Choices, choices... If you’re taking part in a WSOP fantasy draft — whether it's the PokerOrg Fantasy Freeroll, the $25K Fantasy or the ODB League — one of the big choices you face is how much to invest in each player.
There are plenty of great value players who went cheap, but with all the potential in the world, then there are the big names who you’d always expect to do well. The trouble is, that’s what everyone expects, so their price tags are often as big as their reputations.
It’s early days in the 55th World Series of Poker, but so far we’ve seen plenty of cream rising to the top. Take Artur Martirosian, the unflappable Russian who cost a not-insignificant $28 of the $200 budget in the Fantasy Freeroll.
In winning the $25K Heads-up Championship he added a bunch of points to those teams that drafted him, a cool half a million dollars in prize money and one of the most prestigious bracelets of the series.
And it was no walk in the park. Martirosian had to vanquish each of the following players, heads-up, to earn the title of champion: Jeremy Ausmus, Faraz Jaka, Kevin Rabichow, Chance Kornuth, Patrick Leonard and finally Aliaksei Boika. There are tough tasks, then there’s doing all that. You can read all about the big finale with Boika here.
Glaser cleans the glass
Sticking with the theme of choices, the $1,500 Dealers Choice event drew to a close and the winner was another expensive fantasy pick. Benny Glaser’s high price tag of $99 did little to stop dozens from picking him, and for good reason.
Fresh from almost adding an 11th title in the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (he made several deep runs, including one which ended heads-up), Glaser has added a sixth WSOP bracelet with his victory in the Dealers Choice, along with $150,246 in prize money.
A renowned mixed game specialist, Glaser ended up heads-up with an opponent who repeatedly refused to die, as Matthew Schreiber survived numerous all-ins to keep his hopes of a second bracelet alive. But Glaser would not be denied indefinitely; having held a huge chip lead for basically the entire final day, the Brit managed to add the last ones to his pile in a round of no-limit hold’em.
In winning a sixth WSOP bracelet, Glaser joins an elite bunch.
“I’m proud,” the new champ told PokerOrg following the win. “I think this is quite a high-skilled event, because there’s so many extra decisions. It feels nice.”
Congratulations, Benny, for making good choices. More here.
How long does it take to win $1 million?
You know the story: you grind it out for days, making hero calls, epic folds, canny bets and bold bluffs, then your whole tournament life — and sometimes a literal fortune — comes down to the turn of a single card.
And sometimes, not even that.
That’s part of the allure of the $1,000 Mystery Millions. Knock out an opponent, win a bounty, and it could be worth $1M. And that’s just what happened to Thomas Zanot on Sunday. He pulled a lucky card from the pile, opened it and won a million bucks in the blink of an eye. Only, the thing is, that’s not even close to his luckiest draw.
Playing Pai Gow Poker at the Flamingo in January 2023, Zanot was dealt a seven-card straight flush. That meant, right off the bat, he won the progressive jackpot. In the time it took him to arrange his cards, he picked up $6,443,401.
“I’d rather be lucky than good,” Zanot told master of ceremonies Jeff Platt, as he clutched the million-dollar bounty. He seems to have got that part down. Read all about it here.
The final 20 return to play down to a winner on Monday. 20th gets $39,180, first gets $1M. Time to make some more good choices.
Negreanu, Hellmuth and more in action as big mixed event begins
Daniel Negreanu commanded one of the highest prices in this year’s fantasy draft ($108), and is already well placed to start paying dividends. Over in the $10K O8 Championship he leads the pack with a stack of 1.5M chips, well clear of Matthew Beinner in second with 1M, with just 20 players remaining. Fellow Hall of Famer Phil Hellmuth will also be in action in the $1,500 NL 2-7 Single Draw, where players are already in the money.
Elsewhere, one of the most anticipated events on this year’s schedule will get started on Monday, with Day 1 of the $25K Mixed PLO/NLH High Roller. We expect to see plenty of big hands and big pots, as well as some choice plays from the big names.
Additional image courtesy of Drew Amato.
