2024 Draft
Day 1 Completed
25K Fantasy Draft 2024
2024 Draft
Day: 1
One hundred fifty-two players were auctioned off into 19 teams of eight during the 25KFantasy Draft for the 2024 World Series of Poker, held at the illustrious PokerGO Studio.
With a total prize pool of $475,000, the stakes are incredibly high for the participants. The payouts are structured to reward the top four teams substantially, with the first-place team taking home $225,000, followed by $125,000 for second place, $75,000 for third, and $50,000 for fourth.
The draft followed an auction format, where teams with a $200 allowance bid on players to form their ultimate rosters. The event was marked by intense bidding wars, with several players commanding high prices.
Negreanu, Deeb and Livingston Most Expensive Picks
Daniel Negreanu was the highest-priced player of the night. Reigning champions Team DPMC, made up of Donnie Peters & Matthew Clark, secured Negreanu for a staggering $132, making him the most expensive player in 25KFantasy Draft history.
"I swear to God, I was picking myself this year," said a stunned Negreanu, who's the second-highest point earner in the history of the league.
"My whole strategy was to get myself, Josh Arieh (TheCoffeeBreakers.com - $73), and Jeremy Becker (Team NGNF - $3) to fill it out." Negreanu told PokerNews after the Draft. "I had to go back to old school, Nick Schulman ($66), Chino Rheem ($40), Nacho Barbero ($53). We bought Erick Lindgren ($1) and David Williams ($3)."
Alex Livingston claimed the second-highest bid, joining Team Lang for $110. Shaun Deeb followed as the third-most expensive player, falling one place from last year. Ren Lin's Team Lady Gaga paid $104, more than half their budget, for the perennial WSOP Player of the Year (POY) contender on the very first sale of the night.
2024 $25K Fantasy Draft Ten Most Expensive Picks
| Player | Price |
|---|---|
| Daniel Negreanu | $132 |
| Alex Livingston | $110 |
| Shaun Deeb | $104 |
| Yuri Dzivielevski | $90 |
| Joao Vieira | $84 |
| Jeremy Ausmus | $81 |
| Justin Liberto | $78 |
| Benny Glaser | $76 |
| Chad Eveslage | $75 |
| Koray Aldemir | $75 |
All-Time Bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth also came with a hefty fee, costing $72, while poker icon Phil Ivey went to Dan Sepiol's Team for just $16.
2023 WSOP PoY Ian Matakis' price rallied to $22 and was Team Lang's second pick of the night. Last summer's Main Event winner and Team Lucky member Daniel Weinman nearly went for $2, but the bids eventually came flying in. Weinman remained in home colors after partners Deeb and Arieh spent $31 to keep his services.
Tice Gets Bragging Rights Over Becker
Alongside sweating the draft, many members of the poker community have a vested interest in a looming poker match-up between Landon Tice and the aforementioned Becker.
The duo have agreed to a 100% crossbook bet in at least 25 mutually played events over the summer where players such as Negreanu have action on the side.
A crossbook is a bet between players in the same tournament or cash game where "the player who loses owes the winner a percentage of that player’s net winnings (vs. the losing player’s net winnings) in the event," according to Upswing Poker.
If the Draft indicated how the duel would play out, it would see Tice enter the ring as the favorite. Tice was nominated by Team Wilson for $10, which got the job done. A few picks later, Becker's name was put forward for $1. Only two more bids followed, as Team NGNF (Jeff Platt, Brent Hanks, Ben Ludlow) snagged the budget buy for $3.
All 25KFantasy Draft Picks
That's a wrap for PokerNews' time at the 25KFantasy Draft, but it doesn't mark the end of our 25KFantasy Draft coverage.
We'll be on hand throughout all of the 2024 WSOP, keeping tabs on all the drafted players. Each player is highlighted with a unique 25KFantasy badge in our live updates and there are special filters which allow you to only see hands that feature 25KFantasy players.
In the meantime familiarise yourself with the rosters from the 19 participating teams.
| Team Noori | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Jeremy Ausmus | $81 |
| 2 | Joao Vieira | $84 |
| 3 | Maria Ho | $6 |
| 4 | Hal Rotholz | $5 |
| 5 | Dan Shak | $4 |
| 6 | Seth Davies | $1 |
| 7 | Taylor Paur | $1 |
| 8 | Xavier Kyablue | $18 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Wilson | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Mike Gorodinsky | $20 |
| 2 | Landon Tice | $10 |
| 3 | Isaac Haxton | $15 |
| 4 | Anthony Zinno | $31 |
| 5 | Matthew Wantman | $30 |
| 6 | Yuval Bronshtein | $54 |
| 7 | Aram Zobian | $7 |
| 8 | Adam Hendrix | $33 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Livingston | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | AJ Kelsall | $36 |
| 2 | Chance Kornuth | $73 |
| 3 | Mike Matusow | $11 |
| 4 | Justin Saliba | $40 |
| 5 | Tyler Brown | $29 |
| 6 | Ray Henson | $2 |
| 7 | Brock Wilson | $3 |
| 8 | Eli Elezra | $1 |
| Total | $195 |
| Team Negreanu | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Nick Schulman | $66 |
| 2 | Chino Rheem | $40 |
| 3 | Nacho Barbero | $53 |
| 4 | Andrew Lichtenberger | $6 |
| 5 | Eric Wasserson | $16 |
| 6 | David Williams | $3 |
| 7 | Erick Lindgren | $1 |
| 8 | Georgios Sotiropoulos | $15 |
| Total | $200 |
| TheCoffeeBreakers.com | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | David "ODB" Baker | $50 |
| 2 | Josh Arieh | $73 |
| 3 | Phil Hellmuth | $72 |
| 4 | Michael Mizrachi | $1 |
| 5 | Punnat Punsri | $1 |
| 6 | Christian Harder | $1 |
| 7 | Joe Cada | $1 |
| 8 | Ari Engel | $1 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Oz | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Jake Schwartz | $41 |
| 2 | Brad Ruben | $50 |
| 3 | Robert Campbell | $1 |
| 4 | Brian Hastings | $5 |
| 5 | Josh Reichard | $5 |
| 6 | Michael Moncek | $56 |
| 7 | Ash Gupta | $1 |
| 8 | Warwick Mirzikinian | $41 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Lucky | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Dylan Linde | $61 |
| 2 | Adrian Mateos | $45 |
| 3 | Daniel Weinman | $31 |
| 4 | Mike Noori | $3 |
| 5 | Scott Ball | $12 |
| 6 | Erik Seidel | $14 |
| 7 | Patrick Leonard | $7 |
| 8 | Matt Glantz | $27 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Lang | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Alex Livingston | $110 |
| 2 | Ian Matakis | $22 |
| 3 | Jason Mercier | $2 |
| 4 | Craig Chait | $5 |
| 5 | Artur Martirosian | $4 |
| 6 | Nick Pupillo | $23 |
| 7 | David "Bakes" Baker | $18 |
| 8 | Sam Soverel | $16 |
| Total | $200 |
| The Dinkers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Chris Brewer | $60 |
| 2 | John Racener | $36 |
| 3 | Brian Rast | $37 |
| 4 | Bryce Yockey | $13 |
| 5 | Jerry Wong | $30 |
| 6 | Robert Mizrachi | $1 |
| 7 | David Coleman | $3 |
| 8 | Ben Lamb | $16 |
| Total | $196 |
| Team Girl Dads | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | John Riordan | $18 |
| 2 | Jim Collopy | $33 |
| 3 | Jesse Lonis | $46 |
| 4 | Ryan Riess | $16 |
| 5 | Shannon Shorr | $13 |
| 6 | Dario Sammartino | $45 |
| 7 | Julien Martini | $22 |
| 8 | Dustin Dirksen | $7 |
| Total | $200 |
| Lady Gaga | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | $104 |
| 2 | Yuri Dzivielevski | $90 |
| 3 | Wing Po Liu | $1 |
| 4 | Qiang Xu | $1 |
| 5 | Dong Chen | $1 |
| 6 | Renji Mao | $1 |
| 7 | Yingui Li | $1 |
| 8 | Anson Tsang | $1 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Chingas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Brian Yoon | $47 |
| 2 | Dylan Smith | $33 |
| 3 | Justin Liberto | $78 |
| 4 | Toby Lewis | $2 |
| 5 | Aaron Kupin | $25 |
| 6 | Ryan Hoenig | $3 |
| 7 | Darren Elias | $2 |
| 8 | Bin Weng | $4 |
| Total | $194 |
| Team Baker | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Dylan Weisman | $59 |
| 2 | Ben Yu | $67 |
| 3 | Phillip Hui | $26 |
| 4 | Joey Couden | $9 |
| 5 | Felipe Ramos | $16 |
| 6 | Sam Laskowitz | $6 |
| 7 | Nick Guagenti | $16 |
| 8 | Maksim Pisarenko | $1 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team DPMC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Daniel Negreanu | $132 |
| 2 | Sean Winter | $17 |
| 3 | Stephen Chidwick | $20 |
| 4 | Sergio Aido | $1 |
| 5 | Andres Korn | $1 |
| 6 | Stephen Song | $4 |
| 7 | Michael Rodriguez | $3 |
| 8 | Dario Alioto | $1 |
| Total | $179 |
| Team Sepiol | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Alex Foxen | $70 |
| 2 | Adam Friedman | $35 |
| 3 | Phil Ivey | $16 |
| 4 | John Monnette | $45 |
| 5 | Ryan Leng | $9 |
| 6 | Dzimitry Urbanovich | $1 |
| 7 | Calvin Anderson | $3 |
| 8 | Kevin Gerhart | $1 |
| Total | $180 |
| Team AJ's Eagles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | David Peters | $13 |
| 2 | Steven Wolansky | $9 |
| 3 | Maxx Coleman | $45 |
| 4 | Arthur Morris | $47 |
| 5 | Scott Seiver | $37 |
| 6 | John Hennigan | $24 |
| 7 | James Chen | $14 |
| 8 | Jeff Madsen | $1 |
| Total | $190 |
| Team Kalas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Philip Sternheimer | $35 |
| 2 | Paul Volpe | $34 |
| 3 | Koray Aldemir | $75 |
| 4 | Kane Kalas | $33 |
| 5 | Rob Hollink | $1 |
| 6 | Dan Smith | $6 |
| 7 | Yueqi Zhu | $1 |
| 8 | Chris Hunichen | $15 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team NGNF | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Chad Eveslage | $75 |
| 2 | Ren Lin | $55 |
| 3 | Dan Zack | $50 |
| 4 | Kristen Foxen | $11 |
| 5 | Allen Kessler | $2 |
| 6 | Jeremy Becker | $3 |
| 7 | James Obst | $3 |
| 8 | Dylan Destefano | $1 |
| Total | $200 |
| Team Sternheimer | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pick | Player | Price |
| 1 | Benny Glaser | $76 |
| 2 | Christopher Vitch | $41 |
| 3 | Espen Jorstad | $11 |
| 4 | Marco Johnson | $37 |
| 5 | Cary Katz | $11 |
| 6 | Danny Tang | $9 |
| 7 | Joao Simao | $8 |
| 8 | Renan Bruschi | $7 |
| Total | $200 |
The $25K Fantasy Draft has now finished.
Each of the 19 teams has completed its eight-player roster. A full recap of tonight's event will follow shortly.
The 2024 $25K Fantasy Draft is down to the last 18 picks, so the end is near.
Here's how things played out in the final rounds:
- Team Baker took Nick Guagenti for $16.
- Team Lady Gaga spent $1 to get Renji Mao.
- Team Baker closed out their roster with the $1 buy of Max Pisarenko.
- Andres Korn went to Team DPMC for $1.
- Team Noori's final pick for their last $18 was Xavier Kyablue.
- Team Negreanu spent their last $15 to close out their roster with Georgios Sotiropoulos.
- TheCoffeBreakers.com picked up Punnat Punsri for $1.
- Team Lang spent their last $16 on Sam Soverel to round out their team.
- Team Girl Dads had $7 left and spent it all on Dustin Dirksen as their last selection.
- Team Lady Gaga got Yingui Li for $1.
- Team DPMC picked up Stephen Song for $4.
- TheCoffeeBreakers.com got Christian Harder for $1.
- Team Lady Gaga closed out by taking Anson Tsang for $1.
- Michael Rodrigues went to Team DPMC for $3.
- TheCoffeeBreakers.com got 2009 WSOP champ Joe Cada for $1.
- Team DPMC closed out with Dario Alito for $1 (leaving $21 in their budget)
- TheCoffeeBreakers.com selected Ari Engel for $1 as the final selection (AKA "Mr. Irrelevant) of the draft.
Some teams have closed out their rosters and budgets for others are getting thin, as such the final stages of the draft are picking up speed.
Here are some quick hitters:
- David Coleman went to The Dinkers for $3.
- David Bakes sold for $18 to Team Lang, leaving the, $16 for their last pick.
- Dong Chen was a $1 pick-up for Team Lady Gaga
- James Obst became the penultimate selection of Team NGNF for $3, which left them with $1 to make their final selection.
- Team DPMC, the defending champs, got Sergio Aido for $1.
- Four-time bracelet winner Kevin Gerhart went for $1 to close out Team Sepiol.
- Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen was a $15-max bid for Team Kalas to fill out their roster.
- Team NGNF finalized their roster by spending their last $1 on Dylan DeStefano.
- Team Sternheimer's last pick for their final $7 was Renan Bruschi.
- Team Noori took Taylor Paur for $1.
- Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra was the last pick of Team Livingston for $1, leaving $5 in their budget.
- Team Negreanu picked up Erick Lindgren for $1.
- Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi went for $1 to TheCoffeeBreakers.com.
- Team Baker got Sam Laskowitz for $6 leaving them two spots remaining on their roster.
- The Dinkers spent their remaining $16 to take Ben Lamb as their final selection.
Yuequi "Rich" Zhu went to Team Kalas for $1, and then Felipe "Mojave" Ramos sold for $16 to Team Baker.
Joao Simao sold for $8 to Team Sternheimer, Seth Davies for $1 to Team Noori, and then Team Lucky picked up Patrick Leonard for $7.
On the 20th anniversary of his big TV appearance, 2004 WSOP Main Event runner-up sold to Team Negreanu for $3, and then reigning WPT Prime champ Calvin Anderson went for $3 to Team Sepiol.
Team Oz had $41 to spend for their final selection and spent it all on Warwick Mirzikinian to close out their roster, and then Team Lucky closed out their roster by bidding and winning Matt Glantz for $27.
Nick Pupillo, the reigning GPI Mid-Major Player of the Year, almost went to Team Negreanu who maxed out with a $16 bid, but other teams jumped in and he ultimately went to Team Lang for $23.
WPT stud Darren Elias sold to Team Chingas for $2, which left them a budget of $10 to fill their final roster spot.
Qiang Xu was taken by Team Lady Gaga (Ren Lin) for $1, and then reigning Global Poker Award Player of the Year Bin Weng went for $4 to close out Team Chingas, who left $6 in their budget.
Team Chingas
| Player | Price |
|---|---|
| Brian Yoon | $47 |
| Dylan Smith | $33 |
| Justin Liberto | $78 |
| Toby Lewis | $2 |
| Aaron Kupin | $25 |
| Ryan Hoenig | $3 |
| Darren Elias | $2 |
| Bin Weng | $4 |
France's Julien Martini was a $22 buy for Team Girl Dads, and then James Chen went to Team AJ's Eagles for $14.
Dzmitry Urbanovich went to Team Sepiol for $1 and then 2006 WSOP POY Jeff Madsen went to Team AJ's Eagles for the same price to close out their team with $10 remaining in their budget.
Team AJ's Eagles
| Player | Price |
|---|---|
| David Peters | $13 |
| Steven Wolansky | $9 |
| Maxx Coleman | $45 |
| Arthur Morris | $47 |
| Scott Siever | $37 |
| John Hennigan | $24 |
| James Chen | $14 |
| Jeff Madsen | $1 |
Bidding for Eric "Popcorn" Wasserson was relatively poppin' at this point in the draft as a bidding war between one-time arch-enemies Shaun Deeb and Daniel Negreanu saw the latter claim him for $16.
"You might have had him for $17," Negreanu claimed.
Danny Tang went to Team Sternheimer for $9 before Ash Gupta was a $1 selection for Team Oz, leaving them one roster spot and $41 in which to fill it.
Dan Shak sold to Team Noori for $4, Artur Martirosian to Team Lang for $4, and Poker Hall of Famer John Hennigan for $24 to Team AJ's Eagles.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
61
-5
|
-5 |
|
|
49 | |
|
|
42
-56
|
-56 |
|
|
39 | |
|
|
34 | |
|
|
31 | |
|
|
29
-58
|
-58 |
|
|
25 | |
|
|
24
-5
|
-5 |
|
|
23 | |
|
|
19
-16
|
-16 |
|
|
16
-40
|
-40 |
|
|
15
-9
|
-9 |
|
|
12
-28
|
-28 |
|
|
6
-3
|
-3 |
|
|
5 | |
|
|
5
-1
|
-1 |
|
|
4
-5
|
-5 |
|
|
Busted |