Daniel Negreanu Poker Player

Daniel Negreanu, known as KidPoker, is primarily a live tournament poker player but also plays online poker at PokerStars. He has won four WSOP bracelets.

Entry To Poker

Negreanu’s parents migrated from Romania to Canada. Negreanu learnt to play poker at the age of 15 in the pool halls of Toronto. He dropped out from high school and began to earn a living as a rounder. At the age of 21 he accumulated a bankroll and went to Las Vegas, but was unsuccessful. He was forced to return to Toronto. In 1997 Negreanu won a couple of major events at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. This gave him both the fame and funds for his second stint in Vegas. And this time there was no looking back.

Live Poker Tournaments

Negreanu won his first WSOP bracelet in 1998. He was then the youngest player to win a WSOP bracelet. He subsequently won bracelets in 2003, 2004 and 2008. Most of them were won in Hold’em games. Today his total tally of WSOP bracelets stands at four. Negreanu won two WPT events as well in 2004. These were the Borgata Poker Open and the Five Diamond World Poker Classic. As a result of these performances he was named the WSOP player of the year in 2004 and the WPT player of the year in 2005. Negreanu’s total live tournament earnings are about $10.9 million. He has had 25 first place finishes and 114 cashes.

Negreanu is a popular figure on poker television. He regularly features on TV shows such as Late Night Poker, Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. For cash games Negreanu favors Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio Casino.

Online Poker

In December 2005, Negreanu started his own online poker room, Full Contact Poker. He played poker there under the alias “KidPoker”. In 2006 and 2007 Full Contact Poker ran a competition to select a protégé who would be trained by Negreanu. Negreanu also bankrolled the protégé in popular tournaments. Since July 2007 Negreanu has signed up with the leading online poker room PokerStars. He is one of the leading members of Team PokerStars Pro. However he is not much in the news for his online poker play.

Other Poker Achievements

Away from the poker tables Negreanu has been in the forefront of teaching poker through books, articles, television and the Internet. He was a contributor in Doyle Brunson’s “Super System II”. In May 2008 his own book “Power Hold’em Strategy” was released that had contributions from several poker professionals. He has also started a poker teaching web site called Poker VT. In addition he has written over 100 articles for “CardPlayer Magazine”

Negreanu is one of the more outspoken poker professionals and does not hesitate to express an opinion on any poker issue, whether on his colleagues or the establishment. He does this though text and video blogs that appear regularly on Full Contact Poker. He is always present at charity poker tournaments and one which is close to his heart is the Make a Wish Foundation.

Negreanu lives with his wife Lori in Las Vegas. He relaxes by shooting pool and playing video games with friends. He also loves golf, which he plays for high stakes with other poker professionals.