By Sean Chaffin
It’s been a busy year for two-time WPT champion and Season III Player of the Year Daniel Negreanu. A new marriage, a new sponsorship, and a marketing role with GGPoker, and battling for the World Series of Poker Player of the Year were all on his plate in 2019.
He’s now closing out his poker year at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, an event Negreanu knows well. In Season III, he’d already won the Borgata Poker Open in September 2004 for $1.1 million before adding a Five Diamond title in December for another $1.8 million. He would go on to numerous other titles and now has $42 million in live tournament winnings.
Along with his title here at Bellagio, Negreanu now has five other cashes in the event including a third-place finish in Season V for $592,000. The property has been a nice spot for him with numerous other big finishes here. In total, Negreanu has more than $6.4 million in WPT winnings.
By the final break in Day 3, Kid Poker had secured his first WPT cash since Season XIV which also came in the Five Diamond. He returned for Day 4 with 239,000 in chips. Negreanu, who lives in Las Vegas, spoke with WPT.com about his year, poker, what he’s been up to, and even some hockey.
The WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic again is an event you’ve been really successful in. How does it feel having some success here once again?
In this one, where I’ve made so many deep runs, it feels like home, very comfortable. I love the structure. It’s very slow, which gives a player like me a lot of time to play a short stack if necessary.
You’ve talked a lot about re-entry events recently and how you think there should be zero. You fired two bullets at this one. Is that something you planned to do? Are you giving yourself a certain number in each event?
No, I really don’t know what I’m doing. I basically tweeted that I was considering not re-entering at all in 2020 or even coming in with one bullet. And I did. And then I talked to a lot of people and realized it’s just really stupid from my perspective to burn EV, for what? To take a stand for something that’s not going to work. It’s not like if I don’t rebuy you’ll stop seeing them do re-entry events. It’s just not going to happen because they make so much money off of them.
So then I thought about it from a strategic perspective and it’s just not the approach. I can still play by the rules that are given to me the best way that suits me, and also campaign and lobby for sites to do more freezeouts
Goals are big to you and every year you publish yours for the year. Do you have any for the upcoming year yet?
This year I didn’t do it because I was worried I’d be too busy getting married and stuff. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do in poker this year. For 2020 I haven’t decided yet. I usually do that [by] the third or fourth January. I have to decide if I’m going to Australia first and set the tone for the year. I haven’t decided what I’m doing.
Is the WPT still part of those overall goals?
This one’s obviously great. There are unlimited re-entries, you get a big prize pool, it’s home court. I’ve got some nostalgia here since I’ve won first, third, and 12th. I don’t travel to the WPTs anymore because they’re typically a lot smaller than I typically play. They’re all like $3,500 or whatever, which I get. But this one’s still special, everyone comes out.
Are there any other WPT events you might play?
The LAPC, that’s always a good tournament and I like the Commerce.
How has married life been?
We just had seven months two days ago. It’s been great. She’s a perfect match for me. We get along great. We’re like-minded, easygoing. We like to do the same things. She’s low maintenance. We do a lot of chilling at home on the couch watching Netflix.
Who are a few NHL teams to watch this season and who do you see in the Stanley Cup?
I think in the East, the one team that’s been solid all year is Boston. They’re just built for the playoffs. They’re really, really strong. And then I really believe in Vegas, even when they were through that slump. I think they have an easier road in the Pacific, which helps. And I think they’re the best team in the West, so you could see a Boston-Vegas Stanley Cup.
Dallas has also really gotten a lot better. They’re a team that I’ve been watching a lot. Their defensive systems are really solid. They just lost their coach for who knows what reason. But I think with the new coach they’ll play the same system. They’re just really focused on being one of the best defensive teams in the league.
How’s the new sponsorship with GGPoker going?
Really good. I’m in direct contact with the head boss and on a channel with them discussing stuff every day. The growth we’ve seen is good. Obviously, the next goal is to continue to get licenses, more territories like the U.S. and other places. They’re based out of Korea and there’s also an office in Toronto. Here’s the deal, they’re a bunch of software geeks who just created the best software by far. Marketing and doing all that stuff that’s not their forté. So I’m coming along to help with that.
How did your recent talk in San Francisco go and what was it about?
It was a conference for a bunch of tech people who are looking to increase their sales, their dealmaking skills. So I did 20 to 30 minutes on dealmaking. I’ve done a decent amount of speaking in the past. I did one for T-Mobile.
It was a conference for a bunch of tech people who are looking to increase their sales, their dealmaking skills. So I did 20 to 30 minutes on dealmaking. I’ve done a decent amount of speaking in the past. I did one for T-Mobile. Companies will pay a significant amount of money for me to show up and give my take.
It’s always an abstract way of looking at things. We talk about poker and I think people really enjoy it. I usually use video. This year I used a hand against a lady we call the “granny” at the World Series where I folded and I told her she had Aces with the Ace of spades. I use that as an example of knowing your opponent in business. When you’re dealing with somebody in business, understanding their tendencies will help you get a better deal.
Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas, and his work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.