Daniel Negreanu Chooses His Top Five WSOP 2010 Bets

Today, the 41st annual WSOP 2010 gets underway at Harrah’s Rio Casino in Las Vegas. In the meantime the poker world is eagerly anticipating who will be the stars of the game who manage to capture some of the 57 prestigious bracelets on offer.
When it comes to picking winners, Daniel Negreanu knows a thing or two of what to look for and so he decided to share his top five bets at this year’s event with PokerListings.
Never one to beat around the bush, Negreanu naturally chose himself as a prime bracelet contender and few would argue with his WSOP credentials, either. Negreanu has won 4 WSOP bracelets over his career, in 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2008, cashing a total 43 times at the event.
Commenting on his chances, Negreanu said; “I’m going to play a lot of tournaments. The key is I’m good at all the games where the short fields are going to be, split-pot games, stud games and all that kind of thing. So I’m a good bet.”
Not surprisingly, multiple WSOP winner Phil Ivey is high on Negreanu’s pick list, having notched up a win in 2000, 3 wins in 2002, 2005 and 2 wins in 2009. His incredible record of 7 bracelets over 9 years, and 22 final table finishes puts Ivey in a league of his own, but Negreanu does emphasise that Ivey’s motivation will play a crucial role in his success. As he explains:
“If he has the side action he’s a good bet, if he doesn’t he’s not. It’s just that simple. Without the side action he just doesn’t try as hard. I mean, he’ll always be a good bet in the Main Event, but that’s the hardest to win.”
Next up is Juan Carlos Mortensen, who won the Main Event in 2001 and the $5,000 Limit Hold’em in 2003. Mortensen also has a fearless reputation and has been running real hot already this year having won the L.A. Poker Classic in February, and Hollywood Poker Open in March.
Scott Seiver is Negreanu’s fourth choice, and although having only picked up the one bracelet in 2008, the young pro from Cold Springs Harbor, NY has been living up to his potential recently with a win at the L.A Poker Classic WPT Event in February.
“Seiver is also really hot,” says Negreanu. “I don’t know if he knows the other games yet, but if he plays all the No-Limit events, and I think he will, he’s a really good bet to win a bracelet.”
Finally, despite no WSOP, WPT or EPT titles to his name, Justin Bonomo has reached a WSOP final table for the last three years in a row and cashed a total of 11 times at the event. Explaining his rationale for choosing Bonomo, Negreanu explained:
“The thing with picking people to win bracelets is you want to pick people who really want to win them and I know Justin does.”
To find out how Negreanu’s picks are faring at WSOP 2010, don’t forget to check back here for all the latest news at OnlinePoker.net.