The WSOP 25k Fantasy Draft took place Tuesday afternoon with a record 24 teams each bidding on eight players they hope will perform well this summer.
It took five hours to draft 192 players inside the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip. Each team had a maximum of $200 to bid on players, and one squad — Team DPMD — used $141 of it on Jeremy Ausmus, who has five World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets since 2021.
The costly bid, albeit for the top performer at the series the past four years, left the team with just $59 to bid on seven other players, but they were able to find what appears to be some solid value with skilled players such as Seth Davies ($29) and Stephen Song ($17) among the roster.
Other teams avoided the high-priced talent and instead sought value. But they all had one strategy in mind: Make the most of a roster that costs $25,000 to enter.
Negreanu Chooses Himself
Daniel Negreanu has only cashed in the 25k Fantasy Draft once. He's looking to make that two times this year, but he'll be heavily counting on his own performance at the WSOP.
The seven-time bracelet winner chose himself with his first pick for $108. Negreanu also gambled with some low bids on some old-school poker legends — Erick Lindgren ($2) and Mike Matusow ($3).
Matusow felt snubbed by the rest of the teams refusing to draft him. He vowed to reward Negreanu with a big summer.
All the biggest names in the game, at least those expected to play at least a handful of WSOP events this year, were selected. Some notable bids were Phil Ivey ($95 to Team Glue Factory), Phil Hellmuth ($79 to Team Money Mondays), Nick Schulman ($107 to Team Splash Sports), Scott Seiver ($125 to Team Frog Poison), and Josh Arieh ($71 to Team Jeremy's).
There were some noticeable absences at the draft. Shaun Deeb opted out of drafting a team, but he did go for $99 to Team Phenon. Allen Kessler wasn't chosen by any team, and he wasn't thrilled with the snub.
Disrespected Mike Matusow and Allen Kessler Out to Prove Poker World Wrong
The 25k Fantasy Teams
Team Negreanu (Owner: Daniel Negreanu)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Daniel Negreanu | $108 |
| 2 | Joao Simao | $45 |
| 3 | Mike Matusow | $3 |
| 4 | Anthony Zinno | $14 |
| 5 | Erick Lindgren | $2 |
| 6 | Tyler Brown | $26 |
| 7 | Jon Turner | $1 |
| 8 | Nick Palma | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
AJ's Eagles (Owner: AJ Kelsall)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Maxx Coleman | $70 |
| 2 | Justin Liberto | $35 |
| 3 | Arthur Morris | $38 |
| 4 | AJ Kelsall | $21 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | $14 |
| 6 | Kane Kalas | $13 |
| 7 | Brian Hastings | $1 |
| 8 | Martin Zamani | $2 |
| | | |
| | Total | $194 |
Team Lady Gaga (Owner: Ren Lin)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Adam Hendrix | $33 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | $66 |
| 3 | Joao Vieira | $85 |
| 4 | Anson Tsang | $1 |
| 5 | Quan Zhou | $1 |
| 6 | Xixiang Luo | $5 |
| 7 | Dong Chen | $1 |
| 8 | Joshua Mccully | $2 |
| | | |
| | Total | $194 |
Team Phenom (Owner: Matt Valeo)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Kevin Gerhart | $15 |
| 2 | Shaun Deeb | $99 |
| 3 | Chris Vitch | $48 |
| 4 | Max Pescatori | $2 |
| 5 | Dan Sepiol | $12 |
| 6 | Hal Rotholz | $5 |
| 7 | Matt Valeo | $1 |
| 8 | Huck Seed | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $183 |
Team DPMD (Owner: Donnie Peters & Mickey Doft
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Jeremy Ausmus | $141 |
| 2 | Seth Davies | $29 |
| 3 | Stephen Song | $17 |
| 4 | Jon Shorman | $1 |
| 5 | Boris Angelov | $1 |
| 6 | Tom Koral | $1 |
| 7 | Nick Milgrim | $4 |
| 8 | Yuri Richenstein | $6 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Frog Poison (Owner: Martin Zamani)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Scott Seiver | $125 |
| 2 | Dylan Smith | $64 |
| 3 | Ryan Leng | $6 |
| 4 | Mike Holtz | $1 |
| 5 | Noel Rodriguez | $1 |
| 6 | George Wolff | $1 |
| 7 | Sean Troha | $1 |
| 8 | David Stamm | $1 |
| | Total | $199 |
Team Australia (Owner: Didier Guerin)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | James Obst | $91 |
| 2 | David "ODB" Baker | $51 |
| 3 | Jerry Wong | $19 |
| 4 | Brandon Shack-Harris | $32 |
| 5 | Romaine Morvan | $1 |
| 6 | Didier Guerin | $1 |
| 7 | Ryan Laplante | $1 |
| 8 | Mustapha Kanit | $4 |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Survivor Sweat (Owner: David "ODB" Baker)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Michael Moncek | $89 |
| 2 | Ben Yu | $31 |
| 3 | Marco Johnson | $49 |
| 4 | Danny Tang | $26 |
| 5 | Sam Laskowitz | $1 |
| 6 | Tyler Moncek | $1 |
| 7 | Ali Eslami | $1 |
| 8 | Esther Taylor | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $199 |
Team Noori (Owner: Mike Noori)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Alex Livingston | $81 |
| 2 | Justin Saliba | $40 |
| 3 | Jim Collopy | $43 |
| 4 | Maksim Pisarenko | $12 |
| 5 | Noah Bronstein | $1 |
| 6 | Toby Lewis | $1 |
| 7 | Gus Hansen | $2 |
| 8 | Biao Ding | $9 |
| | | |
| | Total | $189 |
Team Hoggers (Owner: Jake Schwartz & Chad Eveslege)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Aaron Kupin | $42 |
| 2 | Jake Schwartz | $31 |
| 3 | Matt Glantz | $35 |
| 4 | Brian Yoon | $34 |
| 5 | Jason Mercier | $41 |
| 6 | Robert Wells | $10 |
| 7 | Danny Wong | $6 |
| 8 | David Benyamine | 1$ |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Handsome Horses (Owner: Patrick Leonard)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Chad Eveslage | $87 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | $45 |
| 3 | Matthew Wantman | $21 |
| 4 | Chris Hunichen | $15 |
| 5 | Phil Sternheimer | $21 |
| 6 | Thomas Glushko | $1 |
| 7 | Chris Classen | $2 |
| 8 | Lawrence Brant | $8 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Liaison (Owner: Andrew Ostapachenko)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $119 |
| 2 | David Coleman | $7 |
| 3 | John Monnette | $19 |
| 4 | Dario Alioto | $25 |
| 5 | Thomas Taylor | $7 |
| 6 | Samuel Mullur | $1 |
| 7 | Klemens Roiter | $9 |
| 8 | Andrew Ostapchenko | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $188 |
Team Girl Dads (Owner: Ryan Riess & Jesse Lonis)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | $103 |
| 2 | Patrick Leonard | $30 |
| 3 | David Funkhouser | $23 |
| 4 | Nick Pupillo | $10 |
| 5 | Brad Owen | $12 |
| 6 | Christian Roberts | $15 |
| 7 | Aram Zobian | $1 |
| 8 | Ethan Yau | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $195 |
Team Glue Factory (Owner: Dan Sepiol)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Phil Ivey | $95 |
| 2 | Nacho Barbero | $59 |
| 3 | Jon Kyte | $26 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | $5 |
| 5 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | $3 |
| 6 | Cherish Andrews | $3 |
| 7 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $1 |
| 8 | Ian Steinman | $8 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Brown's Bargain Bin (Owner: Andrew Brown)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Yuval Bronshtein | $44 |
| 2 | Phillip Hui | $30 |
| 3 | Joe Couden | $14 |
| 4 | Jeff Madsen | $11 |
| 5 | Felipe Ramos | $18 |
| 6 | Andrew Brown | $2 |
| 7 | Scott Bohlman | $9 |
| 8 | Matt Vengrin | $9 |
| | | |
| | Total | $137 |
Team BTG (Owner: Bryce Yockey)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Nick Guagenti | $38 |
| 2 | Dan Zack | $13 |
| 3 | Steven Chidwick | $51 |
| 4 | Adam Friedman | $18 |
| 5 | Dylan Linde | $36 |
| 6 | Punnat Punsri | $19 |
| 7 | Isaac Haxton | $6 |
| 8 | Owais Ahmed | $19 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team NOVIG (Owner: Nick Verderamo
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Chance Kornuth | $80 |
| 2 | Chris Brewer | $70 |
| 3 | Brad Rubin | $31 |
| 4 | Yueqi Rich Zhu | $13 |
| 5 | Nick Seward | $1 |
| 6 | Cooper Feltham | $2 |
| 7 | Ismael Bojang | $2 |
| 8 | Kyle Miholich | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Jeremy's (Owner: Jeremy Becker)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Josh Arieh | $71 |
| 2 | Bryce Yockey | $66 |
| 3 | Jeremy Becker | $2 |
| 4 | Yingui Li | $3 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosyan | $28 |
| 6 | Dzmitry Urbanovich | $21 |
| 7 | David Bakes Baker | $5 |
| 8 | Eelis Parsinnen | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $197 |
Team Splash Sports (Owner: Brent Hanks & Jeff Platt)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Nick Schulman | $107 |
| 2 | Ren Lin | $42 |
| 3 | Adrian Mateos | $25 |
| 4 | Renji Mao | $9 |
| 5 | Frank Brannan | $5 |
| 6 | Jason Koon | $4 |
| 7 | Christian Harder | $7 |
| 8 | Andrew Moreno | $1 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Lang (Owner: Mike Lang)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Shannon Shorr | $35 |
| 2 | Ian Matakis | $20 |
| 3 | Ari Engel | $20 |
| 4 | Dan Shak | $10 |
| 5 | Adam Owen | $22 |
| 6 | Sam Soveral | $4 |
| 7 | Josh Reichard | $37 |
| 8 | Ryan Hoenig | $52 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Wass (Owner: Eric Wasserson)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Eric Wasserson | $42 |
| 2 | Brian Rast | $57 |
| 3 | Paul Volpe | $14 |
| 4 | John Hennigan | $11 |
| 5 | David Peters | $3 |
| 6 | Dario Sammartino | $15 |
| 7 | Sean Winter | $22 |
| 8 | Renan Bruschi | $36 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Money Mondays (Owner: Dan Fleyshman)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Phil Hellmuth | $79 |
| 2 | Calvin Anderson | $51 |
| 3 | Ryan Riess | $11 |
| 4 | Kristen Foxen | $31 |
| 5 | Jared Bleznick | $6 |
| 6 | Joe Cada | $1 |
| 7 | Dan Smith | $6 |
| 8 | Ben Lamb | $15 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
Team Splashy Octopi (Owner: Ben Ludlow)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | John Riordan | 54 |
| 2 | John Racener | 54 |
| 3 | Robert Mizrachi | 40 |
| 4 | Eric Seidel | 15 |
| 5 | Ray Henson | 3 |
| 6 | Mike Gorodinsky | 6 |
| 7 | Mike Leah | 3 |
| 8 | Eric Baldwin | 5 |
| | | |
| | Total | $180 |
Team Dinkers (Owner: Josh Kay)
| Pick | Player | Price |
|---|
| 1 | Benny Glaser | 99 |
| 2 | Dylan Weisman | 51 |
| 3 | David Prociak | 5 |
| 4 | Brandon Wilson | 1 |
| 5 | Sergio Aido | 2 |
| 6 | Viktor Blum | 22 |
| 7 | Allan Le | 9 |
| 8 | Alex Ponakovs | 11 |
| | | |
| | Total | $200 |
