Daniel Negreanu Wins WSOP Player of the Year for Second Time

3 min read

The 2013 World Series of Poker Europe was a whirlwind series of events for Daniel Negreanu. He edged closer and closer to winning the WSOP Player of the Year, and hoped to set a record by becoming the first player ever to win the award twice. And he did it.

Long, Hard Fight for the Title

On October 18, Negreanu was running deep in the WSOPE Main Event and ended up finishing in 25th place at the end of that night’s play. He then entered the €25,000 buy-in WSOPE High Roller tournament and ran well during the first two days of play. On the third day, Negreanu knew he needed to finish in eighth place or better; and by pushing hard, he soared. After making it to the top eight players, Negreanu knew that he had made poker history. From his Twitter handle @RealKidPoker he tweeted, “I DID IT!!! WSOP PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOR THE SECOND TIME!! AHHHH I CAN’T BELIEVE IT” soon after clinching the title.

Another WSOP Bracelet to Boot

Not only did Negreanu make it into the money of the WSOPE High Roller event (only the top nine players were paid), but he kept doubling up and then made it to heads-up play against Nicolau Villa-Lobos. Negreanu won the tournament, putting icing on the cake by winning his sixth WSOP gold bracelet.

Negreanu’s Past Victories

When Negreanu won the WSOP Player of the Year award in 2004, he had earned a total of $4.4 million from live tournaments that year. At the WSOP alone, which back then was held only in Las Vegas, he started the spring series with a 43rd place finish in a $2,000 NLHE event and then took third at the final table of a $1,000 NLHE tournament for more than $100,000. Days later, he finished seventh at the final table of the $2,500 LHE event and then won his third career WSOP bracelet by taking down a $2,000 LHE event for more than $169,000. Negreanu finished the series in ninth place in a $1,500 NLHE Shootout and eighth in a $5,000 PLO event.

A Series of Great Wins in 2013

In 2013, the story has been different due to the availability of tournaments in three different locations around the world throughout the year. In April, Negreanu traveled to the inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in Melbourne and made the final table of the $2,200 Mixed event, finishing fourth. Days later, he won the $10,000 NLHE Championship event for more than $1 million and his fifth bracelet. At the summer series, he cashed in a $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, $2,500 Seven Card Stud, a $3,000 NLHE Mixed Max, $5,000 NLHE 6-Handed, and $5,000 PLO 6-Handed. He finished his series with a second place finish in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event for more than $107,000. Then he took his game to Paris for the WSOPE and secured the Player of the Year title.

Negreanu had several other scores throughout the year, one of which was at the World Poker Tour World Championship, where he finished seventh for more than $137,000. During the European Poker Tour, he finished fourth at the Grand Final Main Event in Monte Carlo in May for €321,000 and then came in second in the EPT Barcelona High Roller event for nearly €264,000.

Thus far, Negreanu has totaled more than $3.2 million in live earnings, his second best year to date.



Related Posts

Did you know about our poker forum? Discuss all the latest poker news in the CardsChat forum

Popular Stories