Daniel Negreanu Biography
A professional poker player from Canada, Daniel Negreanu (/nrnu/; born July 26, 1974) has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles and six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. Negreanu won the title of top poker player of the preceding ten years in 2014, according to independent poker ranking agency Global Poker Index.
With approximately $42,000,000 in prize money won as of 2019, he is the third-biggest live tournament poker winner of all time (after Justin Bonomo and Bryn Kenney, both of whom have won a special multimillion-dollar charity tournament). He was recognized as the WSOP Player of the Year twice, in 2004 and 2013, making him the first player to accomplish this feat. He also won the WPT Player of the Year award for 2004–2005. He is the first player to reach the final table and take home a bracelet at each of the three WSOP venues (Las Vegas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific). He was admitted to the Poker Hall of Fame in 2014.
Daniel Negreanu Early life
Seven years after his parents, Annie and Constantin, left Romania for Canada, Negreanu was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1974. He speaks Romanian with ease. The Negreanu family originally intended to settle in the United States, but they ultimately chose Toronto, where Constantin worked as an electrician and sold candy. Daniel’s brother Mike is five years his senior. Negreanu expressed his ambition in a 2009 interview, saying, “From the age of four, I assumed I’d be rich. I promised my mother that I would relocate to California and erect a house out of Popsicle sticks.
His mother received complaints from the principal of Pineway Public School in North York regarding Daniel’s “poor manners or behavior” and threats of expulsion for “ignoring the school rules.” Daniel attended this school. The then 15-year-old picked up poker while pursuing his aspirations of becoming a professional snooker player.He began hustleing, playing cards, wagering on sporting events, and hanging out in pool halls when he was 16 years old.
He dropped out of high school when he was a few credits shy of graduating and started a new life as a rounder playing at neighborhood charity casinos, typically at Casino Country and Fundtime Games and searching the neighborhood for illegal games. He met Evelyn Ng, who would go on to become a well-known professional poker player, when he was in Toronto, and they started dating. He moved for Las Vegas at the age of 22 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional poker player after amassing a bankroll. However, “The Strip” defeated him, and he was compelled to return to Toronto to recoup his losses.
Daniel Negreanu Poker career
Negreanu is a skilled cash game and tournament player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) championships and six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets. Additionally, he has participated in numerous WSOP and WPT final tables and won a number of other competitions. Negreanu received accolades for becoming the WSOP Player of the Year and the 2004 Card Player Player of the Year.
He was also named the WPT Player of the Year for 2004–2005. Negreanu won the title of “Favorite Poker Player” in 2006 at the Player of the Year Awards Gala presented by Card Player Magazine. He won two WSOP bracelets and another Player of the Year trophy in 2013, making him the only player to do it. Negreanu was admitted to the Poker Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in November 2014.
Negreanu frequently participates in the “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where the game limits range from $400 to $800 or more. He calls himself an action junkie who constantly seeks out new challenges and has high expectations for himself. He often writes updates in the Full Contact Poker boards and, unlike many other players, is candid about his performance. The ability to read opponents may have contributed to some of Negreanu’s success. When questioned about it, Negreanu stated that watching the hands his opponents play and their level of competence in playing them is his most crucial technique.
Daniel Negreanu Tournament poker
World Series of Poker
Negreanu won his first WSOP cash and first bracelet simultaneously. Negreanu became the youngest World Series of Poker bracelet winner in history when he won $169,460 in the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament in 1998. He retained that record until 2004 (Scott Fischman). Since then, Negreanu has taken five more bracelets. He has 103 money finishes and 36 lifetime WSOP final table appearances, including two at each of the WSOP Europe and WSOP Asia-Pacific.
Other notable tournaments
Negreanu’s first significant achievements in the world of tournament poker occurred in 1997 when he won three tournaments, including two at the Foxwoods Resort Casino’s World Poker Finals, collecting $55,064 and being dubbed the competition’s finest all-around player.
Negreanu defeated a field of 690 competitors to win the fourth-annual British Columbia Poker Championships main event in November 2008. He took home $371,910 CAD (US$299,951) in prize money.
He received $8,288,001 as runner-up in The Big One for One Drop in 2014. Despite being conducted at the WSOP, the tournament was not eligible for a bracelet.
As the champion of the 2016 PokerStars.net Shark Cage tournament, Negreanu took home $1 million.
His cumulative live tournament winnings as of January 2020 exceed $42,000,000 in value. Over $14,000,000 of his winnings are accounted for by his 112 cashes at the WSOP.
He won $3.312 million in the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl VII in October 2022.
Daniel Negreanu Cash games
Negreanu participated in all seven seasons of the television series High Stakes Poker in addition to his frequent appearances in the big game at Bobby’s Room. Additionally, he participated in two seasons of PokerStars Big Game.
Daniel Negreanu Online poker and sponsorship
Negreanu started serving as the official spokesperson for Poker Mountain in December 2005. He used the alias “KidPoker” when playing at this cardroom. He announced his desire to end the partnership in June 2005, citing software problems that were so troublesome that the site had to be taken down. Using Full Contact Poker, he organized a competition in 2006 to choose a protege, who Daniel would try to develop into a top-tier live tournament poker player. He consented to foot the entry fee for the protégé into four $10,000 buy-in events. Brian Fidler served as Daniel’s first mentee. Anthony Mak was the winner of Daniel’s second protégé promotion in 2007 that year.
Negreanu joined Team PokerStars in June 2007 along with Chris Moneymaker and a number of other seasoned poker players. Since then, the Full Contact Poker website has converted back to a forum and informative website. Negreanu relocated back to Canada to continue playing online poker on PokerStars after “Black Friday” (the 2011 US government ban on online poker).
Negreanu announced his departure from Team PokerStars on May 23, 2019, after nearly 12 years as a member.
Heads-up challenge
After a long-running dispute with fellow poker professional Doug Polk, Negreanu officially accepted Polk’s request to a high-stakes grudge match on July 29, 2020. At stakes of $200/$400, they played 25,000 hands of No-Limit Texas Hold’em. On February 4, 2021, the duel came to a close, with Polk winning over $1,200,000 over 25,000 hands.
High Stakes Duel II
After Phil Hellmuth criticized Daniel Negreanu’s moves in his heads-up match against Doug Polk in 2021, Daniel Negreanu challenged Phil Hellmuth to a heads-up contest. In the High Stakes Duel II by PokerGo, the two played three rounds, with the buy-in tripling from the first $50,000 to $200,000 by the third round. Negreanu was defeated by Phil Hellmuth in all three rounds, taking home a total of $350,000. Negreanu wanted to keep playing, but the rules said that he had to cash out his profits after three victories.
Poker Masters
Daniel Negreanu achieved some success in PokerGo’s Poker Masters competitions in September 2021. In the $10,000 buy-in Poker Masters 2 tournament, he finished third and took home $103,200. Another $10,000 buy-in event, Poker Masters 5, saw him finish first, earning him $178,200. He finished third for $152,000 in the tenth event, a $25,000 buy-in tournament.
Other poker activities
When it first opened, the Wynn Las Vegas hotel hired him as their “Poker Ambassador” to participate in their poker room for any stake. The agreement was in place up until October 2005, when he decided to end it since it made it harder for him to play high-stakes games away from the Wynn.
Negreanu has participated in poker games on several TV programs, including Late Night Poker, Poker After Dark, and High Stakes Poker. He also provided commentary and acted as the show’s temporary host on Ultimate Poker Challenge. Additionally, he participated in the Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament’s third season. In the Fox Reality original series Rob and Amber: Against the Odds, which premiered in January 2007, Negreanu featured as the poker mentor for reality television star Rob Mariano.
Negreanu’s book Power Hold’em Strategy was published in May 2008. Evelyn Ng, Erick Lindgren, Paul Wasicka, Todd Brunson, and David Williams are among the poker players who contributed to the book, which is similar to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System. The little ball poker strategy is shown and explained in Negreanu’s section. Negreanu also appears in the 2006 poker video game Stacked with Daniel Negreanu, where he offers advice on how to win.
He contributed to the revised edition of Doyle Brunson’s book Super System II and has authored more than 100 pieces for CardPlayer Magazine. He has personally taught celebrities like Tobey Maguire and Shannon Elizabeth in addition to providing online instruction through Poker School Online. Negreanu has written several books on poker, and he has also produced a 38-part Master Class that teaches poker strategy and play through videos.
Daniel Negreanu Other ventures
In the movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Negreanu had a cameo as a poker player competing against the mutant Gambit. In The Grand, he also portrayed a poker player, and in the movie Lucky You, he played himself. He made an attempt to trick a lie detector in season two of Sports Science. He also played poker in the Katy Perry song “Waking Up in Vegas” music video. He once more played himself in an episode of Mr. D on CBC Television in 2013.
In 2005, he also had an appearance in the poker-themed TV show Tilt. Along with Malaysian millionaire and fellow poker player Richard Yong, Daniel was a strong supporter of the decision to relocate the National Hockey League to Las Vegas.
Hearthstone is another game Negreanu enjoys. He started playing the game in 2015 and started streaming poker and Hearthstone simultaneously on Twitch. He was then invited to a showmatch at the Hearthstone World Championship at BlizzCon 2015 in Anaheim, California, where he defeated Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, a former StarCraft: Brood War pro and fellow WSOP and WPT champion, 3-1.
Negreanu appeared in a PETA vegan commercial in September 2015. His participation in the third PogChamps chess competition was announced by Chess.com in January 2021.
A documentary promoting veganism in sports called The Game Changers was pushed by Negreanu in 2018 and he received credit as an associate producer.
Daniel Negreanu Personal life
Negreanu married Lori Lin Weber in August 2005. They divorced after divorcing in November 2007. He wed Amanda Leatherman in May 2019.
Negreanu writes about his opinions on life, politics, and poker on the Full Contact Poker blog. He switched to vegetarianism in 2000 and has been a vegan since 2006. He believes it improves his game. He lived in the country for many years before getting his green card on July 15, 2009.
Negreanu was one of 12 people listed in a $330 million defamation lawsuit filed by poker pro Mike Postle on October 1, 2020. Phil Galfond, ESPN, and Doug Polk, Negreanu’s opponent in the heads-up showdown, are all mentioned in the lawsuit. The lawsuit was dropped in April 2021.
Daniel Negreanu Bibliography
- Hold’em Wisdom for all Players (2007) ISBN 1-58042-210-1
- Power Hold’em Strategy (2008) ISBN 1-58042-204-7
- More Hold’em Wisdom for all Players (2008) ISBN 1-58042-224-1
How did Daniel Negreanu learn poker?
Daniel was playing poker full time with adults twice his age at several charity casinos and other gambling halls after graduating from high school with one less art credit than required. Daniel was not only participating in these games, but he was also consistently succeeding.
How old was Daniel Negreanu when he started poker?
His mother received complaints from the principal of Pineway Public School in North York regarding Daniel’s “poor manners or behavior” and threats of expulsion for “ignoring the school rules.” Daniel attended this school. The then 15-year-old picked up poker while pursuing his aspirations of becoming a professional snooker player.
How rich is Negreanu?
7th place, Daniel Negreanu ($70 million)
Daniel Negreanu is not only one of the wealthiest poker players, but also one of the most well-known. His poker bankroll, which made up the majority of his net worth,
Who is Daniel Negreanu?
On July 26, 1974, Daniel Negreanu was born in Toronto, Ontario. In order to provide Daniel and his older brother Mike a better life, his parents, Constantin and Annie, emigrated from Romania. Their father sold candies while working as an electrician. When Negreanu was a student at Pineway Public School in North York, Ontario, his principal complained about his poor behavior and contempt for the expectations of the school.
Daniel started playing poker when he was a youngster and became obsessed with gambling. He frequently went pool halls, where he began hustle, playing cards, and placing sports bets. Negreanu left high school only a few credits short of graduating in order to focus solely on poker. In charity casinos and other gaming venues, he started competing against adults. By the time he was 21, Daniel had earned enough money to move to Las Vegas despite battling against athletes twice his age and winning.
Negreanu was forced to leave Las Vegas because he was unprepared for the level of competition there and swiftly lost all of his money. Contrarily, Daniel persisted, and after spending many hours playing and learning, he eventually went back to Las Vegas and started to win.
How many houses and cars does Daniel Negreanu have?
Negreanu drives a Tesla S Series, an excellent choice for a well-known poker player. As Tesla is known for being an environmentally friendly option, it also highlights his commitment to environmental conservation.
In a similar vein, he lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is located in the Queensridge area. There are eleven rooms in the two-story house. A sizable, professional poker table as well as a wet bar are also present.
How much does Daniel Negreanu make per year?
Negreanu receives between $2 million and $4 million annually under his Pokerstars contract. Negreanu’s contract is worth, if I had to hazard a guess, somewhere between $3 and $4 million year.
What investments does Daniel Negreanu have?
Negreanu is a smart investor who has made sensible financial decisions throughout his career. In addition to making an investment in a firm that manufactures and distributes poker equipment in 2006, he has also made several real estate investments.
How many Endorsement deals does Daniel Negreanu have?
Numerous online poker rooms promote Negreanu as a player. After departing PokerStars in 2020, Daniel signed a new sponsorship agreement with GGPoker to serve as their brand ambassador. Additionally, he has acted as a spokesperson for a variety of poker-related goods, such as MasterClass and the app “WSOP: Full House Pro.” Additionally, he has made appearances in several movies and television shows, such as “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and the documentary “Kid Poker,” which is about his life and career.
How many Philanthropy works has Daniel Negreanu supported?
Daniel is actively involved in a number of charity causes, such as Ante Up for Africa, which collects funds for the Darfur region of Sudan. Additionally, he started the annual Big Swing charity golf competition. The tournament will surely benefit the Lili Claire Foundation, a Las Vegas nonprofit that helps families and children with special needs.
How many businesses does Daniel Negreanu own?
Daniel Negreanu’s success at poker can be attributed to both his exceptional talent and natural charisma and likeability. He has built up a sizable fan base over the years, and his endearing demeanor has elevated him to a leading position both within the poker community and outside of it.
Along with his achievements on the field, Negreanu has achieved success off it as well. His works on poker strategy include “Power Hold’em Strategy” and “More Hold’em Wisdom for All Players.” Additionally, he has made numerous television appearances, including hosting a season of the well-known program “PokerStars Big Game.”
Negreanu is a smart investor who has made sensible financial decisions throughout his career. In addition to making an investment in a firm that manufactures and distributes poker equipment in 2006, he has also made several real estate investments.
