The Poker Hand I'll Never Forget: Daniel Negreanu
It’s the hand that put you over the top. Or the two cards you held that time you were rivered for a monster pot. Everyone has “the hand,” that one that you remember no matter how many more tournaments or cash games played. PokerNews takes a look at those hands that stick with players and relive the glory, or misery, depending on the results.
For our second edition of this series, we spoke with Daniel Negreanu about an important hand he played during the World Series of Poker Main Event. Sixteen years later, it's the first hand the pops into his mind.
2001 World Series of Poker Main Event
Before the Rio was the home of the WSOP, Binion’s was the birthplace and setting for the biggest event in poker. There were 613 rounders in 2001 vying for the Main Event bracelet and $1.5 million top prize.
Carlos Mortensen would go on win the event, but one hand in particular comes to Daniel Negreanu’s mind immediately – as if it were only yesterday. Negreanu was deep into the tournament when a key situation emerged.
“It was 5,000 and 10,000 blinds and under the gun, Carlos made it 35,000 because that’s what people did back then,” Negreanu says. “Henry Nowakowski made it like 150,000. I put him on a small pair and I had Ace-King on the big blind, so re-raised like another 200,000. Mortensen then folded pocket nines. Henry went all-in with pocket sixes.”
Negreanu had him covered and called. The flop came J-10-blank. No help came on the turn or the river – Negreanu missed the hand and lost a big pot.
“If I had won that hand, I’d have been a massive chip leader at the final table,” he says. “It’s a hand I look back on as something I wouldn’t even do now. I would have just folded the Ace-King if I had the situation to do over.”
Negreanu finished 11th for $63,940 that year, and Nowakowski took seventh for $179,825. The final table that year was stacked with pros including: Dewey Tomko (runner-up for $1.1 million); Phil Gordon (fourth for $399,610); Phil Hellmuth (fifth $303,705); and Mike Matusow (sixth for $239,765).
A fold or a different board may have seen Negreanu at the final table and even the winner's circle.
Also Read: Mike Matusow remembers his disaster at the 2005 WSOP Main Event final table
In this Series
- 1 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Mike Matusow’s Disaster with Pocket Kings
- 2 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Daniel Negreanu’s WSOP Main Event Misstep
- 3 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Matt Glantz and the One That Got Away
- 4 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Greg Raymer and the WSOP Main Event
- 5 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Greg Raymer and the WSOP Main Event
- 6 The Hand I'll Never Forget: James Woods' Massive Bad Beat Jackpot
- 7 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Hellmuth's 'White Magic' at the WSOPE Main Event
- 8 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Phil Laak Gets Bluffed at 2010 WSOP Europe
- 9 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Around The World With Jaime Staples
- 10 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Alex Foxen's Big Call Down
- 11 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Jean-Robert, the Cooler & the Comeback
- 12 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Elezra’s Straight Flush & Celine Dion Prank
- 13 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Phil Galfond’s $50-$100 Bad Beat
- 14 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Quads Over Quads with Norm MacDonald
- 15 The Hand I'll Never Forget: McEvoy Takes Big Pot From Amarillo Slim
- 16 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Dutch Boyd's 2003 WSOP Check-Raise Jam
- 17 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Emmitt Smith Exits 2010 Main Event
- 18 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Jessica Dawley's Wreckage on the River
- 19 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Tristan Wade Spikes a Huge River
- 20 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Dylan Hortin Misses a Shot at Becoming a Millionaire
- 21 The Hand I'll Never Forget: Andy Black Five-Bet Stuffs on Phil Ivey
- 22 Hand I'll Never Forget: Actor Kevin Pollak Finds Perspective on Crushing 2012 Main Event Bad Beat
- 23 Hand I'll Never Forget: Tom Koral Catches Triple Barrel Bluff, Wins Second WSOP Bracelet
