Droughts don’t last forever, right? That’s what Daniel Negreanu, who hasn’t won a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet since 2013, is hoping for as he’s deep and big stacked in Event #3: $500 WSOP Kickoff No-Limit Hold’em Freezeout.
The tournament, which began on Wednesday at Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, had 3,485 entrants, but only a tiny fraction of those players are still standing at the time of publishing, one of them being the aforementioned Poker Hall of Famer.
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Is it Finally DNegs’ Time?
One of the most baffling droughts in poker is Negreanu, a six-time bracelet winner, having not won a bracelet since 2013. Even more baffling is the fact he hasn’t won a WSOP title on American soil since 2008.
During that 11-year drought, he’s been a WSOP Player of the Year contender many times, an award he won in 2004 and 2013. He puts in as much volume each year as anyone, and his results since 2013 at the WSOP have included some massive scores, including a runner-up finish to Dan Colman in the 2014 $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop for $8.3 million.
The GGPoker ambassador has finished one spot shy of a title five times since his last bracelet, which took place at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) series on October 24, 2013 — 3,871 days ago.
Negreanu’s fans can tune in to PokerNews live reporting coverage on Thursday and Friday (if he reaches the final table) to follow along in his quest to finally end the bracelet drought. At the time of publishing, only 33 players remained and “DNegs” was second in chips, barely behind Tamas Lendvai. The winner will be paid $175,578.
Negreanu is off to a hot start in 2024 in tournament poker. As such, he commanded the highest price — $132 — at the WSOP $25k Fantasy Draft. For the poker legend to give the team that drafted him full value, he’ll need to win at least one bracelet, if not two or more. He just might make it happen before the week ends.
