ODB Rostered Himself. Then He Cashed.

David 'ODB' Baker is the only person in the $25K fantasy contest who gets to sweat himself — and just after midnight on May 31, he cashed the $1,500 Badugi for someone else's roster.

That's the wrinkle nobody's talking about. Baker owns Team Banana on 25kfantasy.com, but he didn't draft himself onto his own squad. He showed up on Stake Kings — Ryan Stiner's team — finishing 50th in Event #8 for $3,149. Meanwhile, Baker's own Team Banana scored a separate Badugi cash from Naoya Kihara, who placed 70th for $2,999.

Baker owns Team Banana on 25kfantasy.com, but he didn't draft himself onto his own squad — he showed up on Stake Kings, finishing 50th for $3,149.

The Only Owner at the Table

Think about this for a second. Every other team owner in the $25K contest is sitting at home refreshing the leaderboard, hoping their drafted pros run deep. Baker is at the Rio, physically sitting in a tournament that directly affects the fantasy standings — just not his own team's standings.

He's a walking conflict of interest that isn't actually a conflict at all. He cashes, Stiner's roster gets the points. His own Team Banana lives or dies on guys like Kihara.

Genius or Ego?

The obvious counter-take: drafting yourself is pure ego, a vanity pick that wastes a roster slot on a player you can't objectively evaluate. But Baker didn't draft himself. He let someone else take that risk. He built Team Banana with outside players and left his own results as house money for whoever wanted the exposure. That's not ego — that's a hedge.

Baker has three WSOP bracelets and over $7.3 million in lifetime tournament earnings. He's not a sentimental roster pick. He's a legitimate asset — one he chose to let another owner capture.

The real question isn't whether ODB belongs on a fantasy roster. It's whether the guy who built the analytics should be allowed to play the game he's measuring.

I think the answer is yes. And I think the Badugi cash at 12:08 AM proves exactly why.