To quote Rocky Balboa, “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
For nearly 15 years, no one has been hit more at the World Series of Poker than Daniel Negreanu. The Canadian burst into stardom right at the start of the poker boom, as his engaging table demeanor and ability to seemingly know what his opponents were holding all the time made him the face of the game for many fans. And there was plenty of winning: four bracelets and a WSOP Player of the Year Award while he could still be called “Kid Poker.”
But then the winning dried up. It had been more than a decade since Negreanu won a bracelet. The last time he won a bracelet on American soil, George W. Bush was still in the White House and The Incredible Hulk was the No. 1 movie at the box office. There were plenty of close misses, with five runner-up finishes since 2014 including the $1 million Big One For One Drop.
Negreanu, though, like his favorite movie character, kept getting back up and he was rewarded today with the one event he wanted to win more than any other. Negreanu finally captured lucky bracelet No. 7 in Event #58: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, outlasting 89 of the best players in the world to win $1,178,703 and the prestigious title.
“A lot of relief really. I have a lot of anxiety about coming heads-up because I’ve had so many seconds. And it was just nice for things to feel like they went my way at this final table,” Negreanu said after defeating Bryce Yockey heads-up.
Since this event was first introduced to the WSOP calendar in 2006, poker pros have regarded it as the ultimate test of skill and endurance. Negreanu played the first event and has come back every year since. It’s become his favorite event, and the fact that his bracelet drought came to an end here, with Negreanu back atop the poker world, was all the more meaningful.
“There is one event in the world I want to play more than any and I wanted to win more than any, and it’s this one. This is the one,” Negreanu said. “Obviously, the Main Event is special in a different way. But this one is all the best players in the world, pro-heavy field, playing 100-minute levels, days and days of grind, 12 hours a day. So to come out on top, you can’t fluke that.”
Despite the long drought as a new generation of pros caught up to him in the bracelet tally, Negreanu’s popularity never waned. Thousands of people tune in daily to watch his WSOP vlogs on YouTube. A large crowd gathered around the rail today and chanted “Daniel, Daniel” when he won. He’s constantly harangued by fans in the hallways of Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas for photos and autographs. He usually does it happily, fully embracing his role as a poker ambassador.
“I always sort of just fell into it. It’s something I’ve always felt I could do, I was a natural for,” Negreanu said. “Being on camera doesn’t bother me one bit and I thought it would be fun to give people the chance to sort of sweat along with me. So that’s why I do what I do. It’s just fun.”
Of all the people on the rail today, there was one that meant the most to Negreanu: his wife Amanda. Negreanu hadn’t won a bracelet since they got married, so the two of them on the main feature stage, posing for pictures with the new jewelry, was a special moment for them.
“It’s very cool. This is the first time she’s been down here since we moved here. Because she was going to come when I win, and I haven’t been winning. So it was nice to have her here for the moment, for sure,” he said.
Five players returned today inside the Horseshoe Event Center to play down to a champion. Chris Brewer held the chip lead with 10,425,000, while Negreanu was in second place on 7,675,000 after his miracle straight flush yesterday.
Negreanu quickly took over the chip lead when he picked off a bluff from Brewer in Razz. David Benyamine, who came into the day with just 850,000, quickly got all his chips in the middle in another Razz pot against Yockey. Benyamine made a 9-8-5-3-2, but Yockey caught a 9-8-4-3-2 to bust Benyamine in fifth place.
Yockey then eliminated Dylan Smith in fourth place shortly after with a seven in Razz as he took the lead into three-handed play. Brewer dropped to 4,000,000 after calling Yockey’s bet of 1,250,000 after the draw in No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw with J-9, but Yockey had 8-7 to win the pot and extend his lead.
Negreanu pulled even with Yockey when he made a straight in Seven Card Stud to beat Yockey’s two pair. Negreanu then won a massive pot when Yockey attempted a bluff in Limit Hold’em with a missed straight draw and Negreanu called him down with a pair of queens to climb up to 12,000,000.
Brewer’s tournament came to an end in a three-way No-Limit Hold’em pot. After Negreanu limped the button, Yockey raised to 550,000 in the small blind and Brewer called in the big blind. Negreanu also came along to a ten-high flop. Yockey bet 600,000 and Brewer raised to 2,300,000, leaving just 325,000 behind. Negreanu tank-folded queen-ten, while Yockey put Brewer all in and Brewer snap-called with two aces. Yockey had a pair of tens and a flush draw, and he hit the flush on the turn to leave Brewer drawing dead and heading for the exit in third place.
Yockey led 15,750,000 to 10,950,000 at the start of heads-up. Five years ago, Yockey’s run at the final table of this event came to an end against a miraculous wheel. Today, he’s the one who caught the wheel as Negreanu got rid of a 10 to surrender a big pot as Yockey extended his lead.
Negreanu flopped a flush in No-Limit Hold’em to retake the lead, while Yockey made aces up in Stud Hi-Lo as the chip lead flipped again. Negreanu fell down to as low as 6,000,000 until he got his last chips in the middle on a seven-high flop in Pot-Limit Omaha. Yockey had a pair of aces, while Negreanu had deuces and a straight draw. Negreanu missed the turn, but he spiked another deuce on the river to make trips and double up as the massive rail erupted in celebration.
Yockey then attempted a bluff on the river in another Omaha pot as Negreanu called him down with a queen-high flush to open a huge lead. Yockey doubled up once, but he then called all in for 6,100,000 on a ten-high flop with straight and flush draws against Negreanu’s trip sevens. A queen on the turn gave Negreanu a full house and left Yockey drawing dead.
The bracelet Negreanu has so dearly coveted for nearly 20 years was finally his, and with it a massive celebration began inside the Event Center. Negreanu posed for pictures with fans who chanted his name and, of course, captured video for his vlog. After years of chronicling all his near-misses and tragic outcomes, Negreanu can finally show himself on top. Tomorrow’s video will likely be the most viewed one of all.
Final Table Results
1 Daniel Negreanu Canada $1,178,703
2 Bryce Yockey United States $768,467
3 Chris Brewer United States $519,158
4 Dylan Smith United States $363,914
5 David Benyamine France $265,054
6 Jeremy Ausmus United States $200,896
7 Phil Ivey United States $158,719
