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Daniel Negreanu has hit the $50 million mark in live tournament winnings, becoming just the third player in poker history to reach the total.
The Canadian poker professional surpassed the landmark total at the 2023 PokerGO Cup after earning $124,000 for a third-place finish in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em. The two-day Las Vegas event, which had a total prize pool of $775,000, was won by the Thai pro poker player Punnat Punsri, who took home winnings of $310,000.
Popular poker tournament variations
Negreanu, also known as Kid Poker, is not averse to playing low buy-in events, such as World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments with $500 buy-ins. WSOP events feature a range of poker variations, but the majority of tournaments see players compete for glory in one of the Texas Hold'em variants. While Texas Hold’em is the most popular poker variation in the United States, a grounding in the various poker variants will help you gain insights into poker in general. As the popularity of poker grows in the US, it has been accompanied by increased interest in the many different poker variations. The gambling industry has responded by giving poker players the chance to play a wide range of poker variants including Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Three Card Poker, and Stud Poker for real money [3] at casinos. Players can also work on the development of poker strategy and put poker theories into practice in preparation for live poker tournaments.
As Negreanu propounded in his 2008 poker book “Power Holdem Strategy,” developing an understanding of strategies is the key to poker success and the best way to implement poker theories is to practice the game. Practice makes perfect! We have also documented various poker strategies [4] you can implement to improve your game.
The third player to top $50 million
Negreanu is a poker theorist and his strategic play is reflected in his live career earnings total of $50,116,498. The figure puts him in third place behind American pro poker players Justin Bonomo, who has earned $58,954,124, and Bryn Kenney with a total of $57,221,865. Stephen Chidwick is in fourth place behind Negreanu, with $44,665,133.
The 48-year-old Canadian has provided his annual profit since 2013, giving insights into how each year has panned out. In 2022, he took part in 107 events, achieving 23 cashes to achieve a cash percentage of 21.5%. His average buy-in last year was $30,136. He had total buy-ins of $3,224,564 and cashes of $4,875,609 resulting in a profit of $1,625,545.
Source: Pixabay [5]
Negreanu points out that his annual total profit refers only to live tournament results and does not take into account swaps, sales of buy-ins to fans, investors, and stakers, tax, and expenses. Over the past ten years, he has made a loss on just two occasions, in 2016 when he lost $1,246,693, and in 2017 with a loss of $86,140. His best year was in 2014 when he scooped $7,100,164.
Negreanu has revealed that his ROI would have certainly been even higher in the early 2000s when he was able to benefit from lower buy-ins. In 2004, for example, he claims that he cashed in for $4.5 million at a time when the average buy-in was around $3,500.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) December 26, 2022 [6]
Giving fans a piece of Negreanu
The Canadian gives fans and stakers the opportunity to accompany him on his live tournament journeys through the sale of buy-ins. He is at pains to explain that he does not sell buy-ins out of necessity. He views the sales as a way to engage with fans and allow them to experience a live Las Vegas tournament vicariously through his poker tournament vlogs: “I only do it for fans who want a sweat during WSOP typically so they can enjoy the ride via the vlogs and I do so at no markup.” This represents an opportunity to learn about poker strategy, in much the same way as the pro poker players [7] Daniel "Jungleman" Cates and Lynne Ji conducted an experiment with a waitress on the value of a tip, proving that it is possible to learn lessons in value in the most unlikely of circumstances.
In 2022, the popularity of the WSOP was demonstrated by the presence of Brazilian soccer star Neymar at the prestigious poker event [8]. Although the Paris Saint-Germain striker ultimately bowed out on the first day of the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship.
With Negreanu set to challenge his rivals in the WSOP 2023 Main Event, which will take place in Las Vegas between May 30 and July 18, fans will once again have the chance to observe their favorite up close and perhaps join him on the next stage of the Negreanu poker journey as he aims to challenge Bonomo and Kenney for the highest poker earnings crown.