"Kid Poker" Daniel

Daniel Negreanu or otherwise known as "Kid Poker" was born on July 26, 1974 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Ann and Constantin. His parents left the communist regime of Romania in 1967 and look for a new life in the US. Daniel arrive five years after his older brother, Blake Vasser. At first, as a young boy, the 15 years old Daniel dreamed to be a snooker player until he learned how to play poker.



When he was several credits short of graduation, Daniel dropped out of high school and began his life as a rounder playing at the local charity casinos, namely Casino Country, and looking for illegal games around the city. While in Toronto, Daniel met and began dating Evelyn Ng, who would also become a well-known professional poker player.

At the age of sixteen, Daniel discovered an interest for gambling and pool hustling. These games, combined with his love for numbers and probability, quenched Daniel’s competitive thirst. Daniel dropped out of high school and began his life as a rounder playing at the local charity casinos, namely Casino Country, and looking for illegal games around the city. Daniel played poker full time and with adults twice his age in various charity casinos and other gambling halls. Not only was Daniel playing in these games, but he was also winning on a consistent basis. As time pressed on Daniel’s bankroll grew.

At 21, an eager (and finally legal) Negreanu took the money he'd made to try his talents against the world's finest in Las Vegas. He lasted about seven months before returning home, broke but determined. Building up a new bankroll at games around Toronto, he made one last push to Vegas, this time for good. After building up his bankroll, he left for Las Vegas at the age of 22 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional poker player. However, "The Strip" got the better of him and he was forced to move back home to Toronto to rebuild his bankroll.

Around this time that Daniel's father passed away. The young player took the occasion to evaluate his lifestyle. Deciding he was destined to play poker, he seemed to gain the focus necessary to become a truly great player. His career took an upward turn which has continued largely unabated.

Then the next year, 1997, one day it all came together. Daniel figured out how to beat the tables in Las Vegas. He worked hard to plug the leaks in his game, spending hundreds of hours playing, studying, and working diligently to become one of the best. All of the hard work paid off. In 1997 Daniel was named best all around player at Foxwoods’ World Poker Final. In 1998, Daniel entered his very first World Series of Poker event. He won that $2,000 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em event, and at the age of 23, Daniel became the youngest player ever, at the time, to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. The win earned Daniel the nickname "Kid Poker."

Daniel’s success continued, adding another World Series of Poker bracelet in 2003. This time Daniel demonstrated his all-around ability by winning the S.H.O.E bracelet. S.H.O.E. is a game that rotates in order: Seven Card Stud, Hold’ Em, Omaha Eights or Better and Stud Eights or Better.


After ten years, Daniel has achieved possibly the greatest live tournament results record ever seen. In 1998 at just 23 years old, he became the youngest ever player at the time to win a World Series bracelet, after taking down the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em event. This was to be the start of an incredible run of success at the WSOP, one that still shows no sign of stopping today. After a 2nd place finish in the $5,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event in 2002, he returned the following year to claim his 2nd bracelet in the $2,000 S.H.O.E. event. He won a third bracelet in 2004’s $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $169,000, and had another good World Series run in 2008, cashing several times and winning a fourth bracelet in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event for $204,863. A few months later, Daniel travelled to London for the World Series of Poker Europe and made the final table of the £10,000 Main Event, picking up $395,024 for a 5th place finish.

Upon opening, the Wynn Las Vegas resort recruited him as their "Poker Ambassador" to play for any stake in their poker room. The arrangement lasted until October 2005, when he opted out because it was restricting his ability to play for high stakes outside the Wynn. In December 2005, he started his own online poker cardroom "skin" site on his official site, Full Contact Poker, which also includes his blog and a variety of poker forums. He played at his cardroom under the screen name "KidPoker." In 2006, he used Full Contact Poker to launch a competition to select a protege, whom Daniel would attempt to mold into a world-class live tournament poker player. In addition, he agreed to pay the protege's entry fee into four $10,000 buy-in events. Daniel's first protege was Brian Fidler. In 2007, Daniel ran a second protege promotion, which was won by Anthony Mak.

In June 2007 Negreanu signed with PokerStars, joining Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and many other professional poker players as a member of Team PokerStars. His Full Contact Poker site has since returned to being a forum and informational site. Daniel has been a regular at the big game in Bobby's Room, in the Bellagio casino, Las Vegas, for several years. He is a self-admitted action junkie who always seeks new challenges and sets high goals for himself, not only at the poker table but also on the golf course. Unlike many other players, he is very outspoken about his poker results and regularly posts updates in the forums at the Full Contact Poker website. Some of Negreanu’s success is attributed to his ability to read opponents. When asked about this, Negreanu explained that the most important skill he employs is observing what hands his opponents play and how capable they are of playing them.

Daniel’s is as popular off the table as on and he is a widely read author, with millions reading his books, blogs and articles. He’s also a regular feature on televised poker shows both as a player and a commentator. What spare time he has is spent at home shooting pool and hanging out with friends playing video games. He is also a keen golfer and often plays for high stakes with other poker players.