Poker Profiles: Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu is of Romanian parents but was born and bred in Ontario, Canada. Eight years before Daniel was born in July 26, 1974, his parents moved from Romania to Canada and settled there.
Daniel had a normal life growing up until he discovered the gains in gambling. Daniel was a couple of credits short to complete his senior year in high school because it was around that time when he began his career. He first played as a rounder at local charity casinos and as a regular in illegal games around the Toronto. It was in Toronto that he met Evelyn Ng who turned out as his protege-girlfriend. When he had enough money to gamble on, he moved to Las Vegas and tried his luck there. Apparently, the first try brought him back home to rebuild his bankroll.
Daniel came back to Las Vegas in 1997, started winning cash games, and never looked back. His first big win was in a World Poker Finals where he pursed a total cash prize of $133,600 and a recognition of being the Best All-Around Player of the tournament. That feat was followed by a $169,460 win at the World Series of Poker's $2,000 Pot No Limit Hold'em. At that time until 2004, he was holding the record for being the youngest WSOP bracelet bearer in Poker history.
Daniel's 1998 WSOP bracelet was followed by two more, another two World Poker Tour wins, and about 11 appearances at the final tables. The Poker world soon took note of his ability and as a result, he was made Wynn Las Vegas Resort's Poker Ambassador in 2005. On the latter part of the year, Daniel quit playing for Wynn because it was limiting his opportunities to play outside and started an online Poker site of his own called Full sontact Poker. Aside from a cardroom, Full Contact Poker was enlivened with updates on Daniel's Poker life through blogs and a variety of Poker forums. His stint as KidPoker brought him closer to Poker fans worldwide.
In 2006, Daniel decided to pass on his Poker abilities to promising players through his online site. He looked for a protege who will be molded to play for world-class live tournaments. As a prize, the winner will receive free entry fees worth $10,000 in four buy-in events. Bryan Fiddler was first to win the prize followed by 2007's champ Anthony Mak.
At present, Daniel is busy tending his Poker career even more. He has stopped holding online cardgames at Full Contact Poker, bringing it back to its original form (an informational site), and signed up to play with other distinguished Poker stars Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, and Joe Hachem at PokerStars.com. His total winnings has already exceeded the $9 million mark.