Introducing Daniel Negreanu: The World-Famous Poker Player
Published Date: 20 Jun, 2022 Updated date: 20 Jun, 2022
By
Phil
Poker is a notoriously tricky game to play and even more difficult to do professionally. This makes players with skills such as that of Daniel Negreanu all the more impressive.
Poker is a notoriously tricky game to play and even more difficult to do professionally. This makes players with skills such as that of Daniel Negreanu all the more impressive.
Born on July 26th, 1974, Daniel Negreanu is one of Canada’s most famous celebrity poker players. His biggest wins to date are the six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets he’s received as well as the two World Poker Tour (WPT) championship titles. These wins solidified Negreanu’s status within the poker community and solidified his spot in the Poker Hall of Fame back in 2014.
Daniel Negreanu: Personal Life
Daniel Negreanu was married to his first wife Lori Lin Weber back in August 2005. The pair were reportedly married in Las Vegas and had their reception at the infamous Le Bête nightclub. They got married in front of a crowd of family and friends including Mike Matusow, Jenifer Harman, Ted Forrest, Chan Giang, and Eli Elezra.
However, a demanding poker playing schedule is said to be the reason for the pair split after two years of marriage in 2007. However, the pair are said to remember their union fondly and have never had a bad word to say about each other publicly. Lori has remained out of the spotlight ever since their breakup, preferring a private life.
After splitting with Lori, it looked like he was made for single life. He kept his private life very much private with little to no evidence of him dating. But it turns out he was dating his current wife, AmandaNegreanu (previously Leatherman), from 2009 till their wedding in 2019.
AmandaNegreanu was a host of The PokerStars.Net Big Game – a poker tournament show which appears to be how the two met. They kept their relationship pretty far under the radar, preferring their privacy. Their appearance on each other’s social media appears limited up until their engagement in 2019 and their marriage the same year.
Amanda has had her own prosperous career as a presenter having also starred in the World Poker Tour TV series that’s been running since 2003. She also played the character of Monica Lafontaine in the 2011 film Detention.
Daniel has also been linked to fellow Canadian poker player Evelyn Ng. They dated way back in 1992 when Evelyn was just starting out as a dealer for blackjack and poker. Daniel reportedly taught Evelyn how to play poker and how to win against particularly hostile opponents. Evelyn and Daniel stayed on good terms after their split with Evelyn even attending Daniel’s first wedding to Lori Lin Weber.
Daniel Negreanu: Childhood and Parents
Daniel Negreanu was born to parents Annie and Constantin who had moved over to Toronto from Romania seven years prior. This means that he can also speak Romanian fluently thanks to his parents. He only has one sibling, his brother Mike, who was born five years before Daniel.
Daniel had a difficult time at school and was constantly berated by his principals about his behavior. But Daniel had dreams other than school. By the time he was 15, he wanted to become one of the best professional snooker players. This soon turned to dreams of playing poker as he started playing card games at 16.
Daniel Negreanu’s Poker Journey
When Daniel realized he was a few credits short of graduating high school, he decided to pack it all in and pursue his poker-playing dream. He spent his time as a rounder at some local casinos whilst also looking for any illegal games to play. Daniel was dating Evelyn at this time and the pair were often seen at games together.
After getting enough funds behind him, Daniel headed to Las Vegas. He was only 22 at the time and tried to pursue his dream of becoming a poker player. However, he didn’t succeed at first. After a while, the gaming scene in Las Vegas got the better of him and he had to head home to save up again.
It proved to be the second time lucky for Daniel though as once this first setback was behind him, he started winning tournaments. This then led him to have a long and successful poker career, winning multiple tournaments and cash games.
In 1997, he managed to bag a win of $55,064 and was named the best all-around player at Foxwoods’ World Poker Final. He continued his winning streak into the next year when he won his first World Series of Poker event. Daniel then continued this winning streak for the next six years.
Where is Daniel Negreanu now?
Daniel Negreanu is still playing poker although not at the same rate as he was at the start of his career when playing with famous sports players. After 20 years in the game, Daniel now limits his poker games to matches against long-standing rivals such as Phil Hellmuth and Doug Polk.
Daniel played a high-stakes grudge match with Doug in 2020 after years of feuding. They played 25,00 hands of No-Limit Texas Hold’em with the duel only ending on the 4th of February of the following year. Polk was the successor winning $1,200,00 over 25,000 hands.
When he’s not playing year-long matches with rivals, Daniel also teaches poker through MasterClass. His video lessons total 7 hours and 40 minutes as well as a 122-page workbook that explains the video lesson content.
Daniel Negreanu is one of the most accomplished celebrity poker players around, as his world titles prove. You might struggle to get to the level of notoriety that he has but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible!
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