Daniel Negreanu
Canada6
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Early Life
Born on July 26, 1974, in Toronto, Canada, Negreanu was introduced to poker at an early age. Poker was not the only gambling Daniel was doing; he had been betting on sports and other casino games since he was 15.
Daniel was very ambitious from a young age, and in one of the interviews in 2009, he said, “From the age of four, I thought I’d be rich. I told my mom I’d build a house out of Popsicle sticks and move to California.”
Daniel dropped out of high school to pursue his dream of being a poker player. He started playing at local charity casinos, looking for illegal games.
At 22, when he built a bankroll, he went to Las Vegas to achieve his dream of becoming a professional poker player. Unfortunately, he lost the money and was forced back to Toronto.
World Series of Poker
At 23, Daniel went to his first WSOP, won his first bracelet in his first cash, and became the youngest WSOP champion ever. Daniel held the record until 2004 when Scott Fischman became the champion at a younger age. The win earned Daniel the nickname “Kid Poker.”
Daniel added five more bracelets and one WSOP Circuit ring on top with 57 WSOP final tables and 250 ITM finishes. His most significant WSOP win was $1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em – The Big One for One Drop for $8,288,001, followed by A$10,000 No Limit Hold’em – WSOP APAC for $1,087,160$. In 2015, he also had a deep run in the WSOP Main Event, finishing 11th for $526,778.
Daniel is currently second in WSOP all-time earnings with $22,117,469, fourth in cashes, and ninth in bracelets won. He was named the WSOP Player of the Year in 2004 and 2013. His total live earnings are $52,015,299, and he is ranked sixth in the all-time money list.
Daniel Negreanu’s WSOP Bracelet Wins
| Year | Tournament | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em | $169,460 |
| 2003 | $2,000 S.H.O.E. | $100,440 |
| 2004 | $2,000 Limit Hold’em | $169,100 |
| 2008 | $2,000 Limit Hold’em | $204,874 |
| 2013 | A$10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event | A$1,038,825 |
| 2013 | €25,600 High Roller No Limit Hold’em | €725,000 |
World Poker Tour
Daniel won only two WPT titles, and both of them in 2004, he won the Borgata Poker Open $10,000 No Limit Hold’em for $1.01 million before he won the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic $15,000 Championship for another $1.8 million.
Over the years, he participated in many WPT events and had some excellent results; the bigger ones were in the $15,400 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic – No Limit Hold’em, where he got third place for $592,000 and another third place in $10,200 World Poker Open Championship Event – No Limit Hold’em for $384,322.
Daniel Negreanu’s WPT Titles
| Year | Tournament | Prize (US$) |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | $10,200 Borgata Poker Open | $1,009,100 |
| 2004 | $15,400 Five Diamond World Poker Classic | $1,795,218 |
European Poker Tour
Daniel’s first EPT was in 2010, where he won one event and added two more cashes for a total of around $66,000.
Two years later, he came back and played dramatically higher stakes. He came in sixth place in €100,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller 8 Max for $409,279 and second place in €25,500 No Limit Hold’em – 8 Max High Roller for $790,304.
In 2013, he added three more final tables with two fourth places and one second for a total of $773,000. He participated in the No Limit Hold’em – 100K EPT Charity Challenge and came fourth.
In 2016, he added one cash in €25,750 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller for $96,670.
Daniel Negreanu’s EPT Results
| Year | Tournament | Place | Prize |
| 2010 | €1,100 No Limit Hold’em | 1st | $10,489 |
| 2010 | £5,250 No Limit Hold’em – EPT Main Event | 115th | $11,736 |
| 2010 | €5,300 No Limit Hold’em – EPT Main Event | 4th | $ 44,178 |
| 2012 | €100,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller 8 Max | 6th | $409,279 |
| 2012 | €25,500 No Limit Hold’em – 8 Max High Roller | 2nd | $790,304 |
| 2012 | €5,300 No Limit Hold’em – EPT Main Event | 118th | $12,225 |
| 2013 | €10,600 No Limit Hold’em – Main Event | 4th | $420,912 |
| 2013 | €10,300 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller Re-Entry | 2nd | $352,881 |
| 2013 | No Limit Hold’em – 100K EPT Charity Challenge | 4th | |
| 2016 | €25,750 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller | 15th | $ 96,670 |
PokerGO Tour
Negreanu’s first PGT score was in 2021, with third place in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – Aria High Roller 18, which got him $108,000. His biggest PGT win came in 2022 at the $300,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller Bowl VII for the prize of $3,312,000.
Other notable results in PGT are first place in $50,000 No Limit Hold’em – PokerGO Cup #7 for $700,000, first place in $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – PokerGO Cup #6 for $350,000, two third places in No Limit Hold’em and PLO Highrollers for a total of $1,08 million.
Daniel Negreanu’s top PGT results
| Year | Tournament | Place | Prize |
| 2021 | $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – Aria High Roller 18 | 3rd | $108,000 |
| 2021 | $50,000 No Limit Hold’em – PokerGO Cup #7 | 1st | $700,000 |
| 2021 | $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha – High Roller | 3rd | $519,764 |
| 2021 | $50,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Roller | 3rd | $661,041 |
| 2022 | $25,000 No Limit Hold’em – PokerGO Cup #6 | 1st | $350,000 |
| 2022 | $300,000 No Limit Hold’em – Super High Roller Bowl VII | 1st | $3,312,000 |
Sponsorships and Controversy
In June 2007, Negreanu signed a sponsorship deal with PokerStars, the leading operator in the gaming industry at the time. According to reports, Negreanu earned nearly $4,000,000 annually from this deal. It included a base yearly salary, various live and online buy-ins, and paid expenses when playing PokerStars tour events.
On May 23, 2019, after nearly 12 years as a member of Team PokerStars, Negreanu announced he and PokerStars were parting ways. Six months later, Negreanu announced on his Twitter that he would be joining GGPoker as a network ambassador.
There has been a lot of criticism about his work as a GGPoker Ambassador. Some were about his famous “More rake is better” quote; others were about the lack of comments about problems like the superuser scandal, etc.
Losing $1.2 Million to Doug Polk
In 2014, Negreanu said he could quickly master and crush the highest stakes of 6-Max No Limit Hold’em online games. After hearing about it, Doug felt it was a low blow for players who spent hundreds of hours studying and playing to master the format.
That was just the beginning of the six-year-long beef between the two before, on July 29, 2020, Negreanu accepted Polk’s challenge for a Heads-up match.
After the first 12,500 hands were played, Polk won around $800,000, and Daniel, as a losing player, had an option to quit, but he declined, and the play continued.
Daniel played much better in the other half of the challenge, and even Polk admitted that he was surprised at how well he was doing. Daniel even had a big session, winning $385,000 while the challenge was nearing the end.
After a big session from Negreanu, Polk changed to more of a passive/defensive style, trying to protect his lead and win the challenge. Polk started tanking and limping to keep pots smaller, and Negreanu couldn’t adjust, which led to Polk having the highest win rate in the series.
Ultimately, Polk won an astonishing $1,2 million, translating to $48/hand.
- Check the All-in spreadsheet of the challenge
