Daniel Negreanu: Canadian Professional Poker Player

Daniel Negreanu is a very accomplished poker player
who has won two World
Poker Tour championships and six World Series of Poker bracelets.
Negreanu has brought home nearly $30 million dollars from the
various games and tournaments he has competed in, making him
number one on Canada’s All Time Money List.

Negreanu was recently inducted into the Poker Hall Of Fame of
Las Vegas in November 2014 for his long list of accomplishments.
He still continues to impress us at the tables and it’s obvious
that he still has a long career ahead of him.

Early Life

Daniel Negreanu was born on July 26th, 1974 in Toronto,
Canada. Daniel Negreanu’s parents, Annie and Constantin,
immigrated to Canada from Romania in hopes of providing a better
life for their children. In high school, Negreanu excelled at
mathematics and probability which helped him become a better
poker player later in life.

When Negreanu was a teenager, he would spend a great deal of
time at the local pool halls, playing pool, poker, and other
various card games. He was known as quite the hustler, taking
bets on various sporting events as well.

Negreanu dropped out of high school towards the end of his
senior year to start playing poker full-time in local charity
casinos. After building up a decent bankroll before his 21st
birthday, he headed off to Las
Vegas to pursue his dream of becoming a professional poker
player. Unfortunately Negreanu didn’t know how to properly
manage his bankroll and before he knew it, he was broke and
could barely afford to make it back home to Toronto.

Life as a Professional Poker Player

He was determined to be the best, dedicating hundreds of
hours to studying strategies and playing in various casinos in
Canada and the United States. In 1997, he cashed in at three
different tournaments, including two games at the World Poker
Finals, winning over $50,000. Negreanu was named the best all
around player at Foxwood’s World Poker Open for his overall
performance.

The following year, upon Negreanu’s twenty-third birthday,
his career really took off. He won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em
event at the World Series of Poker, setting the record as the
youngest player ever to win a WSOP bracelet. Fans everywhere
called him, “Kid Poker.” Many people thought it was a fluke, but
Negreanu proved them wrong as he now has earned an incredible
six WSOP bracelets. You can find out more information on those
victories in the table below.

World Series of Poker Bracelets

Negreanu arguably had the best year of his poker career in
2004, having landed eleven money finishes at major tournaments,
two WPT titles, and his third World Series of Poker bracelet.
His total winnings that year were nearly $4.5 million dollars.
Due to his accomplishments that year, he was deemed World Series
of Poker Player of the Year and Card Player Magazine Player of
the Year.

Fans finally started taking notice of this young poker
phenomenon and his fan base grew even larger when
PokerStars
started endorsing him in 2007. PokerStars is the largest online
poker site in the world and to this day Negreanu is still one of
the primary faces that represent the company.

Negreanu regularly plays the “Big
Game” in Bobby’s Room of the Bellagio
casino, Las Vegas, where the limits are $400/$800 or
greater. He would tell anyone that the most important strategy
he uses during these games is to analyze what hands his
opponents play and how talented they are at playing them.

2013 was another amazing year for Negreanu, as he added two
more gold bracelets to his collection and landed money finishes
in nearly all of the tournaments he competed in. He was named
the 2013 WSOP Player of the Year, the 2013 Bluff Player of the
Year, and the 2013 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year in
tribute to his success that year.

His most recent accomplishments were taking second place in
the 2014 Big One for One Drop tournament, collecting a
staggering $8.2 million dollar grand prize and for taking fourth
in the Aussie Millions Poker Championship for an additional $1.1
million dollars.

When asked by Bluff Magazine to comment on his thriving poker
career, Negreanu replied, “I live by a motto that’s pretty
simple: don’t do anything stupid. I think a lot of pros try to
do too much and they’re really not having enough faith in their
system. A lot of guys try to make something happen when it’s not
necessary. I don’t give up, I don’t get paranoid or stressed
out, I just play.”

Philanthropy

Negreanu thoroughly enjoys playing golf and helping others in
need and that’s why he founded the annual “Big Swing” charity
golf event in 2009 which takes place at the Rio Secco Golf Club
in Las Vegas every year. The proceeds from the event go to the
Lili Claire Foundation, which helps support children with
special needs and their families. Negreanu also sponsors, “Ante
Up for Africa” charity, which raises money for underprivileged
communities in Darfur.

In 2013, Negreanu set a goal to raise $100,000 in seven days
for the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. However, about
half way through the week, he had already raised over $158,000.
In an effort to double his original goal and persuade more
people to donate, Negreanu announced that for every donation of
$2,500 or more, four people will be selected at random to join
him in Las Vegas for an extravagant dinner and a private poker
lesson.

Personal Life

Daniel married Lori Weber on August 19, 2005 at the Grand
Rapids Resort in Las Vegas. Erick Lindgren was the best man and
many professional poker players including Jennifer Harman, Mike
Matusow, and Ted Forrest attended the elegant affair.
Unfortunately though, their sweet beginning ended poorly as they
got divorced just two years later.

Negreanu has recently reached out to find love by
participating in Bravo’s television show, Millionaire
Matchmaker, in its sixth season. He did end up meeting
someone through the show, but their relationship didn’t last
long, but for now he’s content with being single.

In his spare time, Negreanu plays poker on various TV shows
such as High Stakes Poker, Late Night Poker, and
Poker After Dark. Negreanu has also written a chapter in Doyle
Brunson’s Super System 2 and he released his own book,
Hold’em Wisdom for All Players in 2008 and it quickly
became a must read among gambling enthusiasts everywhere.