Daniel Negreanu Drawing Thin in Poker Masters Purple Jacket Bets
One of the biggest stories headed into the inaugural Poker Masters at ARIA Resort and Casino was Daniel Negreanu’s massive number of side bets.
If you recall, Negreanu took to Twitter at the beginning of the month to offer a $50,000 even-money must-win bet. Negreanu was willing to bet that he would win the Poker Masters Purple Jacket™, while any takers were betting on themselves to win.
At least 20 players accepted the bet, which meant that if Negreanu wins the Poker Masters — determined by winning the most amount of money over five events — then he will receive $50,000 from each of those players. In other words, he could win an additional $1 million if he prevails.
Unfortunately for "Kid Poker," it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. He only managed a single cash in the four preliminary events (he finished eighth in Event #1: $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em for $102,000). However, all hope is not lost as the $100,000 buy-in freezeout finale is yet to take place.
If Negreanu can do well in that tournament, which likely means finishing first or second place (at worst), and other big Poker Masters earners fall short, he could still conceivably win the bet. It won’t be easy though.
Poker Masters Purple Jacket Standings After Four Events
| Rank | Player | Country | Wins | Cashes | TV Final Tables | Final Tables | Events Played | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steffen Sontheimer | Germany | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | $1,221,000 |
| 2 | Bryn Kenney | USA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | $1,085,000 |
| 3 | Nick Schulman | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $918,000 |
| 4 | Brandon Adams | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | $819,000 |
| 5 | Doug Polk | USA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | $612,000 | |
| 6 | Erik Seidel | USA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | $576,000 | |
| 7 | Matt Hyman | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | $561,000 | |
| 8 | Fedor Holz | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $550,000 | |
| 9 | Jake Schindler | USA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | $409,500 | |
| 10 | Stefan Schillhabel | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $306,000 | |
| 11 | Tom Marchese | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | $300,000 | |
| 12 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | $277,500 | |
| 13 | David Peters | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $273,000 | |
| 14 | Phil Hellmuth | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $200,000 | |
| 15 | Dan Smith | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $192,000 | |
| 16 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $178,500 | |
| 17 | Justin Bonomo | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $175,500 | |
| 18 | Christian Christner | Germany | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | $175,000 | |
| 19 | Koray Aldemir | Germany | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $153,000 | |
| 20 | Cary Katz | USA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $120,000 | |
| 21 | Daniel Negreanu | Canada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | $102,000 | |
| 22 | Dan Shak | USA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | $100,000 | |
| 23 | Sergio Aido | Spain | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | $96,000 | |
| 24 | Zach Clark | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $0 | |
| 25 | Sean Winter | USA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | $0 | |
| 26 | Stephen Chidwick | UK | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | $0 |
Right now, German pro Steffen Sontheimer, known to his friends as “Goose,” is out in front with $1,221,000 after making three final tables. It started when he finished fourth in Event #1 for $204,000 and then won Event #2 for $900,000. In Event #3, he busted in eighth place, which was the money bubble, and on Sunday finished fifth in Event #4 for $117,000.
Sontheimer is one of the players that accepted the bet, meaning if he wins Negreanu will have to pay him $50,000. Others doing quite well in the Poker Masters race are Event #3 champ Bryn Kenney, who has amassed $1.085 million in earnings, and Event #1 winner Nick Schulman, who currently sits in third with $918,000 in winnings.
According to Negreanu’s Tweet dated Sept. 12, Kenney is in on the bet, but Schulman is not. In the instance someone not in on the bet wins the Poker Masters, then everything is a wash, which at this point might be Negreanu’s best shot at saving $50K.
Others in contention for the Poker Masters title that didn’t bet, and could therefore save Negreanu money, are Erik Seidel, Matt Hyman, and Phil Hellmuth. By the end of the series, Negreanu could very well be pulling for one of those players. Can you imagine Negreanu as a Hellmuth fan, even if it's only for a day?
Current list of players I have $50k bets against to win the Purple Jacket
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)
It’s also worth noting that Charlie Carrel and Nick Petrangelo were on the list, but both failed to show up for the Poker Masters. Fortunately for them, it was laid out in the terms that “if a player doesn’t play any of the events, the bet is a wash.”
Just one more event remains in the inaugural Poker Masters. On Monday at 2 p.m., Event #5: $100,000 NLHE will get underway. That tournament will award the biggest first-place prize of the series, which means everyone is still in the running to win The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™.
Watch the final event of the Poker Masters on PokerGO and follow the live updates right here at PokerNews.com.
