25K Fantasy Draft 2024

2024 Draft
Day: 1
Event Info

25K Fantasy Draft 2024

Event Info
Buy-in
$25,000
Prize Pool
$475,000
Entries
19
Players Left
19

Jesse Lonis ($36) and John Racener ($36) Get Drafted

Jesse Lonis
Jesse Lonis

Team Girl Dads got a Player of the Year contender in Jesse Lonis for $36. Lonis joins John Riordon and Jim Collopy, which leaves Team Girl Dads with $103 for their final five picks.

Team Girl Dads Picks

PlayerPrice
John Riordan$18
Jim Collopy$33
Jesse Lonis$46
John Racener
John Racener

The Dinkers then got their second draft pick, getting John Racener for the same price as Lonis.

PlayerPrice
Chris Brewer$60
John Racener$36
Player Chips Progress
The Dinkers
The Dinkers
104
-36
-36
Team Girl Dads
Team Girl Dads
103
-36
-36

Sleeper Pick? Mike Matusow Goes to Team Livingston ($11)

Mike Matusow
Mike Matusow

Mike Matusow, whose documentary was unveiled last night, started off at $1.

His final price came in at $11 after Team Negreanu conceded to Team Livingston, who got their third draft pick.

Team Livingston Picks

PlayerPrice
AJ Kelsall$36
Chance Kornuth$73
Mike Matusow$11
Player Chips Progress
Team Livingston
Team Livingston
80
-11
-11

Nick Schulman Joins Team Negreanu Once Again ($66)

Daniel Negreanu wanted his man!
Daniel Negreanu wanted his man!

Jim Collopy became the second selection of Team Girl Dads going for $33, joining John Riordan.

Daniel Negreanu then nominated a player whom he's traditionally had on his team in Nick Schulman. Kid Poker didn't seem too interested in him this year as first letting some other teams bid him up, but then at the last minute bid $62. That inspired a few other bids but ultimately Schulman ended up on Team Negreanu once again, this year going for $66.

David Peters then went for $13 to Team AJ's Eagles (AJ Kelsall's first pick), followed by Dan Zack to Team NGNF for $20.

Team NGNF

PlayerPrize
Chad Eveslage$75
Ren Lin$55
Dan Zack$ 50
Player Chips Progress
Team AJ's Eagles
Team AJ's Eagles
187
-13
-13
Team Girl Dads
Team Girl Dads
139
-43
-43
Team Negreanu
Team Negreanu
134
-66
-66
Team NGNF
Team NGNF
20
-50
-50

Tags: Nick Schulman

Mateos ($45), Glaser ($76) and Gorodinksy ($20) Get Picked Up

Adrian Mateos
Adrian Mateos

Adrian Mateos went to Team Lucky for $45, leaving them with $106.

Team Lucky Picks

PlayerPrice
Dylan Linde$61
Adrian Mateos$45
Benny Glaser
Benny Glaser

All-time SCOOP winner Benny Glaser was next up for grabs and ended up in Team Sternheimer for $76, their first evening pick.

Mike Gorodinsky rounded out a trio of picks and Team Wilson got their man with a bid of $20.

Mike Gorodinsky
Mike Gorodinsky
Player Chips Progress
Team Wilson
Team Wilson
180
-20
-20
Team Sternheimer
Team Sternheimer
124
124
124
Team Lucky
Team Lucky
106
-33
-33

Chance Kornuth to Team Livingston as 17th Overall Pick ($73); Phil Hellmuth to Team CoffeeBreakers.com ($72)

Chance Kornuth
Chance Kornuth

Chance Kornuth was the next player nominated and Daniel Negreanu got in on the bidding for the first time but soon bowed out as bidding began to rise through the fifties into the sixties and ultimately to Team Livingston for $73, joining AJ Kelsall on the roster.

Phil Hellmuth, the league's all-time points earner, became the 18th player nominated in the 2024 $25K Fantasy Draft, but despite his strong performances over the past decade-plus, his price was slow to increase.

That said, it did inch up dollar-by-dollar to $72 as a winning bid by TheCoffeeBreakers.com, who selected their third player and left themselves just $5 to make their next five selections. That means they're relegated to five $1 picks, which likely won't happen until the tail end of the draft.

Team CoffeeBreakers.com

PlayerPrize
David "ODB" Baker$50
Josh Arieh$73
Phil Hellmuth$72
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Hellmuth
Player Chips Progress
Team Livingston
Team Livingston
91
-73
-73
TheCoffeeBreakers.com
TheCoffeeBreakers.com
5
-72
-72

Tags: Chance KornuthPhil Hellmuth

Team Livingston and Team Lucky Get their First Picks in Kelsall ($36) and Linde ($61)

AJ Kelsall
AJ Kelsall

Team Livingston and Team Lucky have been involved in and amongst the bidding, but neither team has yet made a winning bid. That was until Team Livingston, led by Alex Livingston, bagged AJ Kelsall for $36.

Dylan Linde
Dylan Linde

Next up for auction was Dylan Linde. Team Lucky (Shaun Deeb - Daniel Weinman - Josh Arieh) got off the board, when they landed the bracelet winner for $61.

Player Chips Progress
Team Livingston
Team Livingston
164
-36
-36
Team Lucky
Team Lucky
139
-61
-61

Tags: AJ KelsallAlex LivingstonDaniel WeinmanDylan LindeJosh AriehShaun DeebTeam Lucky

Brian Yoon to Team Chingas ($47); Bradley Ruben to Team Oz ($50); Dylan Weisman to Team Baker ($59)

Team Baker nabs Dylan Weisman
Team Baker nabs Dylan Weisman

Brian Yoon was the next player nominated and went to Team for $47 to Team Chingas, and then Bradley Ruben followed for $50 to Team Oz to join their previous selection of Jake Schwartz.

Dylan Weisman was then nominated and it seemed as if he might go for $1 before another big came in last second. That spurred a series of bids that saw his price start to rise through the teens, into the twenties dollar-by-dollar, jumps throughout the thirties and forties, and finally into the fifties settling on a winning bid of $59 by Team Baker.

Player Chips Progress
Team Chingas
Team Chingas
153
-47
-47
Team Baker
Team Baker
141
-59
-59
Team Oz
Team Oz
91
-68
-68

Tags: Dylan Weisman

Hanks Gets His Man: Ren Lin Goes to Team NGNF ($55)

Ren Lin at 25K Fantasy Draft
Ren Lin at 25K Fantasy Draft

After drafting Chad Eveslage for $75, Team NGNF was back in the mix when Ren Lin became available.

Brett Hanks made it transparent that he wanted the GGPoker Ambassador on his side, and he eventually got his man after no other team wanted to beat his $55 bid.

Team NGNF Picks

PlayerPrice
Chad Eveslage$75
Ren Lin$55
Player Chips Progress
Team NGNF
Team NGNF
70
-55
-55

Jake Schwartz ($41) and Chad Eveslage ($75) Off the Board

Jake Schwartz
Jake Schwartz

After Jake Schwartz went to Team Oz for $41, Chad Eveslage became the 10th player nominated.

Another bidding war ensued in which teams went from $40 to $50 to $60 to $69. From there it was dollar-by-dollar between Team NGNF and a couple teams.

"$75 and we're out, I promise," Brent Hanks declared while placing said bid. Whether or not that would've been true will never be known as the $75 bid by Team NGNF proved enough to get the job done.

Player Chips Progress
Team Oz
Team Oz
159
-41
-41
Team NGNF
Team NGNF
125
-75
-75

Tags: Chad Eveslage

2021 WSOP PoY Josh Arieh Drafted by TheCoffeeBreakers.com ($73)

Josh Arieh
Josh Arieh

The bidding for Josh Arieh began at $30, with Shaun Deeb immediately making it $31. Within a flash, the 2021 WSOP Player of the Year's price had broken the $70 mark.

TheCoffeeBreakers.com got their second pick of the evening after their $73 bid was unmatched.

TheCoffeeBreakers.com Picks

PlayerPrice
David "ODB" Baker$50
Josh Arieh$73
Player Chips Progress
TheCoffeeBreakers.com
TheCoffeeBreakers.com
77
-73
-73