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Name: Daniel Negreanu
Born: July 26, 1974
Birth Place: Toronto, Ontario CA
Current Residence: Las Vegas
When it comes to the game of poker, Daniel Negreanu is one of the most well-liked players. This young and outgoing poker player is also a likeable person away from the poker table. His charisma and disarming personality makes him one of the more popular players on the poker table. And because of his winning record on the poker table and positive image, PokerStars has chosen Negreanu to be one of their sponsored elite professional poker players.
A native of Romania, his parents, Constantin and Ann fled this erstwhile communist country in 1967 to start a new life in the United States. However, they finally found their home in Toronto, where Constantin was able to get a stable job working as an electrician. It was after a few years that Daniel was born, their second child after five years. Daniel grew in a relatively supportive and settled environment and even at an early stage, he already knew that he was destined for something big. He began to dabble on things that were considered unconventional during that time. Indeed, Daniel also showed signs that he is not just another kid on the block.
While chasing his dream of establishing a career in comedy and serious acting, the 15-year-old lad started playing poker during his downtime. After a year, Daniel found himself spending more time on the poker table than in his original fascination. He started doing a lot of things that are closely associated with gaming and became a regular fixture of pool halls and actively engaging in sports betting and playing cards.
Due to his increasing fascination with the poker game, Daniel not only ditched his dreams of becoming an accomplished actor but also his studies. At 18 years old, he became a high school dropout. This happened at a time when he was already just a hair-breath away from graduation. He decided to give up everything and dedicate most of his time in perfecting his game on the poker table.
Using his disarming charm and likeable personality, he slowly tried to make a mark in the local gambling circles. He even went as far as trying his luck at the illegal games that were proliferating during that time. His regular rounds of the gambling circuit were perked up by his alliance with a local dealer named Evelyn. In his sincere effort to put some semblance of normalcy to his daily routine, Negreanu tried to maintain a regular day job as a telemarketer and as a worker at a Subway. Unfortunately, his calling is really in the world of casino gaming.
Driven by his young fervor and armed with raw optimism, Negreanu took all that he earned and tried to test his mettle against the world’s top poker players in Las Vegas. After seven months, he went home broke and a loser. Instead of losing interest, he used this humbling experience as a motivation to improve his skills in card games. He patiently built a solid reputation and bankroll in Toronto and after gaining the experience and skills, he made his way to Las Vegas for another shot at the pot of gold.
It was also during his second stint in Las Vegas that his father died. It was this event that led him to reassess his priorities in life and decided that he was indeed destined to become a full-fledged poker player. With more focus and intent, Negreanu’s career as a poker player started to pick up and he slowly carved his own niche in the gambling community in Las Vegas.
It was in 1997 that he started to rack up substantial winnings in succession, and these include his coming-out stints at the World Poker Finals in Foxwoods. After the dust had settled, Negreanu was declared the top all-around player of the poker tournament. Goaded by his amazing winning streak and renewed confidence, Negreanu joined the Poker’s World Series the following year. He immediately stamped his mark at the poker table by winning the very first event that he participated in – the Hold’em, which has a pot-limit of $2,000. He made history by becoming the youngest winner of the bracelet. He successfully defended the title until 2004. Today, Negreanu is known in gambling circuits as the “Kid Poker.”
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