phil Ivey Be the Steal of Everyone's 2026 WSOP Fantasy Draft?
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The 25k WSOP Fantasy Draft takes place May 25 in Las Vegas, just before the start of the 2026 World Series of Poker.
Poker fans all around the world will use the bids from that draft to form their own fantasy rosters. There are some other less expensive buy-in WSOP drafts for players who can't fork over $25,000, including the annual $500 ODBFantasy, run by David "ODB" Baker.
Once the bids are in from the 25k Fantasy Draft, ODB players and other leagues will then start forming eight-player rosters. It is crucial for teams to draft wisely and to maximize value out of each pick, as they only have $200 to spend on a roster based on the 25k league bids. There are always a dozen or so players who provide exceptional value, some who go for just $1 and others who use up more than half a team's bidding budget.
One potential steal this year is an all-time legend. He's a WPT Global Ambassador. And his name is Phil Ivey. Yes, 26 years after the G.O.A.T. won his first of 11 WSOP bracelets, he's still among the best in the game.
Ivey went for $95 last year in the 2025 Fantasy Draft, and he'll likely go for a similar bid this year. So, you won't get him on the cheap. But he's been worth the investment the past few years and has been on the verge of a Player of the Year type summer.
Who are the Other Potential Top WSOP Fantasy Draft Players?
Many of the usual suspects will command a high bid and perform well this summer. That includes players such as Shaun Deeb, Daniel Negreanu, Benny Glaser, and Jeremy Ausmus.
Deeb's already off to a strong start in his WSOP Player of the Year title defense with two runner-up finishes at WSOP Europe, although those won't factor into the 25k Fantasy Draft results. He'll be playing his usual packed summer, entering just about every bracelet event he can swing. The same goes for Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and some others.
But winning a fantasy league isn't always about being the top bidder on the best players in the world. It's more about finding the undervalued players. Last year's 25k Fantasy winner, Team BTG, didn't have a single player on the roster who went for more than $38. They instead got value out of players such as Dylan Linde (36), Isaac Haxton ($6), and Nick Guagenti ($38).
The roster had just one player — Owais Ahmed — who provided the team with very few points. In 2024, Team The Dinkers, won it in a similar fashion, avoiding the players who go for the highest bids and finding undervalued players, such as John Racener and Robert Mizrachi.
There are a number of players who are performing well entering the 2026 WSOP and could become this year's fantasy draft steal, including Nicky Palma, Brock Wilson, and Chino Rheem.
Dniel Negreanu Gives Fantasy Draft Advice
Negreanu, who will again sell some of his WSOP action on PokerStake and vlog daily at the 2026 WSOP, posted a video on his YouTube channel to share his WSOP Fantasy Draft "best bets." He ranked the players in tiers based on last year's bidding. Alex Foxen, who went for $66 last year, is a Tier 5 player "DNegs" singled out as undervalued.
"Alex Foxen, I do not see as a Tier 5 player," Negreanu said. "He plays PLO now, he plays no-limit. He's good. He's a hard-nosed grinder."
Negreanu advises fantasy league players who are seeking value from the inexpensive picks to reach out to those players before drafting them just to be sure they'll actually play enough events. He drafted two players for $3 or less last year — David Williams and Erick Lindgren — but didn't get many points out of either. As such, the GGPoker ambassador finished 16th out of 19 teams in the 25k Fantasy Draft. Who does he think will be a strong pick this year from last year's dollar-bin players?
"You know, I should shut my mouth on this one. But if Huck Seed's coming back, he's a great razz player, great stud player, great stud-8-or-better player. So, if Huck plays, he's a 70 or 80-dollar player."
