Daniel Negreanu is one of the most well-known tournament players in poker history, with six World Series of Poker gold bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles to his name. It may sound hard to believe but the 46-year-old Poker Hall of Fame member hasn`t won a single title since 2013, a fact he changed on Wednesday when he championed Event #7: $50K NLHE of the 2021 PokerGO Cup.
The GGPoker Ambassador, Negreanu came from the middle of the pack at the five-player final table from an original field of 35 entries in the tournament to eliminate all four of his FT opponents, including the red-hot Ali Imsirovic in 5th place and David Coleman in HU to win the $700k top prize. With the victory, Negreanu’s live tournament winnings have reached $43.06 Million.
Post his first victory in 8 years, Negreanu said, “If I look at my results since 2013, I’ve cashed for $20 to $30 million, so I’ve still been able to post wins in terms of finances, but the elusive top prize has been missing. I’ve been a bridesmaid so many times. Just the demons and the ghosts in your brain, like when I’m heads up with [David Coleman] and that three hit the turn, it was just every reminder, like Buckner back in Shea Stadium. Every possible bad thing I’m thinking in my head. I can’t help it. I’m human. So to get that win out of the way, it feels like I don’t have to think about that anymore.”
“I think my game is better than it’s ever been. I feel like I’ve competed well all week…I had a bubble, I had two min-cashes, and then I had this one. I feel like I’ve been in there. I have the utmost respect for my opponents and how good they are. I do believe it’s the best learning ground, too – watching what the top players do, the Ali Imsirovic’s, the Jake Schindler’s, and Alex Foxen – there are so many great players here.”
Despite scoring three eliminations at the FT, Negreanu entered the heads-up with 2.3 Million versus Coleman’s 2.95 Million. However, he was able to overtake the lead and then extend it to finally clinch the title. On the final hand, Coleman pitted his pocket fives against Negreanu’s king-ten, who missed the flop and the turn but found a ten on the river to win the title and the top prize worth $700K.
He's done it‼️ @RealKidPoker secures his first major victory since 2013, outlasting a final table that included @aliImsirovic & @WAFoxen & besting David Coleman heads-up to take down Event 7: $50,000 NLH for $700,000‼️ pic.twitter.com/wCfLRJG4CW
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) July 14, 2021
The victory is Negreanu’s seventh PokerGO Tour cash and his third ITM finish at the PokerGO Cup series. It has catapulted him to the second spot on the PokerGO Cup Leaderboard with 470 points, behind Ali Imsirovic, whose fifth-place finish in the event took his leaderboard tally to 497 points.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Daniel Negreanu — $700,000
- David Coleman — $455,000
- Alex Foxen — $280,000
- Sergi Reixach — $192,500
- Ali Imsirovic — $122,500