UPDATE: Daniel Negreanu Loses Massive Race to Bust Deep in WSOP $500 Kickoff
Daniel Negreanu’s 11-year World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet drought will have to wait at least a few more days. As has been the case the past few years, the Poker Hall of Famer couldn’t win a race and was eliminated in 16th place in the $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout.
As we reported earlier in the day, Negreanu was deep and among the chip leaders in a tournament that had over 3,400 entrants. At around 4:30 p.m. PT on Day 2 (Thursday), he went to battle with another chip leader – Shawn Smith.
The hand, caught by live reporter Kaitlyn Jeffers, began with Jason Wheeler raising preflop before Smith three-bet with 10♣10♦ on the button. Negreanu, holding A♣K♣ then jammed all in, forcing Wheeler off the hand. Smith, however, made the call and off to the races in a nearly 100 big blind pot.
For Negreanu, it was much the same as the 2♣J♦5♠3♦9♠ board meant he’d lost another race, and it put Smith atop the leaderboard deep on Day 2. Following the hand, Negreanu was down to less than one big blind and busted right after.
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Droughts don't last forever, right? That's what Daniel Negreanu, who hasn't won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet since 2013, is hoping for as he's deep and big stacked in Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout.
The tournament, which began on Wednesday at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, had 3,485 entrants, but only a tiny fraction of those players are still standing at the time of publishing, one of them being the aforementioned Poker Hall of Famer.
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Is it Finally DNegs' Time?
One of the most baffling droughts in poker is Negreanu, a six-time bracelet winner, having not won a bracelet since 2013. Even more baffling is the fact he hasn't won a WSOP title on American soil since 2008.
During that 11-year drought, he's been a WSOP Player of the Year contender many times, an award he won in 2004 and 2013. He puts in as much volume each year as anyone, and his results since 2013 at the WSOP have included some massive scores, including a runner-up finish to Dan Colman in the 2014 $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop for $8.3 million.
The GGPoker ambassador has finished one spot shy of a title five times since his last bracelet, which took place at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) series on October 24, 2013 — 3,871 days ago.
Negreanu's fans can tune in to PokerNews live reporting coverage on Thursday and Friday (if he reaches the final table) to follow along in his quest to finally end the bracelet drought. At the time of publishing, only 33 players remained and "DNegs" was second in chips, barely behind Tamas Lendvai. The winner will be paid $175,578.
Negreanu is off to a hot start in 2024 in tournament poker. As such, he commanded the highest price — $132 — at the WSOP $25k Fantasy Draft. For the poker legend to give the team that drafted him full value, he'll need to win at least one bracelet, if not two or more. He just might make it happen before the week ends.