There were three different fantasy games at this year's World Series of Poker that let you sweat the entire summer and win big prizes, whatever your budget.
The 192-player pool was drafted during the live $25K Fantasy draft on PokerGO on PokerGO. The $25K Fantasy uses a draft format, which means that only one team can own each player. Team members bid for the players and had to stick within a $200 budget.
Team DNegs owners Daniel Negreanu and Josh Arieh drafted themselves, and went on to win the league (and $250,000 first prize) for the first time in the 16 years that Negreanu has been running it. They did it despite getting zero points from Ben Lamb, who didn't play this summer. Their total score was 1,337, and they won by a clear 268 points over David 'ODB' Baker's team in second.
$25K Fantasy winner: Team DNegs
| Player | Score | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Josh Arieh | 356 | $55 |
| Daniel Negreanu | 294 | $116 |
| Nick Pupillo | 210 | $2 |
| Bryn Kenney | 193 | $7 |
| Dong Chen | 150 | $4 |
| Jason Koon | 73 | $1 |
| Eli Elezra | 61 | $1 |
| Ben Lamb | 0 | $14 |
| TOTAL | 1,337 | $200 |
Alex Foxen wins $500 ODB Fantasy
The same 192-player pool was used for both the $500 ODB Fantasy and the PokerOrg Fantasy Freeroll.
Both of these leagues used a traditional fantasy format, where you have the same $200 budget, but can pick whoever you want on your team. The only difference with ODB Fantasy is you can add an optional bonus player for an extra $25 entry fee.
ODB's $500 entry means big money up top, and with a record 1,199 entries in 2026, first prize was a whopping $100,000.
Alex Foxen won the league with a grand total of 1,897 points – and he drafted himself and his wife.
$500 ODB Fantasy winner: Alex Foxen
| Player | Score | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Foxen | 441 | $79 |
| Calvin Anderson | 385 | $25 |
| Martin Zamani | 337 | $3 |
| Dylan Smith | 293 | $59 |
| Nick Palma | 173 | BONUS |
| Kristen Foxen | 162 | $16 |
| Jim Collopy | 59 | $14 |
| Andrew Lichtenberger | 27 | $3 |
| Daniel Sepiol | 20 | $1 |
| TOTAL | 1,897 | $200 |
PokerOrg Fantasy Freeroll – the ultimate champion?
Team SmolNPudgy won the 2026 Fantasy Freeroll by a clear 185 points, with a massive total score of 1,932. Alex Foxen was the bedrock of their team as well.
What's so impressive about this is that SmolNPudgy would have won the $500 ODB Fantasy league as well – without using the optional ninth bonus player. That would have netted them $100,000 to go with the prizes they won in the Fantasy Freeroll. That's a painful hypothetical.
Fantasy Freeroll winner: SmolNPudgy
| Player | Score | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Foxen | 441 | $79 |
| Sean Winter | 404 | $13 |
| Calvin Anderson | 385 | $25 |
| Nick Pupillo | 210 | $2 |
| Bryn Kenney | 193 | $7 |
| Adrian Mateos | 151 | $12 |
| Chris Hunichen | 112 | $35 |
| Matt Glantz | 36 | $27 |
| TOTAL | 1,932 | $200 |
2026 perfect lineup
There are lots of different player permutations – and lots of different ways to play the game.
The runner-up in the $500 ODB Fantasy leaned heavily on mixed-game specialists and ran Foxen close for the $100,000. As it was, they got the second prize of $80,000, helped along by the 2026 MVP Naoya Kihara, who scored 510 points for a cost of just $1.
There is only one perfect lineup, though. This lineup would have produced the highest possible score while staying within the $200 budget, finishing with a gargantuan 3,213 points.
The 2026 dream team
| Player | Score | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Naoya Kihara | 510 | $1 |
| Alex Foxen | 441 | $79 |
| Sean Winter | 404 | $13 |
| Calvin Anderson | 385 | $25 |
| Josh Arieh | 356 | $55 |
| Martin Zamani | 337 | $3 |
| Joao Simao | 264 | $20 |
| David Peters | 254 | $3 |
| Ryan Miller | 262 | BONUS |
| TOTAL | 3,213 | $199 |
PokerOrg runs regular fantasy competitions that let you sweat the biggest poker events in the world for free. Check out the latest games on our Fantasy Poker hub.
