Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu Ends Dry Spell With Super High Roller Bowl Victory

Posted on: October 8, 2022, 07:28h. 

Last updated on: October 8, 2022, 08:29h.

Erik Gibbs Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Gaming Business, Global Gaming.

It took two years and a couple of bad beat, but Daniel Negreanu has finally picked up another major poker tournament victory. The Canadian poker pro and six-time WSOP winner shipped the $300K Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) for $3.3 million.

Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu participates in the WSOP 2021 poker tournament series. The longtime pro finally broke his losing streak, taking down the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl event (Image: Getty Images)

Friday’s action played down to a final table that was going to leave one person unhappy. There were five players left, and only four could end in the money.

In the end, the hated role of bubble man fell to Orpen Kisacikoglu, who started the final table action as the short stack. Taking him out was Andrew Lichtenberger, with Q-Q vs A-Q and a smooth board. From there, “DNegs” Negreanu knew he had a real shot at the title.

The Chips Begin To Fall

Justin Bonomo, who took down Negreanu when they met in the final heads-up battle in the same event in 2018, came out in turn at the hands of Lichtenberger. His 8-8 wasn’t enough to compete against J-J after the board ran out.

Bonomo missed the top prize, but he collected $720,000. That was enough to push him to the top of the All-Time Money List with $57.7 million, according to Hendon Mob.

Lichtenberger, “Luckychewy,” wasn’t so lucky as the game progressed. He fell and ended up as the short stack. Then, he hit the rail after Negreanu dominated him with A-6 over K-6. The US pro added $1.15 million to his $13 million in live tournament winnings as he shook hands and left the table.

This left only two – Petrangelo and Negreanu. Heads-up starts very unbalanced, as “Kid Poker” Negreanu had a sizable chip lead. He was sitting on a stack of around six million, while Petrangelo only had about 1.3 million.

The inertia of the match never really seems to change in the first half-hour of play. Negreanu was on a mission – he was determined to break his two-year losing streak. Methodically, he chipped away at his opponent’s stack, wearing Petrangelo down.

With an overwhelming lead, Negreanu shoved all-in with Q-7. Petrangelo had no choice but to call, hoping his K-5 would find a match on the board. There was no help coming, though, and he would have to settle for $2.01 million and a second-place finish.

The Hand Heard’ Round The World

Negreanu scored a monster hand earlier in the 24-player tourney that turned the tides, and it couldn’t have happened against a better opponent.

Kid Poker, who lost over $1 million during this year’s WSOP, suffered a bad beat at the Poker Masters $50K event. His pocket Aces fell to pocket Jacks after Seth Davies picked up trips on the turn. Undeterred, he immediately began preparing for the next event.

It paid off, and he got his revenge on the bad beat from the previous event. Facing alleged poker cheat Bryn Kenney early on, he defended his position with a weak 3-3, not knowing that Kenney was sitting on pocket Aces.

Kenney led off under the gun with a 5K bet, to which Negreanu responded in kind. When the flop revealed A-5-4, Kenney had to appreciate his trip Aces. However, Kid Poker was also looking at a possible straight. After he checked, Kenney threw out another 5K in chips and Negreanu called.

The turn became the turning point. A 3 gave Negreanu trips and hope. He obviously didn’t know that Kenney was also sitting on a set, so he threw out 10K in chips, with Kenney following right behind.

The river gave Negreanu the only card that would keep him from defeat. He would have likely made a run on the pot holding a set of 3s, which would have fallen against Kenney’s trip Aces. However, a 3 on the river gave Kid Poker quads.

Negreanu put out 25K of his chips, with Kenney raising to 105K, confident his Aces-high boat was unbeatable. Kid Poker shoved, Kenney responded, and they revealed their cards. Kenney could only walk away, while Negreanu gained a lot more confidence to carry him through to victory.