The $25K Fantasy league is off to a hot start with seven of the 19 teams over 100 points as of Tuesday night. Most of those were thanks to a handful of draftees hitting field bonuses in Event #5: $1,000 Mystery Millions, which attracted 18,409 entrants and became the sixth-largest poker tournament of all time.
Among those to hit the field bonus were Josh Reichard (21st place – 101 points), Adam Hendrix (32nd place – 101 points), Dong Chen (59th place – 101 points), John Riordan (88th place – 101 points), Chris Vitch (113th place – 101 points), Christian Harder (155th place – 101 points), and Ash Gupta (161st place – 101 points).
The Mystery Millions field bonus shook things up on the rankings, and league commissioner Daniel Negreanu took to X to share some information on the situation.
As of this writing, Team Oz (Gary Benson) is out on top with 245 points, while Team Sternheimer (Philip Sternheimer) sits in second with 199 points. From there it’s Team The Dinkers (179 points), Team Lady Gaga (168 points), Team Girl Dads (144 points), Team Wilson (118 points), and Team TheCoffeeBreakers (107 points) as the seven teams with 100+ points.
Check out the full $25K Fantasy Standings here!
PokerNews has been tracking $25K Fantasy players in our live updates, and has even made it simple to follow the action by tagging all players with a $25K Fantasy badge. That allows you to utilize our chip count filter option to follow only those players (just tick the $25K Fantasy badge); what’s more, each blog will have a “$25K Fantasy” tab that if you click all you will see are hands played by $25K Fantasy players.
As a result, we can capture some of the biggest, best, and most game-changing hands involving the $25K Fantasy roster. Here are five from the first week of action in the 2024 WSOP.
Big Slick Does Not Do the Trick for Kid Poker
On Day 2 of Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff NLH, just 16 players remained in Level 32 (125,000/250,000/250,000) when Jason Wheeler opened before Shawn Smith three-bet on the button. Negreanu, a member of Team DPMC, then moved all in from the big blind, with Wheeler folding while Smith tanked before making the call.
Daniel Negreanu: A♣K♣ [allin]
Shawn Smith 10♣10♦
The board ran out 2♣J♠5♠3♦9♠ and Negreanu was left with just 75,000 in chips.
On the very next hand, Negreanu was all in preflop, at risk in a three-way pot with Peter Hengsakul and John Marino.
Daniel Negreanu: J♣6♥ [allin]
John Marino 7♥7♠ [allin]
Peter Hengsakul: A♠3♥
That board ran out 5♣K♦10♥K♥Q♣ and Marino more than doubled his stack.
“Payout” said Negreanu, as the last of his chips went to Marino and his deep run ended in 16th place for $8,541.
Asher Conniff Rides Pocket 10s to First Bracelet
In Event #1: $5,000 Champions Reunion, it was Day 3 with the final two players from a 493-entry field remaining. It was Level 33 (200,000/400,000/400,000) when Halil Tasyurek moved all in for 5,000,000 on the button, and Asher Conniff snap-called in the big blind.
Halil Tasyurek: J♦9♦ [allin]
Asher Conniff: 10♥10♣
Two years ago, Conniff also had two tens on the Main Event final table bubble only to lose to flopped quads. No such fate awaited him today, however, as the board ran out 7♠4♣K♠5♦8♣ to secure him the pot and his first WSOP bracelet. Check out the full recap of his win here.
While Conniff wasn’t a $25K Fantasy player, he was a bonus player available in ODB’s $500 League. Unfortunately, Event #1 didn’t count towards the standings. Talk about a bad beat!
Liu Finishes Off the World Champ
Earlier in the same tournament on Day 2, it was Level 17 (5,000/10,000/10,000) when Xiaohu Liu three-bet to 60,000 on the button before reigning WSOP Main Event champ Daniel Weinman of Team Lucky moved all in for around 300,000 in the cutoff. Liu took out his camera and began filming the action as he called to put the reigning world champion at risk.
Daniel Weinman: K♠Q♦ [allin]
Xiaohu Liu: A♠K♥
Weinman was crushed by Liu’s better king as the K♣4♣4♥ flop gave both players two pair. The rest of the board came 10♥2♠ and Liu’s ace-kicker played to send Weinman to the rail.
Jaka Hits a Miracle Queen to Stay Alive
In Event #6: $25,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship, Faraz Jaka and Sam Soverel were squaring off in Round of 16 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000.
Soverel limped on the button for 10,000, before Jaka, another ODB $500 League Bonus Player, raised to make it 28,000. Soverel immediately jammed all in to put Jaka at risk for his last 216,000. Jaka flicked in a chip to make the call.
Faraz Jaka A♦Q♦
Sam Soverel A♠K♥
Needing to improve to stay alive, the flop ran off6♥A♥8♦. Although Jaka hit his Ace, he would still need help, and after the 4♣ on the turn, he was down to just three outs. However, Jaka’s heads-up tournament would not come to an end just yet, as the Q♠ rolled off on the river, to give Jaka top two pair, and the double-up.
Jaka went on to win the match, the next two as well, and made his way to the finals where he finished as runner-up to the UK’s Darius Samual for $300,000… all thanks to that miracle queen!
Uh Oh, Big-O Spaghetti-Os for Shaun Deeb
In Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice (6-Handed), just eight players remained on Day 3 in Level 26 (50,000/100,000) in a round of Big O.
Clint Wolcyn opened to 75,000 from the cutoff. Viktor Blom three-bet to 250,000 from the small blind and Shaun Deeb moved all in for 260,000 from the big blind. Wolcyn and Blom made the call.
The flop came K♣5♣3♣. Blom checked, Wolcyn bet 805,000 and Blom folded leaving Deeb at risk versus Wolcyn.
Shaun Deeb: A♣J♠J♥9♦2♥ [allin]
Clint Wolcyn: A♦K♦K♠Q♣7♣
Deeb had a pair of jacks and a wheel draw while Wolcyn had top set and a worse low draw. Deeb found no help when the rest of the board ran out 5♦Q♥ and was sent to the rail one spot shy of the final table while Wolcyn reclaimed the chip lead. Deeb earned $11,422 for his eighth-place finish.
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PR & Media Manager
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
