While the first day of the World Series of Poker kicked off at Horseshoe and Paris today, most of the biggest names in poker were huddled up in small groups at the PokerGO Studio for the annual $25K WSOP Fantasy draft.
After several hours of auctioneer Tim Duckworth killing his voice before the WSOP even starts, the final prices are in the books. Those prices will now carry over to PokerOrg's Fantasy Freeroll, where you can win a $10K main event package for choosing the highest-scoring team.
Registration is open now, and you have until May 29 at 12pm Vegas time to lock in your team. Here's how to play:
- From May 27 (post $25K Fantasy draft) until 12pm PT on May 29, you can pick your team of 8 players from our full list. Each player comes at a price, so be sure to stay under your budget of $200 for all 8 players.
- Once you're happy with your team, choose your team name, answer the tiebreak question ('How many entries will there be in the 2025 WSOP Main Event?') and hit Save.
- If you've got a free Org account you're done. If not, you'll need to register for free and you can do this for seconds with your Google account.
- You can edit and re-save your team as many times as you want before the deadline on May 29 at 12pm PT. The last team you saved when the deadline passes is the one that will be entered for you.
- We'll be sweating all the fantasy players in our live blog all summer, and we'll have exclusive content from the likes of David 'ODB' Baker.
- Good luck!
More teams in 2025, higher prices
This year's gathering drew 24 teams, each paying the $25,000 entry. The rules for teams at the in-person 25K draft are simple: use your $200 to draft eight players. Bidding happens just like you might see at your local cattle auction.
The added teams meant more money in the prize pool, and a few early players caused bidding wars. Nick Schulman, the first name called, went for $107 before Daniel Negreanu drafted himself for $108. Jeremy Ausmus then set a high watermark for the draft with his $141 price tag.
It wasn’t long before Phil Hellmuth showed up, and he answered one of the lingering questions on everyone’s mind. Hellmuth used a livestreamed trip around the room to announce that, yes, he will be playing in this year’s Main Event. Shortly after, the bidding kicked off for the Poker Brat, and he commanded an eye-popping $79.
Other big ticket players were Scott Seiver for $125, Yuri Dzivielevski for $119, Jesse Lonis for $103, Shaun Deeb and Benny Glaser for $99, and Phil Ivey for $95. Elsewhere at the top of the call sheet, Texas Mike Moncek went for $89 and Joao Vieria was worth $85.
Best team, worst value
Best draft
Team Splash Sports — The squad run by Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks was the first to grab a player (Nick Schulman, $107) and one of the first teams to complete their roster. Schulman leads a squad that also includes Ren Lin ($42), Adrian Mateos ($25), Renji Mao ($9), Christian Harder ($7), Frank Brannan ($5), Jason Koon ($4), and a big steal at the end with Andrew Moreno for $1. It's a well-rounded squad that should be seen playing in a wide variety of tournaments, and the roster has great low risk/high reward picks like Moreno, Mao, Koon, and Harder.
Worst draft
Team Negreanu — Drafting himself took a big chunk out of the budget, but Negreanu told Lefty that it was an opportunity to grab some value — so we can extend some benefit of the doubt. The squad of Joao Simao ($45), Tyler Brown ($26), Anthony Zinno ($14), Mike Matusow ($3), and Erick Lindgren ($2) may make some noise, but the roster strategy seemed messy. Last-minute $1 picks Jon Turner and Nick Palma will need to do a lot of heavy lifting. Palma might save the whole thing.
Best value
Early in the evening, Shannon Shorr went for $35, and it seemed like a steal. Shorr has been on a tear in 2025, with several wins at the PokerGO Studio and in the Main Event at the WSOP Circuit stop in Las Vegas. However, a late pick emerged when Cherish Andrews went for just $3. Sharing a team with her partner, Brock Wilson ($5), she will join Ivey and Nacho Barbero ($59) on Team Glue Factory. Both Andrews and Shorr offer a lot of value, but Andrews will play in a lot of tournaments with a chance for a sky-high points-per-dollar stat.
Worst value
Hellmuth showed up, showed out, and announced would play in the Main Event. This sparked a bidding frenzy that ended up at $79. He did not hint at a longer schedule, only the Main Event. The big price seems like a big chunk of budget to spend on someone who is throwing around the word boycott. That being said, bracelet #18 is surely incoming.
The prices are now locked for the $25K fantasy draft, and they will be the same for PokerOrg's Fantasy Freeroll. Run carefully to our Fantasy Freeroll landing page, where you can sign up for free and choose your team to win a $10K main event package from your friends here at PokerOrg.
If you want some last-minute help from the pros, Negreanu has offered a few tips. You can also check out some draft strategy pointers from our Fantasy Freeroll partner, David 'ODB' Baker.
