(My interview to be seen in the upcoming issue of the Scene - all copyrights reserved)
Daniel Negreanu, one of the most recognizable and popular poker players in the world today with most of his popularity coming from his sociability at the poker table and his uncanny ability to read his opponents, was recently in Manila to play in the inaugural event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) with his new sponsor, Pokerstars.com, as the tournament’s banner sponsor.
Negreanu was in the Philippines only for a short while during the time of the interview he had a good impression of Poker in the Philippines and while he has been playing major poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT), Negreanu has played with players that hail from different countries, but he is surprised with the growth of poker in Asia especially in the Philippines. “It’s new to me coming to an Asian country I’ve never been and seeing how popular poker is here,” said Negreanu “We see a large Asian contingent in Los Angeles and the World Series but actually coming here and seeing how much press and popularity it’s great.”
Traveling and being recognizable comes with it certain responsibilities that some athletes do not particularly like to carry, Charles Barkely made it a point in one of his commercials that he was not a role model, but Negreanu welcomes the mantle of being an ambassador in Poker. “In whatever you do, if you are in the public eye, you need to conduct yourself in better and not do things that would put you in a bad light.” Negreanu does this with the same friendliness that he is known for at the felt, his approachability during the APPT press conference melted much of the shyness that the Filipinos are known for, albeit the Filipino media.
With the success that Negreanu has reached on the way to amass his over US$10 million tournament winnings at various WPT and WSOP events, he still has the need to tinker and tweak his poker game to counteract new players and the TV time that he has gotten. “I tinker my game, especially with the influx of online players and the way they play at an optimal level,” said Negreanu, “and since the TV coverage of the tournaments is extensive, a lot of people have seen my game.” He recalls the story of another poker great, Doyle Brunson and how he had to retool his game after the publishing of his first Super System book.
While other poker pros admonish players to have different game strategies when it comes to tournaments and ring games but Negreanu does concede that his tournament game and his ring game is similar, in an extreme case. “In High Stakes (Poker TV show) you are deep stack so you get play like you are in a tournament,” said Negreanu, “and you can get away with a lot more stuff than normal.” He also admits that he has a particular liking to 10-7 offsuit as the hand that he normally doesn’t play but has surprisingly been a winner for him in some situations.
In recent months, Negreanu has been in a blog-based “discussion” with the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) about their rules regarding the showing of cards in tournaments by players. He has argued that it brings a new level of play to the tournament when a player would bet and show his opponent a hole card. “It would be good TV if a player bets and then shows a queen,” said Negreanu. One of the main contentions of the TDA is that showing cards would foster collusion between players but he disagrees, “The last thing players that collude would want to do is show their cards, they would rather give each other signs or something.” He says that he has since talked with the TDA and would like to see a better compromise than the prevailing “Show one, show both” rule.
Another topic that poker enthusiasts talk about is Negreanu’s treatment of Mike Matusow as a whipping boy for his jokes especially during telecasts of High Stakes Poker but he maintains that it is all in good fun. “Mike’s like a six year old in a man’s body,” said Negreanu, “But he is my good friend. There was one time that some people called Mike about what I was doing to him on TV and he called and I said ‘You don’t see me do that to anyone else.’ We’re close, that’s why I do it and he doesn’t mind it at all.”
The third season of High Stakes poker also gave viewers a closer view Negreanu when he lost an enormous pot to Gus Hansen when both had pocket pairs (6’s vs 5’s) and both made trips on the flop with Hansen only needing his last 5 to win the hand and the turn delivered the case five much to the chagrin of Negreanu, which seemed to be staggered a bit, but then again who would blame him? “It’s (Bad Beats) one of those things when you play for a long time you see, quads over quads and such,” said Negreanu, “But that’s poker, and as long as you did the right play in that instance then you shouldn’t second guess yourself.”
Negreanu also had some other words for would-be poker players “It’s easier to be better at poker than before with the TV shows, online and poker books,” Negreanu said, “But you need to learn the basics of the game first, then you can learn about the bluffing and the other things about poker.”
Negreanu was in the Philippines only for a short while during the time of the interview he had a good impression of Poker in the Philippines and while he has been playing major poker tournaments such as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) and World Poker Tour (WPT), Negreanu has played with players that hail from different countries, but he is surprised with the growth of poker in Asia especially in the Philippines. “It’s new to me coming to an Asian country I’ve never been and seeing how popular poker is here,” said Negreanu “We see a large Asian contingent in Los Angeles and the World Series but actually coming here and seeing how much press and popularity it’s great.”
Traveling and being recognizable comes with it certain responsibilities that some athletes do not particularly like to carry, Charles Barkely made it a point in one of his commercials that he was not a role model, but Negreanu welcomes the mantle of being an ambassador in Poker. “In whatever you do, if you are in the public eye, you need to conduct yourself in better and not do things that would put you in a bad light.” Negreanu does this with the same friendliness that he is known for at the felt, his approachability during the APPT press conference melted much of the shyness that the Filipinos are known for, albeit the Filipino media.
With the success that Negreanu has reached on the way to amass his over US$10 million tournament winnings at various WPT and WSOP events, he still has the need to tinker and tweak his poker game to counteract new players and the TV time that he has gotten. “I tinker my game, especially with the influx of online players and the way they play at an optimal level,” said Negreanu, “and since the TV coverage of the tournaments is extensive, a lot of people have seen my game.” He recalls the story of another poker great, Doyle Brunson and how he had to retool his game after the publishing of his first Super System book.
While other poker pros admonish players to have different game strategies when it comes to tournaments and ring games but Negreanu does concede that his tournament game and his ring game is similar, in an extreme case. “In High Stakes (Poker TV show) you are deep stack so you get play like you are in a tournament,” said Negreanu, “and you can get away with a lot more stuff than normal.” He also admits that he has a particular liking to 10-7 offsuit as the hand that he normally doesn’t play but has surprisingly been a winner for him in some situations.
In recent months, Negreanu has been in a blog-based “discussion” with the Tournament Directors Association (TDA) about their rules regarding the showing of cards in tournaments by players. He has argued that it brings a new level of play to the tournament when a player would bet and show his opponent a hole card. “It would be good TV if a player bets and then shows a queen,” said Negreanu. One of the main contentions of the TDA is that showing cards would foster collusion between players but he disagrees, “The last thing players that collude would want to do is show their cards, they would rather give each other signs or something.” He says that he has since talked with the TDA and would like to see a better compromise than the prevailing “Show one, show both” rule.
Another topic that poker enthusiasts talk about is Negreanu’s treatment of Mike Matusow as a whipping boy for his jokes especially during telecasts of High Stakes Poker but he maintains that it is all in good fun. “Mike’s like a six year old in a man’s body,” said Negreanu, “But he is my good friend. There was one time that some people called Mike about what I was doing to him on TV and he called and I said ‘You don’t see me do that to anyone else.’ We’re close, that’s why I do it and he doesn’t mind it at all.”
The third season of High Stakes poker also gave viewers a closer view Negreanu when he lost an enormous pot to Gus Hansen when both had pocket pairs (6’s vs 5’s) and both made trips on the flop with Hansen only needing his last 5 to win the hand and the turn delivered the case five much to the chagrin of Negreanu, which seemed to be staggered a bit, but then again who would blame him? “It’s (Bad Beats) one of those things when you play for a long time you see, quads over quads and such,” said Negreanu, “But that’s poker, and as long as you did the right play in that instance then you shouldn’t second guess yourself.”
Negreanu also had some other words for would-be poker players “It’s easier to be better at poker than before with the TV shows, online and poker books,” Negreanu said, “But you need to learn the basics of the game first, then you can learn about the bluffing and the other things about poker.”
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