Daniel Negreanu is perhaps the most famous poker players in the world. The GG Poker ambassador has been a sponsored pro for online poker sites for much of his 25+ years at the poker tables. Born to Romanian parents who had migrated to Canada, he grew up in Toronto, but dropped out of school early to pursue his interest in gambling and strategy games. He arrived in Las Vegas in 1997 and claimed the first of his six WSOP winner’s bracelets in 1998, the first year that he took part in the series.

Negreanu’s first few years at the tables were turbulent and although he tasted some early success in both tournaments and cash games, he also went broke on more than one occasion. However he rebuilt and soon made a name for himself as a tough opponent. Being one of the youngest players on the scene earned him the nickname ‘Kid Poker,’ which is the moniker he still goes by to this day.

Daniel Negreanu has participated in the World Series of Poker every year since 1998, joining the winners’ circle almost immediately, taking down the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event in his first year participating at the series. He has been in-the-money at least once every year since, apart from in 2000 and with 169 total cashes, sits in third in the all-time most cashes list, just seven scores behind Phil Hellmuth Jr. He is also second in total prize money won at the WSOP, having pocketed over $20m in his career, just over $1m, behind Antonio Esfandiari. 

The most recent of Daniel Negreanu’s bracelet wins came in 2013 and he has been chasing number seven for over a decade:

Despite “only” winning six bracelets, it could have been many more, as he has 10 runner-up finishes and has also been third eight times. 

One of Negreanu’s near misses at the WSOP counts as his the biggest cash of his career. He won over $8m at the $1m buy-in Big One For One Drop event at the 2014 WSOP. His second biggest WSOP cash also came from a runner up spot, in 2019 in the $100,000 High Roller event. This is the complete list of the times that Negreanu was a bracelet bridesmaid:

Daniel Negreanu had done a daily WSOP vlog every year since 2017 and is a well-produced and edited daily video diary, charting  his journey through the world series.  He’s not shy to show his failures as well as his successes and he publishes his profit and loss for series, updating it at the end of every episode. 

It’s not all about poker though, as the vlog also shows Daniel’s life off the felt, with time at home with his wife Amanda and adorable pet dogs. He also likes to discuss vegan food and ice hockey as well.

The show is good natured and has light hearted moments, not least from the WSOP’s most famous moaner, Allen Kessler, who makes a cameo appearance in most episodes in a segment called “What’s Bothering You Today Allen?”

Whether you are a fan of Daniel Negreanu or not, the show makes fascinating viewing and for anyone who is not able to attend the WSOP, its a good way to get a glimpse of what you’re missing.

Daniel is very accommodating with press and media and in this respect, he’s one of the hardest working poker pros around. He’s always in demand and almost always makes himself available for interviews. This has been the case throughout his poker career, but he doesn’t always gel with the interviewers. In fact, he doesn’t suffer fools lightly and if he’s had enough, he’ll be sure to let the media people know. 

In 2008, when Daniel was at EPT Monte Carlo he became irked at questions he was asked by SikTilt, a poker media company that sadly no longer exists. After being mildly disrespected by interviewer Ruaridh Mason, he reacted angrily and pushed the hapless reporter into the swimming pool that they were standing next to at the time. The clip is still a good one.