Article Updated on August 8, 2024
| Net Worth | $70 million |
| Total Poker Winnings | $52.4 million |
| Major Wins | 7 WSOP bracelets; 2 WPT titles |
| Other Revenue | Brand ambassador, author, poker vlogs, and streaming |
Daniel Negreanu is a poker giant with many televised poker appearances, massive wins, and a pleasant personality. His skills at the tables and ability to talk in front of the cameras have made Negreanu wealthy.
While he may not be the frequent company rep like some other players (Phil Hellmuth), Negreanu knows how to profit from his brand. That image has come with some nice dividends.
Net worth: $68 million
Key income streams: Poker, brand ambassador, writing, online videos and poker streaming, poker coaching
Daniel Negreanu Offers Insight on Reading Opponents & More
One of the aspects of poker that makes the game great is the ability to bluff or use one’s persona to take down a pot. Opponents must figure out if that player has the goods or is just trying to get one over on them.
The ability to “read” other poker players can be vital in deducing correct play – making a big call or a wise fold.
Some tips on the issue from a well-seasoned pro always help. Daniel Negreanu recently appeared on the popular High Performance podcast on YouTube and offered his insight on how to read and other aspects of play.
British author and sports broadcaster Jake Humphrey hosts the podcast alongside international speaker and bestselling author Damian Hughes.
The show says: “We turn the lived experiences of the planet’s highest performers into your life lessons.” Negreanu undoubtedly offered some poker lessons.
High Performer at the Poker Table
The Canadian poker pro who now calls Las Vegas home has been one of poker’s highest performers for decades. Negreanu, 50, has almost $54 million in live poker tournament winnings, including seven World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles. He was also the WSOP player of the year twice and once on the WPT.
Negreanu registered a massive win this summer by taking down the $50,000 Poker Players Championship for $1.2 million. Pros at the annual series seek out this top tournament win. On High Performance, Negreanu offered a look at one of the secrets of his success—a fantastic ability to sense what an opponent does in tough spots.
The show’s hosts travelled to Las Vegas to interview the poker star at his home. The first element focused on prominent physical movements that might offer insight into how players act in particular situations.
“At the poker table … what you're doing is you're paying attention and looking for anything that's outside the norm, right?” he says. “And then you take the data point and say, ‘Okay.’”
For example, he noted a scenario in which a player might be chewing gum. This opponent may be chewing and chewing, then makes a big bet and suddenly stops chewing.
“I want to see that hand,” Negreanu says. “If he was bluffing … I'm going to keep watching. Like an hour later, he's chewing gum, chewing gum, keeps on chewing. Well, this time, he had it. So now I've gotten my database, a very small sample of like this guy, maybe when he stops chewing gum, that means he's weak.
“That's a very obvious example, right? But there are subtle things like posture, what your eyes do, where you look, your breathing dependencies, even the way that you put your chips in the pot. We're looking for every little angle and little different thing.”
Eyes on the Table
Negreanu focused on how a player looks at the table. He outlined a scenario where a player sees the flop on a poker board and immediately looks at his chips. This movement usually means the player has made a strong hand.
“They look at the chips because subconsciously they say, ‘Oh, I like this. I need to bet chips. So, they're pre-emptively looking. So, when you see that, beware because that means that they're coming.”
‘Laughing Hyena’
Many poker fans like Negreanu's frequent table talk, even while playing at the highest stakes. While that may be part of his personality, it doesn't mean he's not paying attention to what's going on.
Understanding how others play is critical information you can sometimes use hours later. This scenario allows players to take advantage of their own player image.
“My outward persona is a laughing hyena because I'm always just giggly, laughing like I don't know what's going on and stuff like that,” he says. “But underneath, it's really a chameleon who's very adaptable and always able to change based on perception, right? I think the most important skill set is that awareness – understand how people perceive you, and then you can take advantage of them in that regard.”
Charm Offensive
Negreanu contrasted his style with that of more stoic players like Phil Ivey. He said Ivey makes opponents fearful through a quiet, rough-looking exterior when he bets or raises. That style may work for him, but Negreanu takes the opposite approach.
His goal is to keep things light and a bit boisterous, to make players less on edge while they put in their chips in bad spots or make big calls against him.
“I want people casual,” he says. “I want people laughing. I want people to put their guard down. I want them to feel safe and comfy. Let's say I'm in a hand against you. I'm making a decision. I'll often start talking to the dealer and be like ‘What did I do to myself? I'm so stupid. Why did I even think about that?’
“But really, I'm looking at you the entire time while you giggle and laugh because you don't feel like I'm looking at you. I'm not one of those that's super intense and stares people down like this, like some. I want people to be disarmed and then use some charm in order to beat them, so that when they leave, they laugh and they giggle, and they go, ‘Hey, what all my chips?’”
Being Prepared
Negreanu states that a player's mindset is critical when entering a game or tournament. That includes noting players you may never have faced and zeroing in on their moves.
“I've learned over 30 years of playing poker that it is literally impossible for you to be at 100 per cent the entire way through,” he said. “So, you have to pick and choose when it's most important to have what I call … hyper focus, right? For me, if I'm sitting down at a table with a player I've never seen before and I don't know them, I hyper-focus because I need to get an idea of what they're like and what they play like.”
How does he replenish and keep bringing that sense of focus back to the table each day?
Finding a good routine is a big part of it.
“Really, the best and only way to replenish the focus bank is sleep,” he said. “I do think meditation helps as well, and it has varying effects for different people.”
Negreanu showed off his red-light LED bed, where he typically spends 40 minutes. The process allows the poker pro to relax their mind and primed to take on a WPT poker tournament.
Not every player may want to invest time in a red-light meditation bed, but players looking for an edge at the tables can grab some essential advice from Negreanu.
Check out the full video above and take a few notes for that next upcoming poker session.
Poker Winnings and Key Tournaments
“Kid Poker” burst onto the poker scene in the late 1990s. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Negreanu often played poker with friends. In the 1990s, that included trips to Las Vegas, where he has admitted he went broke a few times.
- But by the late ‘90s, Negreanu had honed his skills. His first WSOP bracelet came in 1998 in a $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em event for $169,460.
- Six more bracelets would follow, and he now has more than $52 million in lifetime live tournament winnings.
That record has included some of the following massive scores –
- In 2013, he won the WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event for more than A$1 million;
- The same year, Negreanu won the WSOP Europe €25,600 High Roller for €725,000;
- At the $1 million Big One for One Drop in 2014, a runner-up finish scored the Canadian pro more than $8 million;
- The $300k Super High Roller Bowl has also been good to Negreanu with a $3M score for a runner-up finish in 2018 and $3.3M for the championship in 2022.
- In 2024, after an 11-year drought he won the prestigious Poker Players Championship at the 2024 WSOP, netting him an additional $1,178,703 in earnings.
Beyond the WSOP, where he was considered Player of the Year in 2004 and 2013 (becoming the first player to win the award twice), there have been several other big scores and final table appearances. The World Poker Tour has been a big part of that as well.
In 2004 Negreanu scored two titles for a total of $2.8 million. He also has two runners-up and three third-place finishes on the tour.
The $50 million mark in tournament cashes alone is a huge number, but that also puts the Canadian pro on the top 3 of the all-time money list, according to The Hendon Mob, with only Justin Bonomo ($62M) and Bryn Kenney ($58M) surpassing him.
As one of the best players in the game, Negreanu is a feared opponent at the tables. That image has been good for his bank account.
2022 in the books:
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) December 26, 2022
Events 107
Cashes 23
Cash % 21.5
Avg Buy in $30,136
Buy ins $3,224,564
Cashes $4,875,609
Profit $1,625,545
Below all totals since 2013:
1/3
Other Income Outside Poker
Make no mistake, Negreanu is a poker player first. He loves the game, ranging from poker tournaments to massive cash games to high-stakes heads-up challenges. He staged a well-reported heads-up battle with Doug Polk in 2020-21.
Daniel Negreanu's EPIC Losing Streak Continues
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) July 11, 2021
New video of poker news topics, including a recap of DNeg's unreal and very costly run of heads-up losses that has lasted almost *8 years*
YouTube: https://t.co/WykMIAhFDr pic.twitter.com/OyWcbeQSLl
Negreanu’s fame and personality also make him a target for companies looking to grow their brands. He’s been the face of two different online poker sites for almost the last two decades. It’s a good bet Negreanu has been handsomely rewarded for his work with these companies.
Negreanu has also authored several books on strategy and has even made a few movie and television appearances. Being comfortable in front of the cameras, Negreanu has also produced poker vlogs in recent years, especially from the WSOP.
That has also expanded to streaming some of his online poker play. In 2018, Masterclass asked Negreanu to produce a series of training videos, and they remain popular among users.
An avid hockey fan, Negreanu might have considered becoming a minority owner of the Vegas Knights. That deal never materialised, but he remains a big fan of the team.
When it comes to brand representation and business interests, Negreanu appears to tailor his image to mostly poker ventures. Representing online poker companies has been a significant part of his life.
That approach, along with huge wins on the poker felt, have undoubtedly added to his bottom line.
| Per year | €4,000,000 | £3,354,928 |
| Per month | €333,333 | £279,577 |
| Per week | €76,923 | £64,517 |
| Per day | €10,958 | £9,190 |
| Per hour | €456 | £382 |
| Per minute | €7 | £5 |
*** Net worth estimate via CelebrityNetWorth.com
Originally Published on September 30, 2021
