Daniel Negreanu

Biography

Daniel Negreanu could easily be the most recognized face in poker today. Negreanu has an immense passion for poker and a cunning ability to read his opponents. Although this may make Negreanu out to be a tough, unapproachable player, “Kid Poker” is a light-hearted, friendly, and good-natured player both on and off the felt.

The native of Toronto, Canada got his start in gambling as a young teenager hanging out in pool halls, hustling, betting on sports, and also playing cards. With the encouragement of his parents to always chase his dreams, Daniel decided school just wasn’t in the cards for him. He left high school just one credit short of graduation to focus on poker.

After cleaning up around town, Negreanu decided to head out to Las Vegas at the age of 21. You might think that was all she wrote, but it wasn’t that easy. Daniel only lasted in Vegas for several months before having to return home to Toronto. After taking some time to re-establish his bankroll, it was time to take another shot at it. He may have been broke, but his dreams weren’t shattered just yet.

In 1997, Negreanu was able to perform well enough at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods to be named the tournament’s “best all-around player”. The following year, Daniel kept things rolling when he became the youngest WSOP champion ever after winning the $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Event. Negreanu kept the title of youngest champion until 2004. Another year later, in 1999, Negreanu captured the title of the United States Poker Championship. This seemed like an amazing run, but the best of Daniel Negreanu was still to come.

A few years down the road in 2004, Negreanu was named the player of the year at the WSOP after he took home another bracelet and netted multiple other cashes. Just shortly after within the same year, Daniel went on to win two WPT events: the Borgata Poker Open and the Five Diamond World Poker Classic.
Simply playing poker isn’t all that Negreanu does though. He regularly writes about the game for various publications and has one of the most widely read poker blogs around today. He also contributed to Doyle Brunson’s Super/System II and even released his own book, Hold’em Wisdom for All Players. On top of that, Daniel has his own training site PokerVT and is also a Team PokerStars’ Pro.

After adding a fourth bracelet to his collection in 2008 and winning the British Columbia Poker Championships, Negreanu is still proving day in and day out that he is one of the greatest players alive today.