Daniel Negreanu Cruising at EPT Vienna
October 29th, 2010
Daniel Negreanu: please, please, please, let me get what I want.
It hasn’t been the greatest of years for Daniel Negreanu at the poker tables. With $403,644 in winnings and no single score worth more than $80,000, he has earned less money in 2010 than he has in any year since 2001. But a strong performance at EPT Vienna so far has him close to turning this year around in a big, big way.
Negreanu ended Day 2 of the tournament as the chip leader, and he cruised again on Day 3 to end up in second place as the chip bags were distributed at the end of play. With 1,954,000 in chips, Kid Poker trails only Konstantinos Nanos (2,007,000) with just 24 players remaining from the original starting field of 587. Much of his progress over the last two days has come thanks to finding himself in dominating positions against all-in opponents – from holdings aces against kings to aces against queens to A-J against A-5, Negreanu has often been the recipient of some fantastic pre-flop pairings at the Vienna event. And even when he starts with the worst hand he still finds a way to win, as he did with pocket tens against one opponent’s pocket kings and with 6-4 against another opponent’s K-6.
Of course, anything can happen in a big-bet poker game, and with 24 players remaining the EPT Vienna main event is still anyone’s to win. But with a chance to reverse this year’s fortunes – not to mention the opportunity to pass Phil Ivey for tops on the all-time money list with a first-place finish – Daniel Negreanu will have plenty of motivation to keep up the good work when play resumes tomorrow.
