Becker vs. Tice: Big-name players publicly take sides as summer battle heats up

By now, you've surely heard news of the upcoming crossbook battle between JeremyBecker and LandonTice, organized and wagered on by DanielNegreanu and MattBerkey. Becker vs. Tice: The Battle of the Young Guns will see the two go head to head this summer at the World Series of Poker, competing across a minimum of 25 mutually-played events.

The exact rules of the bet have yet to be finalized, but as soon as Negreanu took to Twitter to announce confirmation of the bet, the side bets began to fly. It seems Negreanu and Berkey aren't the only ones in the community wanting to get money down on one of these two young guns.

We've sifted through the side action to bring you the start of an unofficial list of who's on whose side ahead of the summer.

Choosing sides

The legendary VanessaSelbst may have retired from the game, but she's still willing to throw down $10,000 minimum on Becker -- taking a good spot apparently isn't something one retires from. Selbst has thrown her support behind Team Becker and, like many others, favors Becker due to his proven track record in large-field MTTs.

ChanceKornuth and JesseLonis, two high stakes crushers with styles of play that Becker emulates, have both thrown their support -- and money -- behind Team Becker.

Naturally, Team Tice has the full backing of Berkey's Solve For Why/OnlyFriends Podcast crew. Both Berkey and Melissa Schuberthave money on Tice, but their support goes deeper than the purely financial level. The swings and variance of a poker player's summer in Las Vegas can demand a more moral form of support, one that Team Tice should receive plenty of.

Today's episode of the OnlyFriends Podcast addressed the current state of the community's allegiances and Berkey filled viewers in on the side action he's already booked.

High stakes regular and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Chris Brewer has aligned himself with Team Tice, favoring the studied, solver-driven approach from Tice.

Two titans of the streaming world, KevinMartin and AlexandraBotez, have both offered their support to Team Tice. Martin even responded to Selbst's post asking for $10,000 worth of action on Tice at +120.

If you had to put down a $10,000 wager on one of these guys, which side are you taking: Team Becker or Team Tice? That's the question that'll be ringing around the hallways of the WSOP this summer -- tell us your answer by sounding off on Twitter.