Understanding Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu's list of poker accomplishments continually grows. It is pretty clear that he was the best overall player in 2004. If you wish to argue that point with me, just check his list of awards: 2004 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year, 2004 Champion Player of the Year, 2004 ESPN Player of the Year, and 2004-2005 WPT Player of the Year. His overall list of tournament wins is ridiculously long. He's combined his winning ways with his winning personality to become one of the most recognized faces in poker.

Check the shelves of your local video game store and you'll find Daniel as the star of Stacked! with Daniel Negreanu. Check out the shelves of your local book store and you'll find Daniel's contribution as a writer of Super System 2. Check out your local magazine stand and you'll find Daniel's regular column in the popular poker magazine Cardplayer. Check out the internet and you'll find Daniel's wildly popular blog at his site: www.fullcontactpoker.com. Check out your local newspaper and you may find his syndicated poker column. Check out the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas and you'll find him playing the role of celebrity poker host. Check out … ahh, you guys get the idea.

Daniel has always been one of the most accessible players to members of the press. Thus, I've had interactions with him since I first started writing about poker a couple of years ago. Daniel is extremely friendly. Despite his continually rising fortunes and fame, he is as down-to-earth as any player on the pro circuit. He is proud of his Canadian roots, loves video games, likes hanging out with his friends, values his family, and spends his small amounts of free-time watching MTV. He's a regular guy with irregular poker talent. What you've seen on TV is really what you get - outgoing, kind, humorous. What you might not understand from the TV coverage is how introspective and deep-thinking Daniel can be.

Daniel's nickname has been "Kid Poker." The nickname was apropos when he first came onto the professional poker scene, back when he was an energetic (but talented) 23 year-old with high hopes. Now in his early 30's, Negreanu has matured amazingly over the past decade. Thanks to his propensity to be very open with his fans via press interviews and his own internet blogs, we've been able to witness his personal and professional voyage. It seems that he has grown to a place where he is "putting it all together."

Over the past couple of years, he's begun to understand how his personal life and overall outlook affects his play at the tables. When things are going well with his life, he expects things to go well at the tables. He now makes concerted efforts to get his mind and focus set to win BEFORE he sits down at the table. When he is focused, his reads on his opposition is scarily accurate.

As part of his new duties as the ambassador and host at the beautiful Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, Daniel has extended an open invitation to take on anybody at anytime for any game of head's-up poker. If you can get the bankroll of a ½ million dollars or so to put on the table to compete against him, he'll allow you to pick the game. So far, several professional poker players have taken him up on the challenge including Barry Greenstein, David Oppenheim, Mimi Tran, Joe Cassidy, and Tony Bloom. The challenger gets to pick the game. For instance, Tony Bloom is a highly successful Omaha specialist in Europe. When he took the challenge, he chose Pot Limit Omaha as the game. Despite giving this upper-hand to the challenger, Daniel has done quite well thus far. As of July 2005, Daniel is up over $600,000 in these matches with a rate of about $7,100 per hour. Not bad work, if you can get it! It seems that his matches against Barry Greenstein "the Robin Hood of Poker" are shaping up to be the most compelling. These two professional poker players match-up very closely in ability and style, and Barry has grasped the challenge as excitedly as Daniel.

Daniel Negreanu: Play Profile & Prediction

PLAY PROFILE: Daniel is very aggressive in tournament play, which provides great dividends for him. If he can catch any cards at all, you should expect to find him at the final table. No Limit Hold 'Em and Omaha 8 or better are probably his best games. No glaring weaknesses are in his game, as he is usually very in control of his emotions and plays very steady. His only weakness may be that his ever-increasing busy schedule away from the table may take its tolls.

PREDICTIONS: Daniel racked up an amazing list of accomplishments before his 30th birthday. At the tables, we can only expect his success to continue in the form of WPT and WSOP event championships. New players are chatting on the internet and studying video tapes trying to identify Daniel's style. They are hoping to be able to emulate his means of winning. Although you can try to adapt to his style, you can't bottle his keen instincts and natural ability. I expect Daniel to reach a point where he realizes that his hectic schedule of appearances, writing, and marketing will consume too much of his time and energy. When he hits that point, he'll take a "step-back" and re-focus himself on his family, friends, and poker. At that time, he'll continue to add to his impressive poker resume to place his name among the top few pokers in the history of the game.

More Poker Player Profiles

♣ Andy Bloch ♣ Annie Duke ♣ Antonio Esfandiari ♣ Chris Ferguson ♣ Dan Harrington ♣ Daniel Negreanu ♣ Doyle Brunson ♣ Greg Raymer ♣ Gus Hansen ♣ Howard Lederer ♣ James Woods

♣ Jennifer Harman ♣ Johnny Chan ♣ Mark Seif ♣ Mike Matusow ♣ Phil Gordon ♣ Phil Hellmuth ♣ Phil Ivey ♣ Phil Laak ♣ Poker Hotties ♣ Sam Farha ♣ TJ Cloutier

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