You see, Negreanu began playing professional poker early, at age 21. He moved to Las Vegas to make it big, lost everything he had and was forced to move back home. But then, he put together enough to make another run at Vegas, turned his luck around and became a millionaire many times over.
Born in Toronto, Canada in 1974, Negreanu dropped out of high school just short of graduation to become a card shark in local charity casinos and in any illegal games he could find in the city. By age 21, he had built up a substantial bankroll and headed to Las Vegas to become a professional poker player. Unfortunately, it was harder than he thought. Negreanu lost his bankroll and headed back home. He was broke but undaunted.
Negreanu continued to chase his dream of poker fortune and fame, and his luck began to change in 1997. That year, he emerged as champion in two events at the World Poker Finals at the Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut, pocketing $133,600 for his effort and capturing the title of best all-around player in the tournament.
A year later, Negreanu struck gold at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as he won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold 'em event and the top prize of $169,460. The victory placed him in the history books as the youngest WSOP bracelet winner, a record that was broken only in 2004. Negreanu was finally on his way.
The years that followed saw Negreanu become one of the winningest tournament players in the history of the game. He captured the top prize at two World Poker Tour (WPT) events, won two more WSOP championship bracelets and made it to the WSOP final table 11 times. Negreanu was arguably the best poker player in the world in 2004 and 2005 as he was named WSOP Player of the Year (2004) and WPT Player of the Year (2005).
In 2005, Negreanu began his own online poker Web site, Full Contact Poker, which contains his blog and a number of poker forums. On his Web site, he played under the name KidPoker.
In 2006, he began the search for his poker proteges, with his Web site as a launching pad. His plan was to mold whoever he selected as his protege into a world-class tournament poker player and pay for his buy-in at major events. Negreanu has selected two proteges so far -- Brian Fidler in 2006 and Anthony Mak in 2007.
In June 2007, Negreanu became a member of Team PokerStars, representing the PokerStars Web site, along with other top-rated poker players such as Joseph Hachem, Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer.
Over the years, Negreanu has written and contributed more than a hundred articles to CardPlayer Magazine. He is also one of the expert-writers who contributed to Super System II, authored by Doyle Brunson.
Reports indicate that Negreanu is currently assembling a roster of superstar contributors for a book he's writing entitled "Daniel Negreanu's Power Hold'em Strategy." It is due for release in 2008.
As of January 2007, Negreanu's career live tournament winnings were pegged at over $9.65 million. That puts him in third spot in poker's all-time money list behind Jamie Gold and Joseph Hachem.
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