The Global Poker League Draft is in the books and what a night it was with Antonio Esfandiari dropping out at the last minute, Chris Moneymaker gazumping Marc-Andre Ladouceur and more.
If that’s what ‘sportifying‘ poker looks like, then I am hungry for more. The Global Poker League (GPL) Draft is in the books. The Team Managers now have a fortnight to fill in the missing pieces. Here is a full rundown of events.
A panel of Joe Stapleton, Eric Danis, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth orchestrated the event. The lineup was pure genius. Danis played the part of the stat geek to perfection, and Stapleton did an excellent job with the conductors baton.
I initially wanted to see both Negreanu and Hellmuth in the draft, but I’m glad they weren’t. Not only did they bring credibility to the table, but the wisecracks and ‘professional’ disagreements were hysterical.
Screw the draft. It was better than watching Delirious, Raw and any other stand up you could mention. It was comedy at its finest. None of the panel could pronounce any of the names (and I am 
talking about the Americans); Negreanu wanted to burst out laughing anytime Hellmuth began talking about strategy, and Hellmuth was utterly confused that Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, and Erik Seidel weren’t in the draft.
Hellmuth called Justin Bonomo, Justin Boner, Negreanu kept calling Mohsin Charania, Mohsin Chickpeas, it was pure gold.
Hellmuth: “The number one pick is vital because that’s where the white magic is.”
Negreanu: “What does that even mean?”
The evening started with a bombshell as Antonio Esfandiari withdrew at the eleventh hour due to family commitments. Shawn Buchanan also removed himself from contention a few days ago.
Each team manager had three minutes to make their selection, and this was my only gripe of the evening. During the first round the players waited until the three minutes expired, and then the production team ran a VT featuring the respective team manager. It slowed things down. Fortunately, Hellmuth and his white magic kept the audience occupied, but I would like to see that changed for future drafts.
Round 1
| Team Manager | Team | Pick |
| Max Pescatori | Rome | Mustapha Kanit |
| Marc-Andre Ladouceur | Montreal | Mike McDonald |
| Bryn Kenney | New York | Jason Mercier |
| Faraz Jaka | San Fran | Phil Galfond |
| Chris Moneymaker | Las Vegas | Anthony Zinno |
| Andre Akkari | Sao Paulo | Darren Elias |
| Liv Boeree | London | Igor Kurganov |
| Anatoly Filatov | Russia | Dzmitry Urbanovich |
| Maria Ho | LA | Fedor Holz |
| Philipp Gruissem | Berlin | Brian Rast |
| Fabrice Soulier | Paris | Bertrand Grospellier |
| Celina Lin | Hong Kong | Weiyi Zhang |
It was apparent that Celina Lin was going to select home grown talent. I even saw a tweet where she later said she was interested in growing poker in her region.
The only surprise was the selection of Darren Elias as the number one choice for Andre Akkari. Elias is a quality player, but I believe Akkari could have picked him up later in the draft. Negreanu also noted this and called it a ‘rookie draft mistake’. Eric Danis revealed that the players were allowed to indicate what teams they would prefer to play for when they submitted their application and that Elias had selected Sao Paulo as one of his picks.
Negreanu thought that Phil Galfond was a surprise pick because he doesn’t play too many No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) tournaments. I disagree. I believe he will be perfect for the short-handed and heads-up format, and was one of the best picks of the evening.
It was nice to see Jason Mercier and Fedor Holz take the stage to comment on their inclusion. Holz was nearly in tears. It meant so much to both of them. Negreanu called Ho’s selection of Fedor Holz ‘the steal of the draft’ and referred to Holz as ‘the best player in the draft.’
Round 2
| Team Manager | Team | Pick |
| Celina Lin | Hong Kong | Raiden Kan |
| Fabrice Soulier | Paris | Davidi Kitai |
| Philipp Gruissem | Berlin | Sorel Mizzi |
| Maria Ho | LA | Olivier Busquet |
| Anatoly Filatov | Moscow | Vladimir Troyanovskiy |
| Liv Boeree | London | Vanessa Selbst |
| Andre Akkari | Sao Paolo | Byron Kaverman |
| Chris Moneymaker | Las Vegas | Jonathan Duhamel |
| Faraz Jaka | San Fran | Anthony Gregg |
| Bryn Kenney | New York | Tom Marchese |
| Marc-Andre Ladouceur | Montreal | Martin Jacobson |
| Max Pescatori | Rome | Dario Sammartino |
There were some eyebrows raised by the panel when Philipp Gruissem selected Sorel Mizzi. Danis confirmed that Mizzi only applied because Gruissem said he wanted him on his team – that’s how highly he rates his game.
Negreanu wasn’t a fan of Akkari’s decision to choose Byron Kaverman.
“I wouldn’t put him in my top 5,000.” Said Negreanu when they started talking about the time it takes for Kaverman to make a decision.
It will be interesting to see how the GPI 2015 Player of the Year reacts to the speeded up version of the GPL.
Pescatori, Lin, and Filatov continued to stick with their hometown choices. Boeree managed to bag Vanessa Selbst. Chris Moneymaker stole Jonathan Duhamel from under the nose of Marc-Andre Ladouceur. Danis later revealed that the two team managers were already considering transferring Duhamel to Montreal in Season 2. That said. Choosing Martin Jacobson instead is hardly a second best option.
“Of all the managers he is the one where there is no telling what is going on in his head.” Said Ladouceur of Moneymaker after the steal.
Round 3
| Team Manager | Team | Pick |
| Max Pescatori | Rome | Timothy Adams |
| Marc-Andre Ladouceur | Montreal | Pascal Lefrancois |
| Bryn Kenney | New York | Kevin MacPhee |
| Faraz Jaka | San Fran | Kitty Kuo |
| Chris Moneymaker | Las Vegas | Jake Cody |
| Andre Akkari | Sao Paulo | Thiago Nishijima |
| Liv Boeree | London | Chris Moorman |
| Anatoly Filatov | Russia | Andrey Pateychuk |
| Maria Ho | LA | Eugene Katchalov |
| Philipp Gruissem | Berlin | Dominik Nitsche |
| Fabrice Soulier | Paris | George Danzer |
| Celina Lin | Hong Kong | Dong Guo |
The third round started off with a shock after Max Pescatori went rogue and chose a non-Italian – Timothy Adams joining the Rome Emperors much to the surprise of the room.
Ladouceur also sprung a surprise when he chose Pascal Lefrancois, but when Jonathan Duhamel calls him the best NLHE tournament player he has ever seen, then maybe it’s not such a surprise after all.
It was at this time that the London Royals started to look healthy. Chris Moorman joining a team that included Selbst and Kurganov. Kitty Kuo was a surprise pick for the San Francisco Rush. I had her pegged to join LIn in the Hong Kong team.
Round 4
| Team Manager | Team | Pick |
| Celina Lin | Hong Kong | Bryan Huang |
| Fabrice Soulier | Paris | Mike Leah |
| Philipp Gruissem | Berlin | Jeff Gross |
| Maria Ho | LA | Chance Kornuth |
| Anatoly Filatov | Moscow | Sergey Lebedev |
| Liv Boeree | London | Justin Bonomo |
| Andre Akkari | Sao Paolo | Joao Pires Simao |
| Chris Moneymaker | Las Vegas | Jonathan Little |
| Faraz Jaka | San Fran | Anton Wigg |
| Bryn Kenney | New York | Jason Wheeler |
| Marc-Andre Ladouceur | Montreal | Xuan Liu |
| Max Pescatori | Rome | Walter Treccarichi |
Daniel Negreanu called Moneymaker’s decision to select Jonathan Little ‘The steal of the round.”
Faraz Jaka and his team couldn’t decide between Jason Les and Anton Wigg. A coin toss resulted in Wigg joining the team. Perhaps, Jaka could pick Les as a wildcard entry? If so, then why mention his name? Danis confirmed that the 800 players who chose not to participate in the draft were not eligible to join as wildcards.
The biggest surprise of the round was Fabrice Soulier’s decision not to pick Benjamin Pollak. However, his decision to add the strength of Mike Leah to the team was probably taken as Soulier knows he can take Pollak as a wildcard.
Summary
It was an incredible night. Sat here watching Twitter buzzing, with poker players of all genders, age and ability getting interested in it was extremely refreshing.
I thought the panel made the show. Negreanu and Hellmuth were hilarious. I would hire Hellmuth for anything related to poker. His gems are so priceless because he doesn’t even know they are gems.
Once again my only gripe, and it’s a small one, is the speed. It was a little Byron Kaverman for my liking.
Regarding team strength, I think the London Royals and Montreal Nationals look incredibly strong.
And there’s more.
The team managers now have a fortnight to select two wild card entries.
The Teams
Rome Emperors
Team Manager: Max Pescatori
1. Mustapha Kanit
2. Dario Sammartino
3. Timothy Adams
4. Walter Treccarichi
Montreal Nationals
Team Manager: Marc-Andre Ladouceur
1. Mike McDonald
2. Martin Jacobson
3. Pascal Lefrancois
4. Xuan Liu
New York Rounders
Team Manager: Bryn Kenney
1. Jason Mercier
2. Tom Marchese
3. Kevin MacPhee
4. Jason Wheeler
San Francisco Rush
Team Manager: Faraz Jaka
1. Phil Galfond
2. Anthony Gregg
3. Kitty Kuo
4. Anton Wigg
Las Vegas Moneymakers
Team Manager: Chris Moneymaker
1. Anthony Zinno
2. Jonathan Duhamel
3. Jake Cody
4. Jonathan Little
Sao Paolo Metropolitans
Team Manager: Andre Akkari
1. Darren Elias
2. Byron Kaverman
3. Thiago Nishijima
4. Joao Pires Simao
London Royals
Team Manager: Liv Boeree
1. Igor Kurganov
2. Vanessa Selbst
3. Chris Moorman
4. Justin Bonomo
Moscow Wolverines
Team Manager: Anatoly Filatov
1. Dzmitry Urbanovich
2. Vladimir Troyanovskiy
3. Andrey Pateychuk
4. Sergey Lebedev
L.A Sunset
Team Manager: Maria Ho
1. Fedor Holz
2. Olivier Busquet
3. Eugene Katchalov
4. Chance Kornuth
Berlin Bears
Team Manager: Philipp Gruissem
1. Brian Rast
2. Sorel Mizzi
3. Dominik Nitsche
4. Jeff Gross
Paris Aviators
Team Manager: Fabrice Soulier
1. Bertrand Grospellier
2. Davidi Kitai
3. George Danzer
4. Mike Leah
Hong Kong Stars
Team Manager: Celina Lin
1. Weiyi Zhang
2. Raiden Kan
3. Dong Guo
4. Bryan Huang
