"Kid Poker", Daniel Negreanu may be the most recognizable face in poker today. Over the past decade or so, Daniel has been one of the great ambassadors to the game and is a large part of the game's rise in popularity.
Daniel was born in Toronto, Canada and is of Romanian descent. His parents emigrated from Romania and originally had set their hopes on settling in the United States. They ended up settling in Canada instead.
Negreanu was a driven young man whose focus was not on school but on gambling. Even before, he was 18, Daniel had already begun hustling in pool halls, betting sports and playing poker. He dropped out of high school after he was a few classes short of graduation and began to play poker professionally. He played in local casinos and illegal games around Toronto.
In his early 20s, Daniel headed to Las Vegas to fulfill his poker dreams and take on the bigger games on the Strip. Like many young pros who start out, Daniel went broke and was forced to move back to Toronto. After rebuilding his roll, he once again went back to Las Vegas. This time he was successful. He began regularly earning money at cash games and tournaments across the country, and was named best overall player in Foxwood's World Poker Final in 1997. He won his first World Series bracelet in 1998 in a Pot Limit Hold'em event.
2004 was a momentous year for Negreanu. The Canadian poker pro made 11 final tables, won two World Poker Tour events and won a third WSOP bracelet. His tournament winnings alone in that year were over $4.4 million. He currently has $14.3 million in live tournament winnings and has four WSOP bracelets.
Daniel is a dual specialist in cash games and tournaments. A regular in the Bellagio's Big Game and on the now cancelled, High Stakes Poker, he is a force to be reckoned with at the cash or tournament table. Relying on instincts and game feel, he's famous for his unbelievably accurate reads on opponents, often pinpointing their exact two cards. He is also a big fan on the online game, so much so that he temporarily moved back to Canada to play online after the UIGEA passed in 2006. In 2007, he became a member of Team PokerStars.
Daniel has written several books and is an avid blogger. His video blogs are popular and garner a lot of traffic and discussion.
Daniel became a US citizen in 2009. He was married to Lori Lin Weber in August of 2005, but the couple separated in November 2007. He currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.
