Posted by Andrew Feldman
Year after year, the month of May brings with it a feeling of excitement. At the end of the month, the World Series of Poker begins and the story lines we poker fans love to follow resume after a nearly 10-month hiatus.
In May, the poker media prepares, organizing thoughts and columns that will get readers excited about the biggest event in the poker world. And as the players descend upon Las Vegas for a 55-event series of tournaments, we sit here and wonder, "Who am I going to take for my fantasy poker team?"
For the third straight year, a draft that would have been much more entertaining if it had been held in person took place over an hour-long conference call. The participants had done their homework -- well, some of them had -- and names and bets were flying. After all, these are poker players. They don't do anything just for "fun."
Although most of the names fell where they were expected, there were several players who surprisingly were missing from the rosters. Some guy named Doyle was omitted, as were T.J. Cloutier, Kirk Morrison, Kenna James, Darrell Dicken and a second-round pick last year, James Van Alstyne. Brian Devonshire, Jordan Rich, Vivek Rajkumar and Tom Dwan all are making their fantasy debuts.
With little surprise on the part of the group, Lance Bradley selected Allen Cunningham with the first overall pick. Cunningham is a beast, and although it's extremely hard to predict that any player will win a bracelet this year, most of us believe Cunningham will take home some jewelry for the fourth consecutive year. The first round proceded with few to no questions, until Steve "Chops" Preiss selected Joe Hachem. From that point on, the floodgates were open, and every pick drew a remark or two. I don't think there were any bad picks, but I'll let you be the judge.
Here's a look at the rosters:
Wasabi Joe's Bluff All-Stars -- Lance Bradley, Managing Editor, Bluff magazine
Roster -- Allen Cunningham, Andy Bloch, Gus Hansen, Michael Mizrachi, Sorel Mizzi, Berry Johnston, Roland De Wolfe and Andy Black
Surprising pick: Berry Johnston. The 73-year-old former WSOP champion has five bracelets and 52 WSOP cashes, including the most main-event cashes (10). He cashed three times during the 2007 WSOP, and Lance is going to have to hope this tournament veteran gives a solid performance in more than just the main event so he can get a solid return on his investment.
Always on the PokerRoad -- Joe Sebok, Professional Poker Player, Pokerroad.com
Roster -- Barry Greenstein, Scott Clements, Gavin Griffin, Tom Dwan, Steve Sung, Cory Carroll, Thor Hansen and Bryan Devonshire
Surprising pick: Brian Devonshire. "Devo" has $774,037 in tournament winnings from 16 lifetime cashes. Five of those cashes have taken place in 2008 for more than half a million dollars. He has the potential to make some noise at the WSOP, as he already has two second-place finishes in WSOP events. Not surprising -- he took Barry.
I really, really, really like my team -- Mark Seif, Professional Poker Player
Roster -- Daniel Negreanu, Ted Forrest, David Chiu, Chau Giang, Howard Lederer, Huck Seed, Annie Duke and David Benyamine
Surprising pick: David Benyamine. All of us on the call questioned this pick, since none of us know how many events he is going to play. Benyamine usually plays the biggest cash games in the world, but if he plays at the WSOP instead of the side games, this will be a great pick.
The young and/or talented -- Peter "Nordberg" Feldman, Professional Poker Player
Roster -- Phil Hellmuth, Robert Mizrachi, Freddy Deeb, Justin Bonomo, Danny Wong, Shannon Shorr, David Williams and Jordan Rich
Surprising pick: David Williams. Recently, we had a column on ESPN.com about Williams' lack of motivation toward poker these days. If the 2004 runner-up still is burned out, we might not see a lot of him at the WSOP.
Hey Ivey! Play more events! -- Andrew Feldman, ESPN.com
Roster -- Phil Ivey, Paul Wasicka, Chad Brown, Brandon Cantu, Jeffrey Lisandro, Kirk Morrison, Mark Seif and Bill Chen
Surprising pick: Jeff Madsen. Ok, Madsen was dropped before the WSOP started, but that doesn't mean that the switch to Kirk Morrison was a bright decision. Madsen was another questionable pick, as he has cashed only once since the 2007 WSOP. After his sophomore slump, will he be able to rebound? Madsen has all the talent in the world if he can get his game on track, but there are those that believe Madsen might not make a comeback this year.
I want to trade -- Daniel Negreanu, Professional Poker Player
Roster -- John Juanda, Men Nguyen, John Phan, Mark Gregorich, Johnny Chan, Bill Gazes, Ralph Perry and Scott Fischman
Surprising pick: Bill Gazes. OK, we know he's Mr. Consistency, but even though Gazes definitely will cash during the WSOP, he never has won a bracelet, despite coming close numerous times. If anyone is due, it's probably Gazes.
So Wise -- Gary Wise, ESPN.com poker columnist
Roster -- Chris Ferguson, Michael Binger, Humberto Brenes, David Singer, Tom Schneider, Alex Kravchenko, Kenny Tran and Daniel Alaei
Surprising pick: Alex Kravchenko. Kravchenko made all kinds of noise at last year's WSOP, but will he be able to continue his success? The Russian has been playing events all year but has gotten off his game; he has had no cashes since February.
Mr. Nice Guy -- Bill Edler, Professional Poker Player
Roster -- Erick Lindgren, Nam Le, Josh Arieh, John Hennigan, Alex Jacob, John Gale, Lee Markholt and Joe Tehan
Surprising pick: Josh Arieh. Arieh is fresh off a win at the Wynn in March and looks to be primed for a good run. Taking him in the third round was surprising, especially after his one-cash performance in the 2007 WSOP. Arieh has a ton of talent, and he's looking to win his third bracelet this year with a rededication to his game.
Moving up the power rankings -- Bernard Lee, Professional Poker Player, ESPN.com poker columnist
Roster -- Erik Seidel, David Pham, Patrik Antonius, Lee Watkinson, Todd Brunson, Robert Williamson, Eric Lynch and Vivek Rajkumar
Surprising pick: Vivek Rajkumar. An unknown to most of the poker world, Rajkumar had five WSOP cashes in 2007 and recently won a preliminary event at the L.A. Poker Classic in February. With those names above not selected, how will Rajkumar measure up?
I'm Not Your Friend, Buddy -- Steve "Chops" Preiss, co-founder of WickedChopsPoker.com, president of RawVegas.tv
Roster -- Joe Hachem (dropped), JC Tran, Scotty Nguyen, Jonathan Little, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Raymer, Joe Sebok, Darrell Dicken and Brandon Adams
Surprising pick: Joe Hachem. I'm not saying it's surprising that he was taken -- but in the first round? Hachem usually has multiple trips to Vegas during the WSOP, which limits the number of events he plays, but Chops is confident "Salty" will come through for him in 2008. Chops later found out that Hachem will not be in Vegas until June 20, so he has opted to drop him for Brandon Adams.
No costumes this year -- Gavin Smith, Professional Poker Player
Roster -- Bill Edler, Gavin Smith, Max Pescatori, Jordan Morgan, Amnon Filippi, Mike Matusow, Chris Bell and Peter Feldman
Surprising pick: Where do I start? He has two other team owners on his team and apparently needed extra incentive to root for himself. Honestly, the most interesting pick probably was Morgan going as high as he did. Morgan won a circuit event this past September but hasn't cashed since then. Still a solid pick, will Morgan win his first WSOP bracelet in 2008?
So there are the teams. The action begins Friday, and points will start accumulating over the weekend. The scoring system is below. The only difference from last year is that all $10,000 and up events will pay out double the points. Check back every day of the WSOP for scoring updates and to talk trash to your favorite team owner about the drafting mistakes he made.
Here's the scoring breakdown:
1 point for making the money
2 points for the top 50
5 points for top 20
10 points for the final table, then:
1 additional point for ninth
2 additional points for eighth
4 additional points for seventh
6 additional points for sixth
10 additional points for fifth
15 additional points for fourth
20 additional points for third
30 additional points for second
40 additional points for first
Double points will be awarded for all $10,000 events as well as the $50,000 HORSE event.
Poker
