888poker's new podcast welcomes Daniel Negreanu, a Poker Hall of Famer with over $50 million in live earnings into the 888Ride.
As probably the most recognisable poker face in the entire world, Daniel has six WSOP bracelets to his name and is a two-time Player of the Year.
But his fame stretched beyond poker, with countless TV appearances and even a series of Masterclass classes.
Daniel takes us down memory lane in this episode, discussing his early days in Toronto. We also get into his Twitter (X) beef and why/how his GTO game is now solid.
Check out the full-length Daniel Negreanu 888Ride podcast HERE.
Flying the Romanian Flag in Toronto
Daniel's parents emigrated from Romania to Canada, so he had a somewhat eclectic European-style upbringing.
His parents taught him the importance of hard work and saving money. However, in that era, Toronto was somewhat of a gambling mecca.
He got seriously into playing snooker, which was a popular sport in Toronto at the time.
But then some of the guys who played pool introduced him to poker.
Daniel quickly found himself engrained in the world of poker.
“Toronto was a great city to grow up in. Honestly, it's kind of like, oddly, people probably don't know this, [but] it was like a gambling mecca in a lot of ways.
“Like the newspaper, I remember Bob McCown would have the baseball lines and like gambling surrounded us in a way, you know.”
His father supported his career choice, and his mother came around after he bought her a house and a car!
WSOP and the Hall of Fame
Negreanu was inducted into the WSOP Hall of Fame in 2014. As it currently stands, only one person gets in every year.
Daniel has some strong ideas about how the system should work in the future.
One suggestion is to have more categories so that you’re not comparing broadcasters to actual players:
“So, the way the criteria is written, I would actually make some changes to it. The other thing I would do is - I would put in two players a year, right? Instead of one and then industry people, right?
“Which is apples to oranges, you know- the Isai Scheinberg and Matt Savages and all these types of people.
“That way, you're not like, "How do you, how do you, like, compare, like, Josh Arieh to Matt Savage?"
Daniel has much love for Chris Moneymaker. “but he doesn’t meet the criteria as a player” when he got inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
So, he has a beef with the Hall of Fame when he looks up and Isai Scheinberg is not sitting right alongside him.
Day 24 Vlog goes LIVE in 30 minutes and we discuss the @wsop Hall of Fame nominees and @tsarrast wins his 3rd Poker Player's Championship!
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 23, 2023
Full Video is in the post below but here’s a preview: pic.twitter.com/PsQrhi2Qdz
The Beefs On and Off Twitter (X)
Daniel says that the beefs with Norman Chad and The Chip Race podcast guys, Dara O’Kearney and David Lappin were initiated by them.
“So, those beefs, those ones specifically, those were not [anything] I initiated. Now, the question is, you have two choices, right? People start throwing shit out there about you. Ignore it. Let it become fact.
“Or, you know, argue for yourself. You know, defend yourself to a certain degree. And then people say, "Oh, why are you even bothered with that," right? So, it's a lose-lose either way.”
Daniel was faced with two choices regarding how to handle these attacks.
When you’re in the limelight the beefs can become significant, and "you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain in people's eyes".
And if you think Daniel can be arrogant and condescending, he agrees!
“I know that my negative traits: I can be arrogant. I can be condescending. I can be an asshole. I'm aware of that. I see it sometimes. I laugh at myself.
“I give myself that because I know that's not all of the way.”
The Doug Polk Million-Dollar Affair
In 2020, Daniel agreed to play one of his online nemeses, Doug Polk, in a heads-up grudge match. Their earth-shattering Twitter battles were epic, with a lot of mudslinging, battle threats and challenges.
Why did Daniel agree to do it?
“So, you know the match against Doug Polk, as you said, you know, I lost a million dollars or whatever, right?
"People say that was dumb, but like frankly, I put so much work in and improved my level of skill, so the million dollars didn't change my life, but the benefit I got from going through the theoretical practice, you know, benefits me long term, I think."
So, the knowledge and experience he accumulated during the process paid dividends at the end of the day.
With his new-found grasp of GTO and solvers, Daniel’s numbers in 2024 are off the charts with eight final-table finishes (as of 3/2024)
And on 24 March, he added another win to his stable of trophies with his first-place finish in the PGT for $147,500.
Looks like all that coaching is paying off!
"Now, I'm equipped with the theory, right? So, that's a good base and a solid like, you know, beginning point, but I'm not a slave to it. I'm not a slave to the sim."
