Well, that was super fun.
The first-ever Global Poker League draft was held last night in Los Angeles and, thanks to the technological wonder that is Twitch.tv, poker fans got to experience it almost first-hand via the live stream.
With running commentary from Joe Stapleton, Eric Danis, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth and seamless hosting from Kara Scott, the first poker draft in history went off with few hitches.
Without really knowing just what kind of skills a great GPL team might require it was hard to predict just which players Team Managers might see as the best choices to fill out their rosters.
First-Ever Global Poker League Draft Surprises
With geography, gaming ability, Hold'em skill, personality, flexibility, friendship and enthusiasm all legitimate and subjective variables to consider the players that came off the board were a surprising mix.
Holz at #9 a bargain.
As Hellmuth and Negreanu hilariously showed in their respective draft boards, one Manager's first-round lock might be another's easy pass, so to qualify picks as "steals" or "snubs" is subjective as well.
Still there were plenty of fantastic players not picked, virtual unknowns drafted and plenty of fodder for debate.
With each team still holding two "wildcard" picks to come some of the players mentioned below might still join the first season of the Global Poker League. But for now, here are a few noticeables.
Steals
Fedor Holz -- 9th, LA Sunsets Seeing Holz drop all the way to ninth was somewhat surprising but the beneficiary was LA Sunsets Manager Maria Ho, who excitedly snapped him up.
One of the most talented and successful players to come into the game over the past couple of years Holz is a superstar in the making.
Vanessa Selbst - 18th, London Royals Easily a first-round talent Selbst dropped all the way to the middle of the second round. Maybe not the right fit for the Managers who passed the end result is Selbst joining Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov, Chris Moorman and Justin Bonomo on one powerhouse of a team.
Anthony Gregg - 21st, San Francisco Rush The End Boss could legitimately stake a claim to the honor of best player in the world. Faraz Jaka is doing backflips right now.
Chris Moorman - 31st, London Royals Another late gem for Boeree as the most successful online tournament player in history falls in her lap.
Other great-value picks: Dzmitry Urbanovich, 8th Moscow Wolverines; Olivier Busquet, 16th LA Sunsets; Tom Marchese, 22nd New York Rounders, Martin Jacobson, 23rd, Montreal Nationals; Timothy Adams, 25th Rome Emperors
Gruissem goes off-script.
Surprises
Phil Gruissem and the Berlin Bears - Most people expected a more German-centric team given the wealth of talent in-country but Gruissem went off script with three North Americans - Brian Rast, Jeff Gross and Sorel Mizzi.
All super talented players but with little connection, it would seem, to Berlin. Dominik Nitsche, a German living in Edinburgh, does add a bit of local flavor though.
Celina Lin and the Hong Kong Stars - Lin obviously felt a strong local team was the best strategy but not picking even one highly ranked international superstar that was available was semi-surprising.
All of her picks likely could have been grabbed as wildcards as well, meaning she had some room to play with. No semi-local star like David Yan or Jonathan Karamalikis, either. It'll be interesting to see how the HK team stacks up when play begins.
Kitty is in.
Kitty Kuo to San Francisco; Jonathan Duhamel to Las Vegas; Darren Elias to Sao Paulo; Timex and Xuan Liu to Montreal - Lots of geographical mismatches came into play but these might be the most notable.
With just one Quebecer, two players from Ontario and one Swede the Montreal Nationals were less Francophone than expected. Andre Akkari went away from Brazil for his first two picks in Elias and Byron Kaverman.
And Kitty Kuo joining San Fran is an odd match on the surface but a delight she'll be involved.
Snubs
As we mentioned above the idea of a "snub" is fairly subjective. And of course there are still 24 players to be added as wildcard picks so plenty of undrafted players might still make the cut.
But no Shannon Shorr? No Mohsin Charania? No Christian Harder, Mike Gorodinsky or #1 Stander Justin Oliver?
For the record these are the 10 highest-ranked players not to be selected yet:
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Benjamin Pollak (FRA) | 25 | $2,615,000 |
| Sam Greenwood (CAN) | 33 | $2,800,000 |
| Igor Yaroshevskyy (UKR) | 34 | $1,695,000 |
| Niall Farrell (SCO) | 41 | $1,940,000 |
| Scott Clements (USA) | 44 | $6,975,000 |
| Ankush Mandavia (USA) | 45 | $2,315,000 |
| Jared Jaffee (USA) | 49 | $2,730,000 |
| Ismael Bojang (AUT) | 51 | $1,870,000 |
| Hans Winzeler (USA) | 53 | $2,010,000 |
| David Yan (NZL) | 57 | $1,580,000 |
Who's the Early Favorite?
Based on an unscientific assessment of Twitter responses the London Royals, LA Sunsets and San Francisco Rush seem to be early favorites among poker diehards.
Based on collective GPI ranks, though, the New York Rounders are by far the most highly rated with an average rank of #15. The Las Vegas Moneymakers, Hong Kong Stars and Sao Paulo Metropolitans are the early underdogs.
Here are the 12 teams with the average GPI rank of the five players per team so far (including Managers) and the sum of their career live earnings.
- Rome Emperors (162): $16,291,715
- Montreal Nationals (456): $33,927,265
- New York Rounders (15): $45,227,670
- San Francisco Rush (359): $20,969,816
- Las Vegas Moneymakers (1022): $36,909,402
- Sao Paulo Metropolitans (551): $14,022,147
- London Royals (303): $38,742,913
- Moscow Wolverines (242): $13,649,398
- Los Angeles Sunset (305): $28,025,439
- Berlin Bears (152): $44,808,217
- Paris Aviators (132): $30,800,318
- Hong Kong Stars (556): $3,110,185
Breakdown Per Team
Rome Emperors (162): $16,291,715
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Max Pescatori (ITA) | 134 | $4,176,786 |
| Mustapha Kanit (ITA) | 31 | $5,497,875 |
| Dario Sammartino (ITA) | 39 | $3,251,024 |
| Timothy Adams (CAN) | 355 | $2,546,978 |
| Walter Treccarichi (ITA) | 249 | $819,052 |
Montreal Nationals (456): $33,927,265
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Marc-Andre Ladouceur (CAN) | 627 | $1,704,748 |
| Mike McDonald (CAN) | 18 | $12,949,811 |
| Martin Jacobson (SWE) | 273 | $15,045,724 |
| Pascal Lefrancois (CAN) | 1005 | $2,577,792 |
| Xuan Liu (CAN) | 359 | $1,649,190 |
New York Rounders (15): $45,227,670
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Bryn Kenney (USA) | 6 | $8,743,544 |
| Jason Mercier (USA) | 3 | $16,356,296 |
| Thomas Marchese (USA) | 24 | $12,404,012 |
| Kevin MacPhee (USA) | 5 | $5,424,937 |
| Jason Wheeler (USA) | 36 | $2,298,881 |
San Francisco Rush (359): $20,969,816
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Faraz Jaka (USA) | 64 | $5,066,962 |
| Phil Galfond (USA) | 594 | $2,339,619 |
| Anthony Gregg (USA) | 522 | $10,476,457 |
| Kitty Kuo (TAI) | 308 | $1,091,426 |
| Anton Wigg (SWE) | 306 | $1,995,352 |
Las Vegas Moneymakers (1022): $36,909,402
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Chris Moneymaker (USA) | 4616 | $3,588,654 |
| Anthony Zinno (USA) | 3 | $5,337,383 |
| Jonathan Duhamel (CAN) | 21 | $17,592,802 |
| Jake Cody (ENG) | 363 | $4,132,822 |
| Jonathan Little (USA) | 106 | $6,257,741 |
Sao Paulo Metropolitans (551): $14,022,147
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Andre Akkari (BRA) | 1851 | $1,466,727 |
| Darren Elias (USA) | 35 | $3,505,319 |
| Byron Kaverman (USA) | 1 | $6,757,855 |
| Thiago Nishijima (BRA) | 374 | $1,784,213 |
| Joao Pires Simao (BRA) | 493 | $508,033 |
London Royals (303): $38,742,913
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Liv Boeree (UK) | 177 | $2,997,943 |
| Igor Kurganov (RUS) | 137 | $10,218,893 |
| Vanessa Selbst (USA) | 321 | $11,728,256 |
| Chris Moorman (ENG) | 793 | $4,107,768 |
| Justin Bonomo (USA) | 88 | $9,690,053 |
Moscow Wolverines (242): $13,649,398
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Anatoly Filatov (RUS) | 424 | $1,298,838 |
| Dzmitry Urbanovich (POL) | 16 | $4,190,393 |
| Vladimir Troyanovskiy (RUS) | 42 | $4,199,228 |
| Andrey Pateychuk (RUS) | 116 | $2,873,717 |
| Sergey Lebedev (RUS) | 612 | $1,087,222 |
Los Angeles Sunset (305): $28,025,439
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Maria Ho (USA) | 852 | $1,708,584 |
| Fedor Holz (GER) | 9 | $7,549,491 |
| Olivier Busquet (USA) | 117 | $6,857,079 |
| Eugene Katchalov (UKR) | 317 | $8,669,109 |
| Chance Kornuth (USA) | 228 | $3,241,176 |
Berlin Bears (152): $44,808,217
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Phillip Gruissem (GER) | 406 | $9,731,202 |
| Brian Rast (USA) | 38 | $16,313,290 |
| Sorel Mizzi (CAN) | 110 | $11,148,823 |
| Dominik Nitsche (GER) | 13 | $5,164,231 |
| Jeffrey Gross (USA) | 193 | $2,450,671 |
Paris Aviators (132): $30,800,318
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Fabrice Soulier (FRA) | 206 | $5,829,817 |
| Bertrand Grospellier (FRA) | 192 | $10,922,427 |
| Davidi Kitai (BEL) | 10 | $6,757,706 |
| George Danzer (GER) | 205 | $2,249,980 |
| Mike Leah (CAN) | 48 | $5,040,388 |
Hong Kong Stars (556): $3,110,185
| Player | GPI Rank | Career Winnings |
| Celina Lin (CHN) | 880 | $581,359 |
| Weiyi Zhang (CHN) | 823 | $253,446 |
| Raiden Kan (HKG) | 220 | $866,303 |
| Dong Guo (CHN) | 372 | $554,374 |
| Bryan Huang (SIN) | 486 | $854,703 |
