Daniel Negreanu: Player Profile

Daniel Negreanu is a Canadian who has been known as a well-decorated professional poker player. While he initially had dreams of becoming a professional snooker player, Negreanu still found success on at a different kind of table – the poker table. People inside the poker industry are no strangers to the fact that this Canadian poker player had a humble beginning. He can even be considered as the Cinderella of the world of poker tournament – just without the fairy godmother to help him through his journey. By making wise career decisions, he was able to climb up the ladder of poker and even become one of the most successful and richest players in the world.

Daniel Negreanu’s Humble Beginning

Daniel Negreanu was born in Toronto, Ontario Canada to parents Annie and Constantin. Annie and Constantin originally hailed from Romania, but they had aspirations of moving to the United States so that they can give their children better lives. They ended up living in Toronto where Daniel was eventually born.

At the age of sixteen, Daniel already had a penchant for pool hustling, gambling and poker. Since he also had a love for probability and numbers, and had learned all the poker rules, Daniel had a thirst for competing professionally at the poker tables. Just one art credit short, he dropped out of high school and decided to play poker full time. As a teenager, Daniel was competing with adults twice his age in different gambling halls and charity casinos. He was not just playing these games to have fun. Daniel won on a regular basis, and as time progressed, he was able to grow his poker bankroll.

Las Vegas Casinos

Since Daniel enjoyed a competitive challenge, he set his goals at playing in the world’s poker capital – Las Vegas. By the time he turned 21, he packed his bags and his poker bankroll and moved to The City of Lights. But it wasn’t all glory and glitz at first. Daniel soon discovered that the tables of Vegas were far different from the ones in the charity casinos he used to play in Toronto. He lost his poker bankroll and decided to return home and rebuild what he had lost. Despite living in a cycle of winning in Toronto and losing in Las Vegas, Daniel still pressed on and continued to fight. He tirelessly studied, played and worked to increase his poker skills. Needless to say, he eventually learned how to win at the tables in Las Vegas.

Daniel Negreanu and Tournament Poker

All of Daniel’s hard work paid off when in 1997, he was named the “Best All-Around Player” at Foxwoods’ World Poker Final. Daniel then joined his first World Series of Poker event in 1998. He was victorious at the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em event. At the age of 23, he already made a name by becoming the youngest player at that time to be awarded a World Series of Poker bracelet. After setting that record, Daniel earned the nickname “Kid Poker.”

In 2004, Daniel became even more popular when he made 11 final tables, including two World Poker Tour victories (Borgata and Bellagio) and his third World Series of Poker bracelet in Limit Hold’Em. At the end of the year, his total winnings amounted to a whopping $4,465,907. His consistent and strong play throughout 2004 didn’t go unnoticed. He was named the World Series of Poker Player of the Year and Card Player Magazine Player of the Year. Aside from those, he also earned the World Poker Tour Season 3 (2004-2005) Player of the Year title.

Daniel’s success did not end there. In 2008, he won another World Series of Poker bracelet. This time, Daniel proved that he was an all-around player by winning the S.H.O.E. bracelet. S.H.O.E. is a poker format that rotates in order: Seven Card Stud, Hold’ Em, Omaha Eights or Better and Stud Eights or Better.

Daniel continued to find success in the world of poker tournaments over the years. He had over $21 million in lifetime earnings along with six World Series of Poker bracelets. He also won other WPT championships and other tournament circuits across the globe.

2013 – A Special Year for Daniel Negreanu

In 2013, Daniel arguably had the best poker tournament year. He opened the year by winning the WSOP Asia-Pacific Main Event in Australia. He capped the year by getting his second WSOP bracelet in the WSOP Europe High Roller Event. In between those two great victories, Daniel reached the final table at the Championship Events of both the European Poker Tournament and the World Poker Tournament. He finished second in the $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event at the World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas.

It was also during this time that he was recognised as the 2013 WSOP Player of the Year, the 2013 Bluff Player of the Year and the 2013 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year. At the end of the year, he was number one on the GPI rankings.

Daniel Negreanu’s Involvements Off the Felt

Daniel is indeed one of the most influential and skilled professional poker players in the world. He is also popular among poker fans as his easy-going attitude and fun-loving personality make him endearing. Daniel also is very outspoken about his love for poker. His passion for the game prompted him to have some strong opinions on what is best for the poker industry. Moreover, in their annual rankings, Bluff has consistently named him as one of the most powerful people in the poker industry.

Off the felt, Daniel still keeps himself busy. For instance in 2005, He decided to broaden his reach by getting involved in different business ventures. Daniel wrote a chapter for Doyle Brunson’s Super System 2. He then began working on two books, including Hold’em Wisdom for all Players which was released in 2007 and his 2008 book Power Hold’em Strategy.

One of the biggest announcements he released in his career came in 2007. He declared that he was joining Team PokerStars. Many online poker players would agree that PokerStars indeed is one of the biggest online poker sites in the world so joining their team was a big milestone for Daniel.

Daniel shared, “I’m very excited about joining Team PokerStars. The organisation seems like the perfect fit for me and I’m glad they feel the same way.”

As of this writing, Daniel remains one of the primary players of PokerStars and he continues to represent the brand in his tournaments around the world.

A little fun fact about Daniel… He probably is a performer at heart since he has appeared in movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Detention. He has also appeared on a number of TV shows both non-poker and poker related. If you want to spot Daniel in the aforementioned X-Men movie, watch out for the scene where Wolverine confronted Gambit. Daniel’s playing poker in the movie, of course!

Daniel Negreanu Net Worth

Daniel definitely increased his net worth by using a combination of poker-related skills, business ventures, interesting personality and his earnings from successfully promoting the game as well as the PokerStars. Since he has other revenue streams besides poker, it can be quite difficult to accurately calculate what the Daniel Negreanu net worth is. However, a number of poker review sites gave Daniel Negreanu net worth a very rough estimate of between $12 million to $50 million.

Daniel Negreanu Total Winnings

TOURNAMENT WINNINGS CASHES BRACELETS/CHAMPIONSHIPS FINAL TABLES
Casino $31,292,341 223 N/A N/A
World Series of Poker $15,290,053 83 6 33
World Poker Tour $5,766,738 22 2 9
European Poker Tour $1,705,492 6 0 3

Daniel Negreanu Biggest Winnings / Career Highlights

DATE EVENT BUY-IN PLACE WINNINGS
Jul 01, '14 $1 Million No-Limit Hold'em Big One for One Drop
2014 World Series of Poker
$1,000,000 2 $8,288,001
Dec 18, '04 No-Limit Hold'em
2004 Five Diamond World Poker Classic (WPT)
$15,000 1 $1,770,218
Sep 22, '04 No-Limit Hold'em
2004 Borgata Poker Open (WPT)
$10,000 1 $1,117,400
Feb 10, '14 AUD$250K No-Limit Hold'em
2014 APPT 8 - Aussie Millions
$225,998 4 $1,116,750
Apr 15, '13 Main Event
2013 World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific
$10,465 1 $1,087,160
Oct 24, '13 Event 8 - No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Event
2013 World Series of Poker Europe
$33,318 1 $1,001,225
Jan 08, '11 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller
2011 PokerStars.com EPT Caribbean Adventure - Season VII
$100,000 2 $1,000,000
May 01, '12 Event 24 - No-Limit Hold'em High Roller Eight Max
2012 EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo
$32,903 2 $791,649
Oct 01, '09 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event
2009 World Series of Poker Europe
$14,845 2 $783,061
Jan 27, '06 No-Limit Hold'em Championship
2006 Jack Binion WSOP Circuit Event - Grand Casino Tunica
$10,000 1 $755,525
Mar 18, '04 Limit Hold'em Championship
2004 Party Poker Million III
$7,000 2 $675,178
Dec 20, '15 $100,000 No-Limit Hold'em
2015 Five Diamond Classic (WPT)
$100,000 3 $640,103
Dec 19, '06 Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic No-Limit Hold'em Event 12
2006 Five Diamond World Poker Classic (WPT)
$15,000 3 $592,000
Jul 14, '15 $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em
2015 World Series of Poker
$10,000 11 $526,778
Jan 25, '07 No-Limit Hold'em Championship Event 20
2007 World Poker Open (WPT)
$10,000 2 $502,691
Feb 08, '14 AUD$100K No-Limit Hold'em
2014 APPT 8 - Aussie Millions
$90,399 6 $492,525
May 19, '11 Event 21 - No-Limit Hold'em High Roller
2011 Five-Star World Poker Classic (WPT)
$100,000 3 $448,320
May 12, '13 Main Event
2013 EPT Grand Final - Monaco
$13,113 4 $416,722
Apr 25, '12 Event 1 - No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller 8 Max
2012 EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo
$130,045 6 $409,727
Oct 02, '08 WSOP Europe Main Event - Event 4
2008 World Series of Poker Europe
$17,844 5 $386,144
Jan 27, '05 No-Limit Hold'em Championship
2005 The Sixth Annual Jack Binion World Poker Open (WPT)
$10,000 3 $384,322
Sep 07, '13 Event 16 - No-Limit Hold'em
High Roller Eight Handed
EPT Season X - Barcelona
$12,853 2 $347,715
Jun 26, '06 No-Limit Hold'em
2006 Tournament of Champions
$0 2 $325,000
Jun 06, '04 No-Limit Hold'em
2004 Championship Poker at the Plaza
$10,000 1 $310,000
Nov 23, '08 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event - Event 4
2008 B.C. Poker Championships
$2,047 1 $303,947
Jan 07, '12 Event 1 - No-Limit Hold'em Super High Roller 8 Max
2012 PokerStars.com Caribbean Adventure
$100,000 5 $250,900
Oct 31, '10 EPT Vienna Main Event
2010 PokerStars.com EPT Vienna - Season VII
$6,573 4 $244,178
May 17, '03 No Limit Hold'em
34th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2003
$3,000 2 $210,980
Dec 16, '99 Texas Hold'em Championship Event
1999 United States Poker Championship
$7,500 1 $210,000
Jun 12, '08 Event 20 - Limit Hold'em
2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
$1,820 1 $204,863
Jan 24, '04 No-Limit Hold'em
2004 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (WPT)
$7,500 3 $192,270
Apr 29, '98 Hold'em Pot Limit
29th World Series of Poker (WSOP) 1998
$2,000 1 $169,460
May 07, '04 Limit Hold'em
2004 35th Annual World Series of Poker
$2,000 1 $169,100
Jun 05, '14 $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball
2014 World Series of Poker
$10,000 2 $156,674
Jun 29, '08 Event 45 - World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
$48,000 13 $142,080
Jun 07, '09 Event 14 - $2,500 Limit Hold'em Six Handed
2009 40th Annual World Series of Poker
$2,500 2 $138,280
May 24, '13 Main Event
2013 Five Star World Poker Classic (WPT)
$25,000 7 $137,085
Jun 09, '09 Event 18 - $10,000 World Championship Omaha 8 or Better
2009 40th Annual World Series of Poker
$10,000 4 $130,401
Sep 23, '12 WCOOP 2012 Event No. 64
PokerStars
$10,300 3 $130,200
Jun 16, '08 Event 28 - Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuys
2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker
$4,700 7 $123,437
Jun 21, '15 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split 8/OB
2015 World Series of Poker
$10,000 3 $113,062
Jul 05, '13 Event 59 - $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
2013 44th Annual World Series of Poker
$2,500 2 $107,055


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