You might be surprised to know that some of the biggest sweats in the World Series of Poker Main Event involve fantasy sports.
Early in the summer, commissioner Daniel Negreanu and friends hosted their annual 25k Fantasy Draft. For a $25,000 entry, teams drafted players for the summer series who earn points for performance in official WSOP events.
A total of 12 of those drafted players are still in the field in the Main Event, which can be game-changing for the fantasy teams and their owners. Let’s check in on the current standings and teams involved.
Current $25k fantasy leaders
| Place | Team | Points | Players remaining in the Main Event |
| 1 | Team Lady Gaga | 1128 | Philip Hui (800,000) |
| 2 | Team DPMC | 1089 | None |
| 3 | Team Fleyshman | 954 | Chance Kornuth (3,200,000) |
| 4 | Team Baker | 844 | James Obst (950,000), Chris Vitch (1,575,000) |
| 5 | Team Maria’s Ho’mies | 820 | None |
| 6 | Team AJ | 717 | Jesse Lonis (565,000), John Racener (3,710,000), Rami Boukai (1,580,000) |
| 7 | Team Zamani | 678 | None |
| 8 | Team Gordo | 677 | Chris Brewer (440,000) |
| 9 | Team Deeb | 645 | None |
| 10 | Team Negreanu | 602 | Matthew Wantman (945,000) |
Obviously, Team Lady Gaga, headed by Ren Lin and company, leads the pack, and they still have a horse in the biggest field of all.
That said, a total of 12 players are still in the field. Let’s take a look at all 12 players and their current chip stacks in the Main.
12 remaining drafted players in the fantasy league
| Player | Fantasy owner (by current standings) | Chip count | Day 5 seat |
| Philip Hui | Team Lady Gaga | 800,000 | 624 / 6 |
| Chance Kornuth | Team Fleyshman | 3,200,000 | 662 / 7 |
| James Obst | Team Baker | 950,000 | 659 / 7 |
| Chris Vitch | Team Baker | 1,575,000 | 612 / 4 |
| Jesse Lonis | Team AJ | 565,000 | 653 / 9 |
| John Racener | Team AJ | 3,710,000 | 649 / 1 |
| Rami Boukai | Team AJ | 1,580,000 | 668 / 2 |
| Chris Brewer | Team Gordo | 440,000 | 671 / 2 |
| Matthew Wantman | Team Negreanu | 945,000 | 605 / 7 |
| Dario Sammartino | Team Lang | 1,305,000 | 625 / 4 |
| Nick Guagenti | Team Reiss | 2,335,000 | 677 / 5 |
| Daniel Weinman | Team Reiss | 2,850,000 | 623 / 2 |
There are some big stacks on that list. With only 441 players remaining, everyone has a chance of making a deep run. Exactly how many points are up for grabs in this event?
Main Event fantasy scoring
Just how many points are up for grabs in the Main Event? Well, it’s a lot. It could drastically shift the landscape of the fantasy standings, which always makes for a fun sweat late in the summer.
An outright win of any event earns a player 50 points. An additional point per 100 entries is awarded to a certain number of players based on field size. In the Main Event, everyone who finishes in the top 108 spots will receive a 100-point field bonus.
Oh, and all points in the Main Event are tripled.
That means if any drafted player wins the main event, there are 450 points up for grabs.
To put that in perspective, if Chris Brewer wins the Main Event, that would catapult the 8th Team Gordo into first place, assuming all other teams keep their current positions.
Payouts for the 25k fantasy
| Place | Prize |
| 1st | $250,000 |
| 2nd | $125,000 |
| 3rd | $75,000 |
| 4th | $50,000 |
Obviously, it’s not the $12.1 million that the remaining players are playing for in the record-breaking Main Event. But, there is a lot of money up for grabs in the fantasy streets.
Good luck to all remaining players and their fantasy owners as Day 5 picks back up today.
