Why this will be the last year Phil Ivey makes my WSOP Fantasy Team
In the Community Weekly Round-Up, Barry Carter previews next week at PokerStrategy.com and looks forward to WSOP fantasy betting.
One of the most enjoyable things about the WSOP for me is the various Fantasy WSOP Pools you can join. This is where you select a dream team of poker stars to score points for you in the WSOP. I have several of these riding every year.
This week ended with a frantic mad dash to change my teams before the cutoff, because I learned that ElkY would be missing the majority of the series because of passport issues. ElkY is one of those players who is normally an absolute must in poker fantasy pools.
I have several ongoing bets each with different team selection criteria, but this year all my teams involve Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Stephen Chidwick. They all fit that same criteria that ElkY normally would.
They are all No Limit tournament experts, but they are also all proficient in non-hold'em games. Most importantly of all, they are all going to play in a hell of a lot of bracelet events, from the smallest to the biggest buy-ins. In fantasy pools, I think the players who feasibly will register for every event are the best bets, not the guys who go to Vegas for the cash games or who only specialise in one format.
This, however, will be the last year I pick Phil Ivey for my team, because as I understand it, this is his final year of bracelet bets, so it will be the last time we probably see him playing the 1ks. It's a shame for poker, but given everyone picks Phil for their fantasy team anyway, it probably will make WSOP fantasy pools a lot more competitive.
Who have you picked for your fantasy teams this year? Should you always go for mixed game experts in these things? Let me know your thoughts in the comments box.
Thread of the week
With World Cup fever about to take over, this would be a good time to let you know we have started a dedicated sports forum.
Obviously the World Cup is one of the first discussion topics. It will be a place to rail your favourite teams, discuss different sports, chat about betting on sports and more.
But obviously the main purpose of this, and any sports forum, is an opportunity for us all to act childish and make fun of each other's teams when they lose.
LOL of the week
I have a feeling this could be the first of many, 'Pokerman' from SrslySirius:
Running hot
The last week at PokerStrategy included:
• Win a copy of Will Tipton's new book on heads-up poker.
• Make your predictions for the WSOP and win $50 and a status upgrade.
• Introducing a new coach in our Poker School - Hunter 'HWilly1' Cichy.
• Five of the most insane sporting proposition bets in poker history.
• What is more important, the money or the bracelet, at the WSOP?
• We welcome a new blogger, William Powell, who is documenting his first ever WSOP.
Coming up
Next week you can expect:
• The World Series of Poker starts on Tuesday and obviously we will be bringing you all the gossip from the series.
• Live coaching from 
Kyberri, Oblioo and the return of the mindset seminar.
• New videos from Skodljivec, Uri Peleg and Collin Moshman.
 Barry Carter is the editor of PokerStrategy.com and the co-author of The Mental Game of Poker 1 & 2. He has been working in the poker industry for nine years and in 2013 won the APAT Award for Best Poker Media Provider. You can learn more about his work here.
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