Mixed Games Are Quietly Winning the Fantasy WSOP

The two lowest-field events of the 2026 WSOP so far — $1,500 Badugi and $1,500 Seven Card Stud — have produced more fantasy leaderboard movement than most people's entire NLH-heavy rosters.

I've been watching the 25kFantasy sweat page all day, and it's hard to miss the pattern. Mixed games are punching way above their weight class.

The Numbers

Bradley Jansen finished 5th in Event #6 ($1,500 Seven Card Stud) for $22,141, delivering a massive scoring spike for Team Lang. Brian Yoon locked 43 fantasy points in the same event with a ceiling of 78 and three players still remaining. That's the kind of swing that reshuffles entire leaderboards.

Bradley Jansen's $22,141 Stud cash delivered more fantasy value for Team Lang than most NLH min-cashes could produce in three events.

Meanwhile, Event #8 ($1,500 Badugi) has been a fantasy ATM. David "ODB" Baker cashed in 50th for $3,149, boosting Stake Kings. Matt Wantman grabbed $3,343 in 45th for Glue Factory. Jerry Wong ($2,999, 78th) hit for Dinkers. Jordan Siegel ($2,999, 69th) scored for Team Noori. Ray Henson ($2,999, 66th) connected for Blades & Shades.

Five different teams. Five different cashes. One Badugi event.

Why This Matters for Your Roster

Small fields concentrate payouts. A $1,500 Badugi event doesn't draw 8,000 runners — it draws a few hundred. That means your rostered player has a dramatically higher probability of cashing, and each cash carries meaningful fantasy points relative to the field.

The counter-argument is obvious: mixed-game events offer smaller prize pools, so the raw dollar scoring can't compete with a deep NLH run. That's true in theory. In practice, you don't need your Badugi specialist to win the event. You need them to cash — repeatedly, across multiple mixed events throughout the summer. The hit rate is the edge, not the ceiling.

David Baker is the perfect illustration. ODB cashes mixed games the way most players cash $400 dailies. A 50th-place Badugi finish isn't glamorous, but it's $3,149 in fantasy points that the guy who drafted six NLH grinders doesn't have.

The Draft Mistake Everyone Made

Mixed-game specialists came cheap in most 25kFantasy drafts. The salary-cap math tilted heavily toward NLH volume players because that's where the big fields and big prizes live. But we're ten days into the series, and the teams that allocated even modest cap space to Stud and Badugi coverage are already separating.

The WSOP schedule is loaded with mixed events through July. If your roster has zero mixed-game exposure, you're bringing a No-Limit hammer to a schedule full of Razz nails.