Daniel Negreanu Reflects Upon Worst “Bad Beat” of Career

Daniel Negreanu, 43, is one of the world’s most recognizable poker players, and is currently placed at number one on the ‘All Time Money List’ with a massive $35,269,814 in winnings. The pro also has a further 6 WSOP bracelets to his name, and yet despite all his incredible success, one hand out of the countless he has played over the years still continues to haunt him.
During a recent interview with ‘For The Win‘, Negreanu went into details about the worst “bad beat” he has endured throughout his career, with the hand magnified in importance due to it coming at the latter stages of the WSOP Main Event.
Recounting the fateful hand, Negreanu said that he was the $10k buy-in tournament’s chip leader with just 12 players remaining when he got involved in a huge hand holding A-K to his opponent’s pocket sixes. The flop then ran out blank for Negreanu, after which the Canadian pro lost momentum in the event and eventually was eliminated in 11th place for $63,940. Looking back on the fateful hand, Negreanu explained:
“I lost the pot, a huge coin-flip situation. What really stings is I would be in that situation today and I never would have played the hand the way I did. I would have just folded it. You don’t get many opportunities to get that close to winning the Main Event. That sticks out. That’s one I’ll never forget.”
Carlos Mortensen ended up winning the title that year for $1.5 million, with the Spanish player subsequently inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2016. Other recognizable players also cutting through its 613 player field to make the final table included such players as Mike Matusow (6th), Phil Hellmuth Jr (5th), Phil Gordon (4th), and Dewey Tomko (2nd).
Meanwhile, Negreanu says he laments not making the most of his golden opportunity, although he is experienced enough to be thankful of the success he has enjoyed from the game.
“If you’re a professional poker player, you’re beating the odds. No longer do you feel like you need a Main Event title to say you’ve done it all,” commented Negreanu.