button in SafariDaniel Negreanu Wins 25K Fantasy League for First Time Ever! How Much Did He Win?
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The 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is in the books. Well, at least until the Main Event final table plays out August 3-5, but with no fantasy players remaining in that one, the 15th annual 25K Fantasy league is in the books. This year, the league attracted a record-tying 24 teams and awarded a $600,000 prize pool to the top five finishers.
Coming out on top for the first time in league history was the commissioner himself, Daniel Negreanu. His Team DNegs amassed 1,337 points, well ahead of runner-up Team Banana’s 1,069 points. While he officially won the $250,000 top prize, it was well-known he had an even larger, albeit unknown, amount wagered in side bets.
| Place | Team / Owner | Points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team DNegs / Daniel Negreanu | 1,337 | $250,000 |
| 2 | Team Banana / David Baker | 1,069 | $125,000 |
| 3 | Team Spitework / Wantman | 1,066 | $100,000 |
| 4 | Team Glue Factory / Sepiol | 1,013 | $75,000 |
| 5 | Team Lang Gang / Mike + Josh | 1,000 | $50,000 |
Negreanu’s team was led by Josh Arieh, who was the sixth-highest point earner of the year with 356 points. Negreanu himself earned 294 points, followed by Nick Pupillo (210 points), Bryn Kenney (103 points), Dong Chen (150 points), Jason Koon (73 points), and Eli Elezra (61 points). The win was made all the more special given that Ben Lamb, their final member, skipped out on this year’s WSOP and earned zero points.
PokerNews recently caught up with both Negreanu and Arieh to discuss the win.
2026 25K Fantasy Final Standings
| Rank | Team | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team DNegs / Daniel Negreanu | 1,337 |
| 2 | Team Banana / David Baker | 1,069 |
| 3 | Team Spitework / Wantman | 1,066 |
| 4 | Team Glue Factory / Sepiol | 1,013 |
| 5 | Team Lang Gang / Mike + Josh | 1,000 |
| 6 | Team Browndog / Andrew Brown | 968 |
| 7 | Team Verderamo / Nick + Jake | 935 |
| 8 | Team Chocolate Factory / Frederic | 918 |
| 9 | Team Lady Gaga / Ren Lin | 904 |
| 10 | Team Blez/NGNF / Hanks | 897 |
| 11 | Team Very Handsome Horses / Phil S | 895 |
| 12 | Team Glaser / Benny G/Brewer | 894 |
| 13 | Team Fleyshman / Fleyshman | 874 |
| 14 | Team Back Office / Becker | 871 |
| 15 | Team Gators / Moncek | 843 |
| 16 | Team Torching with TJ / TJ Reid | 809 |
| 17 | Team Trump Power / Gary Benson | 803 |
| 18 | Team Blades & Shades / Nick G | 664 |
| 19 | Team Lucky / Deeb | 648 |
| 20 | Team Stake Kings / Ryan Stiner | 621 |
| 21 | Team Premiums Only / Fawcett | 618 |
| 22 | Team Dinkers / Josh K | 601 |
| 23 | Team Noori / Noori | 330 |
| 24 | Team Wasserson / EWass | 288 |
Top Performing Players in the 2026 25K Fantasy
No one did better, nor offered better value, in this year’s 25K Fantasy than Japan’s Naoya Kihara, who claimed two bracelets and made several other final tables. Kihara amassed an unprecedented 510 points, becoming the first-ever player to cross the 500-point milestone. Given that he was drafted by David “ODB” Baker’s Team Banana for only $1, he proved to be the ultimate value pick.
| Rank | Player | Team | Score | Salary | Cashes | Pts/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naoya Kihara | Team Banana | 510 | 1.00 | 18 | 510 |
| 2 | Alex Foxen | Team Lady Gaga | 441 | 79.00 | 14 | 5.58 |
| 3 | Sean Winter | Team Glaser | 404 | 13.00 | 9 | 31.08 |
| 4 | Calvin Anderson | Team Glue Factory | 385 | 25.00 | 8 | 15.4 |
| 5 | Nick Schulman | Team Verderamo | 366 | 89.00 | 9 | 4.11 |
| 6 | Josh Arieh | Team DNegs | 356 | 55.00 | 15 | 6.47 |
| 7 | Martin Zamani | Team Gators | 337 | 3.00 | 11 | 112.33 |
| 8 | Shaun Deeb | Team Trump Power | 331 | 133.00 | 6 | 2.49 |
| 9 | Chris Brewer | Team Blez/NGNF | 316 | 61.00 | 12 | 5.18 |
| 10 | Justin Liberto | Team Blez/NGNF | 312 | 70.00 | 12 | 4.46 |
The Zero Points Club
Of the 192 players drafted, just six of them failed to notch even a single point. However, of those, Team Browndog's Scott Bohlman was the most costly, as he cost $35 in the draft!
| Player | Team | Points | Draft Cost | Cashes | Pts/$ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Bohlman | Team Browndog | 0 | 35.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaac Haxton | Team Wasserson | 0 | 19.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Lamb | Team DNegs | 0 | 14.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Jared Bleznick | Team Blez/NGNF | 0 | 12.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Huck Seed | Team Wasserson | 0 | 7.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ben Tollerene | Team Back Office | 0 | 1.00 | 0 | 0 |
25K Fantasy Players Who Won Bracelets at the 2026 WSOP
All told, 33 of the 100 gold bracelet events were won by players drafted either in the 25K Fantasy or as an ODB Bonus Player. What's more, ODB Bonus Player Greg "FBT" Mueller is still at the final table of the 2026 WSOP Main Event.
Here's a look at all those who won gold bracelets during the 2026 WSOP.
| Event | Team | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Event #4: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better 7-Handed | Back Office | Jason Daly | 83 |
| Event #14: $1,500 Mixed PLO Hi-Lo 8 / Omaha Hi Lo 8 / Big O | Blez/NGNF | Justin Liberto | 87 |
| Event #17: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship | Banana | Naoya Kihara | 126 |
| Event #19: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed | Glaser | Kristen Foxen | 128 |
| Event #20: $1,500 Dealers Choice 7-Handed | Trump Power | Jeff Madsen | 81 |
| Event #21: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better | Chocolate Factory | Frederic Normand | 85 |
| Event #23: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship | Banana | Naoya Kihara | 126 |
| Event #24: $25,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed | Back Office | Artur Martirosian | 127 |
| Event #27: $10,000 Dealers Choice Championship | Very Handsome Horses | Bryce Yockey | 126 |
| Event #28: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em / Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack | 2026 ODB Bonus Players | Kenneth Gregory | 83 |
| Event #31: $1,500 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em | 2026 ODB Bonus Players | Michael Holtz | 96 |
| Event #36: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em | Lady Gaga | Yuri Dzivielevski | 126 |
| Event #37: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. | Verderamo | Nick Schulman | 82 |
| Event #38: $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship 7-Handed | DNegs | Dong Chen | 126 |
| Event #41: $250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold'em | Blez/NGNF | Adrian Mateos | 125 |
| Event #44: $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em 8-Handed | Lady Gaga | Alex Foxen | 129 |
| Event #48: $10,000 Razz Championship | Glue Factory | Calvin Anderson | 126 |
| Event #49: $2,500 Freezeout No-Limit Hold'em | Banana | Marco Johnson | 90 |
| Event #52: $3,000 Nine Game Mixed | Browndog | Joey Couden | 79 |
| Event #54: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship | Glue Factory | Calvin Anderson | 126 |
| Event #55: $50,000 HIGH ROLLER Pot-Limit Omaha | Very Handsome Horses | Joao Simao Peres | 126 |
| Event #60: $50,000 Poker Players Championship | Chocolate Factory | Benny Glaser | 176 |
| Event #62: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em | Torching with TJ | Josh Reichard | 92 |
| Event #70: $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship 8-Handed | Fleyshman | Michael Mizrachi | 133 |
| Event #71: $2,500 Mixed Big Bet Event 7-Handed | Spitework | Dylan Smith | 78 |
| Event #74: $1,500 8-Game Mixed | Trump Power | Shaun Deeb | 82 |
| Event #75: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship | 2026 ODB Bonus Players | Matt Grapenthien | 126 |
| Event #76: $100,000 HIGH ROLLER Pot-Limit Omaha | DNegs | Daniel Negreanu | 125 |
| Event #77: $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw Lowball(Limit) | Glaser | Patrick Stacey | 80 |
| Event #83: $1,500 PLO Double Board Bomb Pot (High Only) | Premiums Only | Justin Fawcett | 91 |
| Event #84: $5,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold'em | 2026 ODB Bonus Players | Myles Mullaly | 112 |
| Event #94: $10,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Championship | Spitework | David Peters | 130 |
| Event #99: $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em | 2026 ODB Bonus Players | Darren Rabinowitz | 108 |
