Who Comes Out On Top in PokerNews Bracket Challenge? Predict Your Own!
March's NCAA Tournament—one of the most watched and bet-on sporting events in the world—tipped off this week. Basketball fans have been sent into madness, filling out their brackets, hoping to predict the next national champion. But here at PokerNews, we're wanting you to fill out a different kind of bracket.
We've traded college hoops for high-stakes head-to-head battles, crafting a 64-player heads-up no-limit hold’em tournament based on The Hendon Mob earnings. And the best part? You get to decide who will be the last player standing.
Predict Your Bracket with Challonge
So do you think you know who would come out on top? Why not have a go at our free prediction contest? Head to Challonge to find the PokerNews Bracket to participate.
Then simply log in to your account or sign up if you haven’t already. Once logged in, navigate to the tournament’s prediction page and submit your bracket!
Click Here to Predict the PokerNews Poker Bracket Challenge
PokerNews All-Time Money List First-Round Match-Ups
Just like in March’s biggest sporting spectacle, we've seeded players 1 to 16 in four separate groups, helpfully named Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. Bryn Kenney received the top overall seed in Group 1: Spades because his $75.7 million in live tournament cashes is the most ever. Justin Bonomo, at $65.6 million in earnings, is the second overall seed and the top seed in Group 2: Hearts.
Stephen Chidwick (Group 3: Diamonds) and Mikita Badziakouski (Group 4: Clubs) round out the top seeds. Which Round One clashes do you like the look of?
Group 1: Spades
- Bryn Kenney (1) vs. Chance Kornuth (16)
- Dan Smith (2) vs. Jean-Noel Thorel (15)
- Isaac Haxton (3) vs. Andrew Lichtenberger (14)
- David Peters (4) vs. Aaron Shu Nu Zang (13)
- Daniel Dvoress (5) vs. Nick Schulman (12)
- Christoph Vogelsang (6) vs. Elton Tsang (11)
- Ben Heath (7) vs. John Juanda (10)
- Phil Hellmuth (8) vs. Brian Rast (9)
Group 2: Hearts
- Justin Bonomo (1) vs. Michael Soyza (16)
- Jason Koon (2) vs. Byron Kaverman (15)
- Fedor Holz (3) vs. Jason Mercier (14)
- Steve O'Dwyer (4) vs. Sergio Aido (13)
- Sam Greenwood (5) vs. Matthias Eibinger (12)
- Jake Schindler (6) vs. Punnat Punsri (11)
- Paul Phua (7) vs. Aleksejs Ponakovs (10)
- Patrik Antonius (8) vs. Scott Seiver (9)
Group 3: Diamonds
- Stephen Chidwick (1) vs. Joseph Cheong (16)
- Daniel Negreanu (2) vs. Joseph McKeehen (15)
- Phil Ivey (3) vs. Dominik Nitsche (14)
- Alex Foxen (4) vs. Sam Trickett (13)
- Timothy Adams (5) vs. Rainer Kempe (12)
- Sean Winter (6) vs. Koray Aldemir (11)
- Danny Tang (7) vs. Sam Soverel (10)
- Daniel Colman (8) vs. Chris Brewer (9)
Group 4: Clubs
- Mikita Badziakouski (1) vs. Thomas Marchese (16)
- Adrian Mateos (2) vs. Orpen Kisacikoglu (15)
- Erik Seidel (3) vs. Ole Schemion (14)
- Cary Katz (4) vs. Artur Martirosyan (13)
- Nick Petrangelo (5) vs. Benjamin Tollerene (12)
- Seth Davies (6) vs. Nacho Barbero (11)
- Michael Watson (7) vs. Michael Addamo (10)
- Antonio Esfandiari (8) vs. Jeremy Ausmus (9)
Intriguing First Round Matchups
There's no shortage of star power on show in this bracket, but we've picked out four eye-catching matches from the first Round. There's one from each of the Groups to help give you an idea of some of the contests that could take place.
Spades: Phil Hellmuth vs. Brian Rast
Not many match-ups feature 23 bracelets between the pair. But having Phil Hellmuth, the all-time WSOP bracelet leader with 17 titles, taking on Brian Rast will do it. Rast captured his sixth bracelet back in 2023 with his second $50,000 Poker Players Championship victory and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
Hellmuth, however, is no slouch in heads-up play, with 17 heads-up victories at the WSOP, a 2005 NBC Heads-Up Championship title, and a 9-2 record on PokerGO's High Stakes Duel. Can the Poker Brat keep his head and get rid of Rast?
Hearts: Patrik Antonius vs. Scott Seiver
A Hall of Fame showdown in Round One? This match pits 2024 inductee Patrik Antonius against presumptive 2025-inductee Scott Seiver.
Fresh off the back of his triple bracelet-winning summer, 2025 WSOP Player of the Year Seiver has amassed $27 million in earnings over his career, only slightly behind the $30 million of his Finnish opponent. All signs point to a close contest.
"I'm Gonna Stick Around For a Long Time" - Patrik Antonius Inducted into Poker Hall of Fame
Diamonds: Daniel Negreanu vs. Joe McKeehen
You think Daniel Negreanu needs a reminder about Joe McKeehen? Almost a decade on from his brutal 11th-place finish in the WSOP Main Event, the two would resume their battle.
The picture of Negreanu spread-eagled on the floor after busting with aces to eventual champ McKeehen spread around the poker world, and Kid Poker would be out for revenge against three-time bracelet winner McKeehen who in recent years has returned to the winner's circle, including a victory at the Wynn on the World Poker Tour.
Clubs: Adrian Mateos vs. Orpen Kisacikoglu
It's one for the fans of the European Poker Tour as former EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champion and four-time WSOP bracelet-winner Adrian Mateos comes up against High Roller regular Orpen Kisacikoglu.
Kisacikoglu is himself a bracelet winner, grabbing his first bit of WSOP hardware in 2022 in the WSOP Europe €50,000 Diamond High Roller. That being said, Mateos has more than twice Kisacikoglu's lifetime earnings — could the Turk spring a surprise?
Click Here to Predict Your Very Own Bracket
