Tournament Successes and Bio of Six Times World Series of Poker Bracelet Winner Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is one of the most successful poker players of all time. He has total tournament wins of more than $40 million dollars – with no signs of slowing down.
Named as ‘Poker Player of the Decade’ by Global Poker Index and the third highest tournament winner of all time, the Canadian player is one of the most recognizable faces on the poker scene. With WSOP Vlogs and a sponsorship deal with GGPoker, Negreanu has the talent to match his poker skills.
This page covers Daniel Negreanu’s 6 WSOP bracelet wins, tournament successes and his strategy at the tables.
Daniel Negreanu at the World Series of Poker
Most poker players will go through a process of steady improvement at the World Series. They might gain a few cashes at first, then make a final table or two and then go on to eventually win their first bracelet.
Daniel Negreanu decided that he would cut out those intermediate stages by turning his first ever cash at the WSOP into a gold bracelet.
1998 Pot-Limit Hold’em - First Bracelet:
His first bracelet came in 1998. The previous year had seen Negreanu gain some success at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods Resort Casino, being named the best overall player. Confidence was high heading to Las Vegas. He entered the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event and managed to beat a high-class field to the first prize of $169,460. For many players, a win of this size might be the pinnacle of their careers. Since then, Negreanu has had 44 cashes that are higher.
Succession of WSOP Wins for Negreanu
His next success came at the $2,000 S.H.O.E event in 2003 winning $100,000 and followed that up the following year by winning $169,000 by winning the bracelet at the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event. With three bracelets in three different poker formats, it was already clear that Negreanu was making a strong claim to being one of the best all-round poker players on the planet.
In 2008, Negreanu would once again win the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event, winning just over $200,000. Then in 2013 he would compete the double of wins at the World Series of Poker Asia/Pacific and the World Series of Poker Europe. These came with pay outs of just over a million Australian dollars and €725,000.
The largest ever cash in Negreanu’s career came at a WSOP event which he did not win. In 2014 he entered the $1 Million No-Limit Hold’em Big One for One Drop with 41 other players. Negreanu finished runner up to Dan Coleman and pocketed more than $8 million in the process.
Daniel Negreanu: Other Major Tournament Successes
The second largest cash win in the career of Daniel Negreanu came in 2018 at the Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria Resort and Casino. 48 players entered and paid the $300,000 fee. Negreanu finished second to Justin Bonomo, taking home a cash prize of $3 million.
In total, the Canadian poker player has achieved nine wins in his career of $1 million or more. These successes include two wins on the World Poker Tour (both in 2004), the Aussie Millions and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller event.
Poker Playing Style of Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is an exponent of the small-ball poker strategy. While he may not have invented this style of play, he is credited with coming up with the name. This style is an aggressive one, where he plays a wider range of hands than most players at the table, but then will throw in checks, small bets or raises and mix it up. These hands will not be too expensive when he throws them away, but can win those huge pots, when he lands that unexpected hand.
Small ball poker is most effective in the early stages of tournaments when the size of the blinds is small compared to the average stack size.
Quick Bio: About Daniel Negreanu
Negreanu was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1974, his parents having emigrated to Canada from Romania just seven years earlier. It could not be said that Negreanu was a model student at school. There were threats to expel him. Negreanu had dreams of becoming a professional snooker player.
It was during his time at the pool halls that he got into card games. He dropped out of school early and decided that poker was the way to go, playing in a variety of charity events, including underground illegal games.
It was in Toronto where Negreanu met and started dating Evelyn Ng, who would also become a professional poker player and a well-known name on the circuit. In 1996, at the age of 22, he headed to Vegas after building a bankroll. However, success did not initially follow, and his bankroll disappeared. He soon returned to Toronto and had to rebuild his fledgling poker career. It was not long before success came however, with that first bracelet coming at the age of 24.
These days Daniel is a pro at GGPoker.
Can You Be the Next WSOP Champion?
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More Poker Pro Bios:
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- John Cynn Poker Strategy (2018 winner)
- Scotty Nguyen WSOP Legend (1998 winner)
- Phil Hellmuth (16x bracelets!)
- Dan Harrington (1995 Winner)
- Shaun Deeb (WSOP Crusher!)
Image credit: Wikipedia, with a little help from free picture editor Canva.