Canadian professional poker player Daniel Negreanu, $35m and counting.
Who is the best poker player in the world? That’s a very tough question. How do you judge such a category? Do you go by accolades? Recent success? Lifetime earnings?
If championship titles reign supreme, American pro Phil Hellmuth is the man, with a record 14 WSOP bracelets to decorate his curio cabinet. Recent success goes to Spaniard Adrian Mateo, who just won the GPI 2017 Player of the Year Award. But if it’s monetary success over the extent of one’s career, Daniel Negreanu is the hands-down winner, with more than $35 million banked.
Negranu has been the poker world’s all-time money leader in live tournaments for several years now. His current career winnings total $35,840,955. That number is likely to rise any day now, as he constantly participates in events all over the globe. He is undoubtedly Canada’s favorite poker pro.
Canadian Professional Poker Player Daniel ‘Kid Poker’ Negreanu
Born (1974) and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Daniel was always an ambitious youngster. He once told his mother he was going to be rich, and build his own “house out of Popsicle sticks”. He was 4 then. By the age of 23, he was donning his first WSOP bracelet, and cashing his first 6-figure pay check.
Although very smart, Daniel wasn’t exactly a model student. His principle threatened to expel him multiple times for “ignoring the school rules”. But Daniel was cunning, and felt had no need for school, nurturing hopes of a professional snooker career before he learned to play poker at 15. By 16, he was frequenting pool halls, hustling and playing cards for money.
He eventually dropped out of high school, spending a few years as a rounder in the Greater Toronto Area. At 22, with a sizable bankroll in tow, he moved to Las Vegas to pursue a professional poker career. Success was not instant, though. Vegas is a tough place to start a career, and before long he was broke, forced to move back home.
Through local events – both legal and illegal – and the introduction of online poker, Daniel sprang back right back. He matured a lot following the Vegas experience, and his game skills flourished. He headed back to Vegas for the WSOP, winning his second bracelet in 2003, and another in 2004. He also scooped a pair of WPT titles that same year. Life was good, his career was going great, and his bankroll was growing at mach speed.
Negreanu now boasts 6 WSOP bracelets, including a Championship in the 2013 WSOP Asia Pacific, 2 WPT titles, and a pair of online poker titles (2013 SCOOP, 2016 WCOOP) from PokerStars. He’s been a member of the Team PokerStars Pros since 2007.
Why He’s Canda’s Favorite Poker Pro
Daniel’s success isn’t the only thing that has fellow Canadian’s cheering for him. He’s got a certain magnetism about him; one of those people that’s always in a positive mode, no matter what’s going on around them. His jovial and comedic personality earned him the nickname ‘Kid Poker‘ early on, and it’s stuck ever since.
Negreanu won’t put up with anyone’s crap at the tables, either. He’s gotten into eloquently delivered verbal matches with some of the mouthiest poker pros in the business, including Mike ‘The Mouth‘ Matusow and Phil ‘Poker Brat‘ Hellmuth.
The Canadian professional poker payer is also a philanthropist, donating countless amounts of money to worthy causes throughout the years. He runs a free website, FullContactPoker, a personal blog and community forum for all things poker.
Watching Daniel Neagreanu play poker is like watching a genuine psychic read your fortune. He just knows things… There’s no plausible explanation for it. His mental and psychological capabilities are astounding! He is, if not the best poker player in the world, the most interesting to watch!
