Negreanu Walks Away With Poker Masters NLHE Title

Daniel Negreanu is one of the best poker players to have ever picked up cards. The popular Canadian has $43,579,904 in live tournament winnings, helped by securing six World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets.

Negreanu endured a barren spell regarding winning tournaments. His victory in the €25,600 High Roller event at the 2013 WSOP Europe festival was, until recently, Kid Poker’s last outright victory. He now has two major wins since June 2021.

First place and $700,000 went to Negreanu in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em event a the PokerGO Cup in July. Another victory came this week in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the 2021 Poker Masters. The slump is officially over: Negreanu is back in business.

Negreanu Bests Super-Talented Field

Sixty-six players bought into the fifth event of the 2021 Poker Masters. Only ten of those starters received a slice of the $660,000 prize pool.

Dan Shak popped the money bubble on Day 1 when his Ac-Kh failed to stay ahead of Jake Daniels’ Kc-Qc. Daniels hit a runner-runner straight to send Shak to the showers.

Jake Schindler, PokerGO founder Cary Katz, and Dylan DeStefano joined Shak on the rail, albeit with some prize money to show for their efforts.

Negreanu busted Justin Saliba in seventh place when his jacks held against Saliba’s ace-four. The elimination of Barry Hutter in sixth, again at the hands of Negreanu, left only five players in the hunt for the title.

Being responsible for a handful of eliminations gifted Negreanu the chip lead as the curtain came down on Day 1.

Playing Well, Running Hotter

The short-stacked Jeffrey Trudeau was the first bust-out on Day 2. His attempts to double up failed miserably, although he collected $52,800.

Daniels headed for the exits in fourth for $66,000 before Negreanu dispatched Vikenty Shegal in third, a finish good for $85,800.

That exit left Nick Petrangelo and Negreanu lock horns one-on-one. Petrangelo held a sizeable lead, but a relative cooler at the 40,000/80,000/80,000a level changed that.

Petrangelo opened to 180,000 with Ac-7c and called when Negreanu three-bet to 610,000 with Ad-Qc. The dealer spread the As-Qd-Jh flop, Negreanu bet 725,000, and Petrangelo called. Both players checked the 4h turn, but Negreanu fired 1,800,000 on the 4s river. Petrangelo called and was left with 760,000 chips.

It was all over the next hand. Negreanu limp-called on the button with pocket aces with Petrangelo shoving with Qs-Ts. No help arrived from the board, and Petrangelo busted in second for $132,000. Negreanu won again, this victory coming with $178,200 in prize money.

2021 Poker Masters Event #5: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Results

Place	Player	Prize	Points
1	Daniel Negreanu	$178,200	179
2	Nick Petrangelo	$132,000	132
3	Vikenty Shegal	$85,800	86
4	Jake Daniels	$66,000	66
5	Jeffrey Trudeau	$52,800	53
6	Barry Hutter	$39,600	40
7	Justin Saliba	$33,000	33
8	Dylan DeStafano	$26,400	26
9	Cary Katz	$26,400	26
10	Jake Schindler	$19,800	20

A delighted Negreanu spoke to the PokerGO commentary team shortly after his win.”Poker Masters means a lot to me because I remember the first one that they had. I remember it was the first moment that I realized, ‘Oh my God, these guys are just better than me.’ It made me realize that I have to go back to the lab and work. Then to see the work pay off in the PokerGO Cup is awesome. To go back-to-back, with a chance now to come full circle and win the jacket, I really feel strongly not only that I can but I feel like I’m going to win it. I feel like I’m running well and everything’s going good.”

Negreanu is focused on the remainder of the Poker Masters schedule, but must have one eye on the upcoming 2021 WSOP. The first event shuffles up and deal on September 30, and he has 88 chances to add to his bracelet tally.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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