There’s no denying that Mr. Daniel Negreanu is one of the foremost poker players in the world, although reading Youtube comments might convince you otherwise. Armchair analysts are quick to criticise a call or bluff from the security of their anonymity.
This practice is particularly common on clips from High Stakes Poker, where Daniel is generally regarded as one of the least successful players. To be fair, he never seems to catch a break in front of the camera. More than anyone else on the show, Negreanu gets his money in with the best of it, but ends up with the worst of it.
Being a millionaire poker pro and the face of the world’s biggest online poker site doesn’t soften the impact of a bad beat. Especially when you’re watching hundreds of thousands of dollars crawl across the table to your opponent’s stack. Lets take a look at five of his most gut-wrenching hands.
Durrrr Rivers the Gutshot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt1n8fEeCEo
Luckily for him, Danny boy managed to get away from this hand on the river, but up until that point he’d been in command of the pot. Having only a 6 kicker to go with his Ace top pair probably helped, but when your opponent is drawing thin with K-Q second pair, you’ve got to feel good about your chances. As ever, though, it wasn’t to be.
Four Fours for the Frenchman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07U3b70yEsY
You could quite reasonably suggest that this one was misplayed by Negreanu. Sure he has an overpair to a raggy board, but raising all-in on the turn is a pretty big misstep. The only rational explanation is that Daniel thought that Benyamine was trying to pull the wool over his eyes.
David makes a big raise on the flop which Negreanu calls. When he commits his chips there, has he signed his own death warrant? If you’re calling on the flop, why slow down when another 4 hits? He obviously doesn’t put Benyamine on a set, so there’s no reason to consider quads on the turn.
E-Dog buys a Boat
Erik Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu are old friends, so its almost possible to forgive the glee with which Erik reports, “I two-outed you there” as he flips his cards. If this were just a one of slice of bad luck, Daniel might not be so crestfallen, but he knows this is yet another case of playing a hand well and losing money anyway.
Four of the Best for Lindgren
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyW0shN8CNg
And he’s back! Once again, Erik “crazy golf prop-bet” Lindgren stabs a dagger into the back of his buddy Daniel Negreanu. If having someone hit quads against you wasn’t bad enough, how about having them hit it after you’ve made the nut straight on the flop. I mean, what are the odds of running into quads twice on national TV?
The Great Dane and the Savage Beat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ufZ-DHVCBQ
OK, so how about running into quads three times? And how about this time, rather than a straight, we’ll let you turn a full house and watch as you collide with the only hand that could possibly beat you. That’ll cost $300,000 sir.
Let me know what you think of Daniel’s play and whether I’ve overlooked any classics.