"Finally, Everything Went My Way" - Daniel Negreanu's 11-Year Journey to Bracelet 7
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Admit it, there were at least times in recent years you thought Daniel Negreanu might never win another World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Perhaps, even he had moments of doubt.
There's no longer reason for anyone to doubt the Poker Hall of Famer, not after he took down one of the most prestigious tournaments in all of poker on Thursday, the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for over $1.1 million.
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Negreanu's last bracelet came in 2013, and his most recent WSOP title in Las Vegas prior to the 2024 PPC occurred all the way back in 2008. It's been a long journey to bracelet No. 7, one we've chronicled in this article.
WSOP Player of the Year (2013)
In 2013, Negreanu, a PokerStars ambassador at the time, had been considered one of the best, if not the best, poker players in the world for over a decade. He'd won four bracelets entering the year, and was still in his 30s.
Starting with the forgotten World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (APAC) series in the springtime, "Kid Poker" reached two final tables, and won his fifth bracelet in the A$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event. That was just the start of big things to come for arguably the most popular poker player of all time.
When WSOP bracelet action shifted to Las Vegas that summer, he picked up six cashes, including a runner up finish in the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw event. While that might not seem like a banner series, you must take into account back then there were fewer events and Negreanu played a lighter schedule.
In the fall, Negreanu traveled to France for the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOP) series, where he captured his sixth bracelet in the �25,600 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller for �725,000. He'd go on to win WSOP Player of the Year, but little did anyone know at the time he wouldn't scoop another WSOP bracelet or Player of the Year (well, he briefly did in 2019 before a scoring miscalculation was discovered) for over a decade.
Daniel Negreanu's World Series of Poker Titles
| Year | Series | Event | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | WSOP | $50,000 Poker Players Championship | $1,178,703 |
| 2013 | WSOPE | �25,600 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller | � 725,000 |
| 2013 | WSOP APAC | A$10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event | A$1,038,825 |
| 2008 | WSOP | $2,000 Limit Hold'em | $204,874 |
| 2004 | WSOP | $2,000 Limit Hold'em | $169,100 |
| 2003 | WSOP | $2,000 Limit S.H.O.E. | $100,440 |
| 1998 | WSOP | $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em | $169,460 |
The Close Calls
After defeating Bryce Yockey heads up to win the Poker Players Championship, Negreanu admitted to PokerNews that he had "a lot of anxiety about about coming heads up because I've had so many seconds."
"It was just nice for things to feel like they really went my way at this final table."
Things did go his way at the final table on Thursday, but that hasn't been the case the past 10 years at the World Series of Poker. Since his 2013 wins, he's finished runner-up five times, and third place six other times.
That's 11 narrow misses over a 10-year span. If just a few of those tournaments would have gone his way late, he'd be up there in rare company with double-digit bracelets, along with Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan.
There are two heads-up losses Negreanu suffered at the WSOP that are likely the most memorable to his fans, one being a grueling, seven-hour battle against John Hennigan at the $10,000 Seven Card Stud final table in 2019, the year after "Johnny World" was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. And the other was a tough loss to Dan Colman in the second ever $1,000,000 buy-in Big One for One Drop in 2014.
In 2021, Negreanu, Hellmuth, and Jeremy Ausmus battled for countless hours, going back and forth during three-handed play of the $50,000 High Roller Pot-Limit Omaha event before Ausmus, at around 3:00 in the morning, denied both Poker Hall of Famers a bracelet.
For the past decade, it seemed like every time Negreanu was in position to win a bracelet, there was always that one crucial hand late in the tournament that would shatter his dreams. Perhaps, sometimes the reason wasn't just bad luck. He'd be the first to admit in some of those spots he simply got outplayed. But variance also hasn't been on his side much deep in bracelet events, until Thursday night against Yockey.
Negreanu's Runner-Up Finishes at the WSOP Since 2014
| Year | Event | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $100,000 Hold'em | Keith Tilston |
| 2019 | $10,000 Seven Card Stud | John Hennigan |
| 2017 | $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Championship | Abe Mosseri |
| 2014 | $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop | Dan Colman |
| 2014 | $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw | Paul Volpe |
Success Outside the WSOP
Despite his inability to win a WSOP title from 2014-2023, Negreanu had plenty of success in tournament poker during that period. Over that 10-year stretch, he cashed for $32 million across all live tournaments, according to The Hendon Mob. That alone would be good enough for 22nd place all time, but he's currently in seventh place with $52.7 million in cashes for his career.
Outside of the $8.2 million he won for second place in the 2014 Big One for One Drop, Negreanu's largest cash came in 2022 when he took down the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl at PokerGO Studio for $3.3 million. That victory, like the Poker Players Championship win, was extra meaningful to the now GGPoker ambassador because it ended a two-year run of misfortune.
Last year was another rough one for Negreanu, who lost over $2 million in tournaments. Entering 2024, he vowed changes would be made, and thus far he's walked the walk.
Prior to the start of the 2024 WSOP, Negreanu had been on a heater despite playing a limited winter and spring schedule. The now seven-time WSOP bracelet winner earned two pre-WSOP high roller wins and made 10 final table appearances since January. He currently leads the PokerGO Tour leaderboard by a fairly wide margin over Ausmus, who is in second place.
Ending the Drought
Negreanu's hot start to 2024 was cooled off through the first half of the World Series of Poker. Down around $900,000 entering the Poker Players Championship, the poker legend was reeling. He'd lost two bullets in the $250,000 Super High Roller, and busted twice against pocket aces in the $100,000 High Roller.
It wasn't the start to the series he'd hoped for, especially after losing a combined $1.9 million in 2022 and 2023 at the WSOP. But then it all turned around this week in his favorite event. After conquering the Poker Players Championship, beating out some of the best mixed game players in the world, he made it clear that winning this specific event has more meaning to him than ending a bracelet drought.
"Yeah, emphatically, because imagine I won a 1k turbo online and got my seventh, it's like, okay, whatever," Negreanu said when asked if the PPC win had more meaning to him than ending the drought. "This is a five-day marathon against all professional players, nine different games for 12 hours a day. You've got Phil Ivey on your left, you've got John Hennigan on your right. There's no soft spots, so to come out on top in this, that's a real win."
Winning World Series of Poker bracelets has never been easy. There's a reason why no one has come close to touching Hellmuth's record of 17, not even the online-live hybrid grinders who play 100 events a year. But even Negreanu admits that winning bracelets nowadays is tougher than it was back in 2013.
"There's so many great players out there now, and you know, poker's just growing and growing," Negreanu said about the difficulty in winning bracelets in 2024 compared to 2013. "So, obviously it's more difficult. I continue each year to put myself in position, and finally today everything went right for me to win."
With that victory, Negreanu is all of a sudden in the race for WSOP Player of the Year. He's moved into fifth place with 2,340 points, about 600 points behind the leader, Ausmus.
"I was always chasing Player of the Year, undercover. I knew I needed a win or two," Negreanu stated.
No one knows when Negreanu will take down his eighth WSOP title, and despite his own admission that winning bracelets in this era is tougher than when he was younger, there's a strong possibility his fans won't have to wait another 11 years.
