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2004 Borgata Poker Open
It seems almost unthinkable that some seven months and six issues into the new year, we at WPT Poker still haven’t steered our trawl through poker past in the direction of one of the World Poker Tour’s most consistent performers, Daniel Negreanu.
Undoubtedly one of the all-time greats on the WPT, to date Kid Poker has notched an incredible 19 cashes on the tour - nearly half of which have been final table finishes. Yet despite his phenomenal record in WPT competitions, it actually took Negreanu an agonising year of near misses before he finally broke his bracelet duck.
With a second and a third place finish already under his belt from season two, it wasn’t until the following year that the affable Canadian broke his WPT hoodoo to take down his first-ever tour event. Never one to do things in half measures, however, when Negreanu eventually get his hands on the title that had so eluded him at the Borgata Poker Open, he did so at arguably the toughest final table of his poker career.
Facing a final six that included multiple WSOP bracelet-winner Phil Ivey, 2004 Main Event runner-up David Williams, 2005 PLO champion Josh Arieh and accomplished amateurs Brandan Moran and Chris Tsiprailidis, Negreanu turned in the performance of his career to overturn a 2-to-1 chip deficit and beat Williams heads-up.
Aided by a spate of good cards throughout the heads-up battle, the final hand occurred when Negreanu looked down to find the best two of them all – As Ad. With Williams limping on the button holding Kd 6d, Negreanu decided to play the bullets fast by raising to $400,000 and his opponent stuck around to see a flop.
A board of Kc-Jc-8s instantly spelt trouble for Williams, with his flopped pair of kings still trailing to Negreanu’s rockets, and the when the Canadian continued his pre-flop aggression with another bet of $400,000, the touch-paper had well and truly been lit. Almost without hesitation, Williams announced that he was all-in and a visibly-startled Negreanu made the call in truly flamboyant fashion.
A fist-pump from Negreanu greeted the Jd on fourth street, with his turned two-pair leaving the 34-year-old knowing that Williams needed to hit a king and a king alone with only the final card to come. Unfortunately for Williams, the Qh on the river provided no respite and a title-deciding pot had swung in favour of Kid Poker.
With the two friends holding almost identical stacks ahead of the hand, an agonising countdown ensued to determine whether Negreanu had his opponent covered, but after what seemed like an eternity, the chips were totted up and the announcement was made – Negreanu’s title-drought was finally over.
The jubilant celebrations that followed certainly proved how much securing his maiden WPT title meant to Negreanu, and the Canadian enjoyed the experience so much that he went on to do it again three months later by capturing a second at the World Poker Classic. A 2005 WPT Player of the Season title followed and countless cashes since have propelled Negreanu to the top of the tour’s all-time money list - proof once more that good things really do come to those who wait. |
