Day 1 of the 2026 World Series of Poker started today with Day 1A of the $550 Mini Mystery Millions and the $5,000 8-Max events. However, on Monday night, the 2026 WSOP unofficially kicked off with the annual $25K Fantasy Draft.
A record 24 teams entered the $25K Fantasy Draft, up from 19 last year, including yours truly as a co-owner of “Torching with TJ.” Teams partake in an auction-style draft, able to bet on any poker player in the world to have a great summer, using the official $25K Fantasy scoring system.
With 24 teams entering the rake-free event, there’s huge money to play for. Five teams will win at least $50,000. The overall winner will take home a whopping $250,000. The runner-up of the cutthroat competition will win $125,000. Third place will win $100,000, and fourth place earns $75,000. That means 79% of teams will finish the summer empty-handed – off the felt anyway.
$25K Fantasy Draft headlines
For the second consecutive year, Shaun Deeb went for the most money, using $133 of Team Trump Power’s $200 budget.
Four players went over $100 this year, including Deeb, Michael “Texas Mike” Moncek, Daniel Negreanu (who drafted himself), and Joao Vieira.
Team Noori went all-in on their top two picks, using $187 of their $200 budget on Joao Vieira and John Racener. After spending another $7 on Mike Matusow, they only had $6 to spend on their final five players.
Top 10 most expensive $25K Fantasy Draft players
| Rank | Player | $25K Fantasy Team | Price |
| 1 | Shaun Deeb | Team Trump Power | $133 |
| 2 | Michael Moncek | Team Gators | $130 |
| 3 | Daniel Negreanu | Team DNegs | $116 |
| 4 | Joao Vieira | Team Noori | $101 |
| 5 | Brian Rast | Team Stake Kings | $97 |
| 6 | Benny Glaser | Team Chocolate Factory | $94 |
| T-7 | Jeremy Ausmus | Team Lang | $90 |
| T-7 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Team Lady Gaga | $90 |
| T-9 | Nick Schulman | Team Verderamo | $89 |
| T-9 | Chad Eveslage | Team Dinkers | $89 |
$25K Fantasy Draft: complete teams
All players who were taken in the $25K Fantasy Draft are listed in the order they were drafted to their respective teams. Those in parentheses next to the team name are listed as the team owner/captain.
Team Lucky (Shaun Deeb)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Esther Taylor | 18 |
| Max Neugebauer | 11 |
| Frankie Brannan | 25 |
| Dylan Weisman | 46 |
| Martin Kabrhel | 69 |
| Cary Katz | 12 |
| Zdenek Zizka | 12 |
| Andreas Frohlich | 1 |
Team Blades & Shades (Nick Guagenti)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Jesse Lonis | 69 |
| Ray Henson | 4 |
| John Monnette | 36 |
| Chris Hunichen | 35 |
| Christian Roberts | 8 |
| Phil Hui | 12 |
| Qinghai “Jack” Pan | 12 |
| Allen Le | 24 |
Team Premiums Only (Justin Fawcett)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Dylan Linde | 59 |
| Thomas Taylor | 34 |
| AJ Kelsall | 15 |
| Andrew Ostapchenko | 12 |
| Ryan Hoenig | 58 |
| Cherish Andrews | 1 |
| Yuval Bronshtein | 3 |
| Justin Fawcett | 1 |
Team Glaser (Benny Glaser, Chris Brewer)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Brandon Shack-Harris | 16 |
| Craig Chait | 1 |
| Sean Winter | 13 |
| Kristen Foxen | 16 |
| Dan Smith | 8 |
| James Obst | 55 |
| Blaz Zerjav | 57 |
| Patrick Stacey | 34 |
Team Spitework (Matthew Wantman)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Biao Ding | 24 |
| Robert Wells | 36 |
| Punnatt Punsri | 38 |
| Dylan Smith | 59 |
| Jeremy Becket | 6 |
| Ryutari Suzuki | 24 |
| Renji Mao | 7 |
| David Peters | 3 |
Team Wasserson (Eric Wasserson)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Viktor Blom | 69 |
| Adam Hendrix | 31 |
| Isaac Haxton | 19 |
| Stephen Chidwick | 32 |
| Shannon Shorr | 11 |
| Brian Yoon | 30 |
| Huck Seed | 7 |
| Jon Turner | 1 |
Team StakeKings (Ryan Stiner, Steven Jones Jr.)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Brian Rast | 97 |
| David “ODB” Baker | 61 |
| Stephen Song | 18 |
| Nick Seward | 9 |
| John Riordan | 12 |
| Ethan Yau | 1 |
| Brandon Sheils | 1 |
| Michael Wang | 1 |
Team Torching with TJ (TJ Reid)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Nacho Barbero | 43 |
| Sam Soverel | 28 |
| Josh Reichard | 20 |
| Alex Livingston | 61 |
| Brock Wilson | 20 |
| TJ Reid | 5 |
| Brian Battistone | 1 |
| John Wasnock | 5 |
Team Chocolate Factory (Frederic Normand)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Benny Glaser | 94 |
| Joey Weissman | 5 |
| Josh McCully | 1 |
| Tomasz Gluszko | 35 |
| Jon Kyte | 12 |
| Frederic Normand | 3 |
| Michael Gathy | 1 |
| Renan Bruschi | 49 |
Team Back Office (Jeremy Becker)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Artur Martirosian | 39 |
| Philip Sternheimer | 65 |
| Ben Yu | 37 |
| Aaron Kupin | 34 |
| Jason Daly | 5 |
| Ryuta Nakai | 6 |
| Danny Wong | 3 |
| Ben Tollerene | 1 |
Team Trump Power (Gary Benson)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Shaun Deeb | 133 |
| Qiang Xu | 4 |
| Jeff Madsen | 4 |
| Ashish Gupta | 1 |
| Malcolm Trayner | 5 |
| Yueqi Zhu | 18 |
| John Hennigan | 1 |
| Gary Benson | 1 |
Team Brown Dog (Andrew Brown)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Arthur Morris | 31 |
| Maxx Coleman | 58 |
| Nick Guagenti | 37 |
| Scott Bohlman | 35 |
| Justin Saliba | 22 |
| Joey Couden | 12 |
| Ray Fishman | 1 |
| Matthew Beinner | 1 |
Team Verderamo (Nick Verderamo)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Nick Schulman | 89 |
| Phil Ivey | 80 |
| Brad Ruben | 21 |
| Jason Mercier | 1 |
| Ryan Reiss | 3 |
| Dan Shak | 1 |
| Gabrielle Andrade | 2 |
| Andrew Lichtenberger | 3 |
Team Handsome Horses (Philip Sternheimer)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Robert Mizrachi | 30 |
| Chino Rheem | 51 |
| Bryce Yockey | 46 |
| Daniel Rezaei | 18 |
| Joao Simao | 20 |
| Anthony Zinno | 7 |
| Ariel Mantel | 11 |
| Phillip Long | 17 |
Team Lang Gang (Mike Lang, Josh Reichard)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Ari Engel | 47 |
| Jeremy Ausmus | 90 |
| Ren Lin | 29 |
| Allen Kessler | 2 |
| Mike Leah | 8 |
| Jim Collopy | 14 |
| Bradley Jansen | 1 |
| Ian Matakis | 9 |
Team DNegs (Daniel Negreanu)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Daniel Negreanu | 116 |
| Josh Arieh | 55 |
| Ben Lamb | 14 |
| Dong Chen | 4 |
| Nick Pupillo | 2 |
| Eli Elezra | 1 |
| Bryn Kenney | 7 |
| Jason Koon | 1 |
Team Blez/NGNF (Brent Hanks, Jeff Platt)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Justin Liberto | 70 |
| Chris Brewer | 61 |
| Eric Wasserson | 35 |
| Adrian Mateos | 12 |
| Sam Laskowitz | 7 |
| Matt Schreiber | 2 |
| Ben Miner | 1 |
| Jared Bleznick | 12 |
Team Banana (David “ODB” Baker)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Scott Seiver | 79 |
| David Coleman | 26 |
| Marco Johnson | 51 |
| Danny Tang | 12 |
| Brian Hastings | 1 |
| Brad Owen | 1 |
| Lawrence Brandt | 1 |
| Naoya Kihara | 1 |
Team Noori (Mike Noori)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Joao Vieira | 101 |
| John Racener | 86 |
| Justin Zaki | 1 |
| Michael Noori | 1 |
| Shaun Buchanan | 2 |
| Mike Matusow | 7 |
| Dara Taherpour | 1 |
| Jordan Seigal | 1 |
Team Lady Gaga (Ren Lin)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Yuri Dzivielevski | 90 |
| Alex Foxen | 79 |
| Klemens Roiter | 24 |
| Yun Lam Choi | 1 |
| Anston Tsang | 1 |
| Chongg Xian Yang | 1 |
| Jun Obara | 1 |
| Jun Weng | 1 |
Team Gators (Texas Mike Moncek)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Brandon Wilson | 15 |
| Mike Moncek | 130 |
| Tyler Moncek | 7 |
| Martin Zamani | 3 |
| Michael Molenaar | 1 |
| Ryan Leng | 1 |
| Zack Estes | 1 |
| Peter Krupa | 42 |
Team Fleyshman (Dan Fleyshman)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Michael Mizrachi | 80 |
| Phil Hellmuth | 66 |
| Chance Kornuth | 34 |
| Chris Moorman | 6 |
| Paul Volpe | 5 |
| Christian Harder | 6 |
| Erik Seidel | 1 |
| Valentin Vornicu | 1 |
Team Dinkers (Josh Kay)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Chad Eveslage | 89 |
| Patrick Leonard | 41 |
| Aram Zobian | 7 |
| Matt Glantz | 27 |
| Jerry Wong | 8 |
| Nick Milgrom | 16 |
| Vladas Tamasaukas | 1 |
| John Glandenning | 1 |
Team Glue Factory (Dan Sepiol)
| Player | Price ($) |
| Matthew Wantman | 46 |
| Chris Vitch | 49 |
| Calvin Anderson | 25 |
| Dario Sammartino | 45 |
| Maksim Pisarenko | 19 |
| Matt Vengrin | 6 |
| Tyler Phillips | 5 |
| Daniel Sepiol | 1 |
