Monday, May 26, 2008

Here is the first update for rankings.

2008 WSOP Fantasy Standings
Team Joel's Pre-event Ranking
Peter 3
Henry 1
Grant 5
Joel 4
Nate 2
Derek 7
Eric 8
Paul 6

Draft Recap

Team Pete
Draft Grade: B+
Pete has a great mix of young talent with quality old school players. Alex Jacob has a great record at the WSOP, and Danny Wong is soon becoming a world-class player. Although we all agree that Phil Hellmuth is by far the best no limit hold 'em player in the world, this scoring format does not benefit him greatly, as he will be playing the larger low-buyin hold 'em tournaments with only top-16 getting points. I can't question that pick too much though

Team Henry
Draft Grade: A-
Henry got the steal of the draft in the 3rd round with Erik Seidel. Negreanu is overdue to win a bracelet, and, if Johnny Chan and Hennegan play a full slate of tournaments, Henry's team could do some tremendous damage. Jennifer Tilly is an awful poker player. Nate would have all of her chips within 5 minutes.

Team Grant
Draft Grade: C+
Grant's team may have gotten an A if not for the Todd Brunson pick. I am contemplating making the 1st place finisher going and cutting off his pony tail. Many would argue that his first round pick was a stretch, with Ivey and Cunningham still available, but Greenstein should do good in the HORSE event and many of the Omaha events. Jordan Morgan was a steal in the 6th round. If Greenstein and Harman can stay away from Bobby's room and play a decent amount of tournaments, he might avoid playing in the Ceasar's daily women's tournament.

Team Joel
Draft Grade: B
Whereas I do really like my first three picks, Shannon Shorr might have been a reach in the 4th round. I had a feeling that Pete was going to take him, so I had to reach out and grab him. If he can avoid going bust with the 7-3 of hearts, I think he will be fine. Tom Dwan is an excellent online player who has had pretty decent success playing live. I am banking on perhaps one cash from Cindy Violette, probably in a stud tournament.

Team Nate
Draft Grade: A-
I am quite envious of Nate's 3 young-guns in Nam Le, Jeff Madsen, and Paul Wasicka. They are excellent NLHE tournament players and I would expect an average of 1 1/2 bracelets from the 3 of them in any given WSOP. I am sure that Nate was excited to snag Phil Ivey at the 5. If he can stay motivated and off the golf course every day, Phil should do very very well. JJ Lu is just weird. I think maybe we should have not made a mandatory woman rule. Noted for next year.

Team Derek
Draft Grade: F
This is almost as bad as Bubs. Gavin Smith is a drunk who will consistently play drunk Chinese Poker until about 8am and struggle out of bed by about 1:30 to try and play events. Let me point out who went in the same round after Smith: Nam Le, J.C. Tran, Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, and Alex Jacob. Might want to reconsider that pick, Derek. Humberto Brenes will get bluffed out of a $300k pot to Scotty Nguyen again, and we will all laugh in Derek's face. Derek saved himself a bit by picking a hot asian with his last pick.

Team Bubs
Draft Grade: A+
Solid picks with no flaws. I expect Shawn Sheikhan to win about 5 bracelets, and for Hachem to return to the Final Table of the Main Event only to get busted by Derek Severson along the way. I see zero flaws in the players taken by Bubs. Annie Duke is an excellent player, and (cliche coming) she isn't just one of the best female players in the world - she is one of the best players in the world. I expect Bubs to take this one down. No one else's team even compares player for player.

Team Paul
Draft Grade: C
Paul almost gets a beer can for not being able to participate in the draft due to his fiance being in town, but this was negated by the fact that he had the balls to take SCOTTY NGUYEN in the first round. I would really enjoy watching a drinking contest between Scotty Nguyen and Gavin Smith immediately followed by them playing in the final table of the main event playing for $8 million. Paul's picks would be incredible if this was the 1985 WSOP. Heck, maybe we can just take the results from that year and just simply transfer them over. Paul, you might want to consider dropping T.J. Cloutier and picking up . . . TED FORREST!!! (I think Nate would approve of that move).

I am going to be thinking of some more prizes, and if anyone has any other ideas - preferably related to Las Vegas, NV on September 5-8 - please let me know. Also, everyone will be able to make up to two roster moves by Thursday at midnight. Just post a blog on this website describing who you want to drop/add.

It is Finished!

Here are the results for the 2008 WSOP Fantasy Draft. To submit grievances or changes concerning nicknames please contact Joel Graves.

Team Peter "If I get off to a bad start in this, I will give it a 'i dont care' hand wave and say 'screw this'" Graves
Phil Hellmuth
Alex Jacob
Danny Wong
Andy Bloch
Kirk Morrison
Clonie Gowan
Team Henry "auto-bet/heater-check/PWN" VanderPol
Daniel Negreanu
Erick Lindgren
Erik Seidel
John Hennigan
Johnny Chan
Jennifer Tilly
Team Grant "me the Q-10/excellent bankroll management" Landram
Barry Greenstein
Gus Hansen
Lee Watkinson
Todd Brunson
Jennifer Harman-Tranniello
Jordan Morgan
Team Joel "Joel/Joel-little punish-the impregnator" Graves
Allen Cuningham
J.C. Tran
Michael Mizrachi
Shannon Shorr
Tom "Durrr" Dwan
Cyndi Violette
Team Nate "The-Banker/ I love Ted Forrest" Janda
Phil Ivey
Nam Le
Paul Wasicka
Chad Brown
Jeff Madsen
JJ Lu
Team Derek "I owe Pete an all-expense paid trip to Mariners game from last year" Severson
John Juanda
Gavin Smith
Humberto Brenes
Michael Binger
Jonathan little
Evelyn Ng
Team Eric "NLTHE AIPF TWIAA" VanderPol
Mike Matusow
Men Ngyuen
Annie Duke
Shawn Sheikhan
Joe Hachem
Derek Severson
Team Paul "Don't ask him anything political or economical/too small of a sample size " Graves
Scotty Nguyen
Chris Ferguson
T.J. Cloutier
David Chiu
Dewey Tomko
Anna Wroblewksi

Round 6

33. Paul - Anna Wroblewski

34. Bubs -Derek Severson

35. Derek - Evelyn Ng

36. Nate - J.J. Lu

37. Joel - Cyndi Violette

38. Grant - Jordan Morgan

39. Henry - Jennifer Tilly

40. Pete - Clonie Gowen

Round 5

25. Pete - Kirk Morrison

26. Henry - Johnny Chan

27. Grant - Jennifer Harmon

28. Joel - Tom "durrr" Dwan

29. Nate - Jeff Madsen

30. Derek - Jonathan Little

31. Bubs - Joe Hachem

32. Paul - Dewey Tomko

Round 4

25. Paul - David Chiu

26. Bubs - Shawn Sheikhan

27. Derek - Michael Binger

28. Nate - Chad Brown

29. Joel - Shannon Shorr

30. Grant - Todd Brunson

31. Henry - John Hennigan

32. Pete - Andy Bloch

Round 3

17. Pete - Danny Wong

18. Henry - Erik Seidel

19. Grant - Lee Watkinson

20. Joel - Michael Mizrachi

21. Nate - Paul Wasicka

22. Derek - Humberto Brenes

23. Bubs - Annie Duke (first female taken)

24. Paul - T.J. Cloutier

Round 2

9. Paul - Chris Ferguson

10. Bubs - Men Nguyen

11. Derek - Gavin Smith

12. Nate - Nam Le

13. Joel - J.C. Tran

14. Grant - Gus Hansen

15. Henry - Erick Lindgren

16. Pete - Alex Jacob

Moving on to round 3 . . .

1st Round

Let the first round begin . . .

1. Pete - Phil Hellmuth (obv.)

2. Henry - Daniel Negreanu

3. Grant - Barry Greenstein

4. Joel - Allen Cunningham

5. Nate - Phil Ivey

6. Derek - John Juanda

7. Bubs - Mike Matusow

8. Paul - Scotty Nguyen

That does it for the first round . . . 2nd round upcoming

Prizes

Here are the prize breakdowns:

7th and 8th place will have to play in a women's tournament while in Vegas September 5-8th.

Most top-16 finishers - $10 from every person

8th pays 1st an all-expense paid trip to a mariners game

7th pays 2nd a night of drinks

6th pays 3rd $30 in casino chips in Vegas

5th and 4th must play at least a 5-hour session in a casino where all of their winnings go towards the Vegas fund.

These were just what I came up with off the top of my head. More will be coming based on input from everyone before the WSOP starts on Friday. Good luck to everyone, and I will be posting picks starting at 6.