Not only did the World Series of Poker kick off on Tuesday, but Daniel Negreanu held his annual $25K Fantasy Draft.
The event adds a fantasy sports element to the WSOP, and some additional high-stakes gambling to the events played at the Horseshoe and Paris this summer. Furthermore, the 2025 edition is the largest in the event’s history.
Negreanu started the annual competition in 2011. It’s open to anyone or group willing to pony up the $25,000 to draft eight players. The competition features an auction-style draft and shines a spotlight on who the poker community believes will thrive throughout the summer.
2025 25K Fantasy Draft Generates $600K Prize Pool
This year, the event drew a whopping 24 teams. Consequently, the top five teams will finish in the money. Here are the payouts:
1st: $250,000
2nd: $125,000
3rd: $100,000
4th: $75,000
5th: $50,000
The annual event continues to grow and has become popular with players and poker fans alike. In 2024, the $25K Fantasy featured 19 teams with “The Drinkers” coming out on top for a total payout of $225,000. The team had quite a squad of performers, including John Racener, Brian Rast, Bryce Yockey, Robert Mizrachi, Chris Brewer, David Coleman, and Ben Lamb.
A team’s player earns points based on how they finish, scoring 50 points for a win, 45 points for runner-up, and all the way down to 5 points for finishing 10th through 18th.
Winners also earn a 25-point bonus and those who simply find a cash beyond 18th earn 1 point. There are additional bonuses and multipliers based on field sizes, with the main event receiving the largest multiplier of the series at 3X.
Only open events are scored, with the tournaments of champions, tag team, and online poker events excluded from the competition. The payouts for the top teams this year weren’t yet available.
Each team is given $200 to bid on players during the draft and can use those funds however they see fit. The entire draft was streamed on the PokerGO YouTube channel.
2025 25K Fantasy Draft Results
Six-time bracelet winner Jeremy Ausmus attracted the biggest chunk of a team’s payroll at $141, followed by seven-time bracelet winner and 2024 WSOP Player of the Year Scott Seiver at $125. Here’s a complete look at the prices for the top 10 players.
- Jeremy Ausmus – $141
- Scott Seiver – $125
- Yuri Dzivielevski – $119
- Daniel Negreanu – $108
- Nick Schulman – $107
- Jesse Lonis – $103
- Shaun Deeb – $99
- Benny Glaser – $99
- Phil Ivey – $95
- James Obst – $91
Here’s a look at the complete draft results. Negreanu once again drafted himself and 17-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth checked in at 17th at a price of $79. Mike Matusow found a spot on Team Negreanu, but was a little disappointed at the price tag.
Me going for 3 bucks in 25k fantasy is not only comical but they’re gonna fucking pay and my man @RealKidPoker is gonna be the beneficiary! Good luck to all other teams cause they’re gonna need it! @RealKidPoker I won’t let you down it’s gonna be bloody! #WSOP2025 #25kfantasy
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) May 28, 2025
Along with the $25K, David “ODB” Baker runs a similar fantasy contest for those with lower bankrolls, priced at just $500. The ODB Fantasy Draft has been running for 10 years and was set to draft players on Thursday.
