Interview with Daniel Negreanu

On November 22, 2007, I was lucky enough to be able to Interview Daniel Negreanu while he was at the CFL's Grey Cup (Canada's version of the Super Bowl) in Toronto to promote a Poker Stars charity event and just to enjoy the festivities in his home town. I got to play in a media/celebrity tournament with Daniel, was even able to bluff him off middle pair on a flop, but the real reason I travelled 12 hours (from Ottawa to Toronto and back again during a horendous snow storm) was to talk to Daniel, and see if he was really as nice a guy as he seems to be on TV. I was not disappointed.

You recently decided to join the Poker Stars team. I'm sure you had several suitors, what made you decide to go with Poker Stars?

You're right about one thing, there were a lot of hats in the ring, but for me there was only one logical choice. I played most of my poker even before joining Poker Stars at Poker Stars. I've always felt like the way that they do business is a lot like the way I think and the way that I like doing business - putting the customer first, great support, great software, they were like the leader as far as tournaments go. There are more tournaments being played at Poker Stars on a regular basis than anywhere else. Definitely the hub for tournament poker. And frankly, most people like that and I like it too.

You can play in one tournament after another - there's a whole bunch going on. Plus it just made the most sense for me, you know, thinking about the way things were going with Full Contract poker which was obviously a site that I was affiliated with and that developed and changed, so they merged with Poker Stars and it was all clean and I felt like, for me it was a no-brainer. I talked to my people, if you will, about where to go, and the only place I'd go was with Poker Stars. It's the only one I believe in and I don't like being someone that puts my name or face to something I don't really like, enjoy or use.

In your opinion, what is your greatest accomplishment in poker?

I would say the culmination of 2004 - the entire year. With the way that it finished specifically, I had a great run. With 2004, at the end, I got passed for player of the year in the 2nd last tournament, then in the last tournament with a very large field, I came with the biggest chip lead in the history of the World Poker Tour. I just smoked it, I won the whole thing, so that capped off an amazing year. I won a couple million dollar events that year and like $5 million of winnings and so, it's hard to pick one, but I'd say right then in December of 2004 was just the pinnacle of, like, dude, how good am I? (laughing)

You've always been a great ambassador, not just for poker, but as a Canadian poker player. Is this something you're consciously aware of, or is that just who you are naturally?

I would say that it is who I am, but I'm very conscious of it. I'm very aware of how special, how important it is for Canadians to see Canadians doing well in other places. You know, I grew up being a Mike Weir fan, or any sort of Canadian athlete who did well, you know like Ben Johnson, before he took the 'sterios'. Canadians have a lot of pride in those that represent their country well and I take that very seriously. One of the reasons I started even wearing the hockey jersey in a sense, was to let people know I'm a Canadian and that kind of connected me more to the country. And I take it very seriously. I also feel that Canada is a hotbed of great poker talent. It really is.

What is an average day like for Daniel Negreanu?

Golfing and playing on line. I golf during the day and play poker at Poker Stars at night. It's more convenient. I like to live a more laid back lifestyle. And I'll go to the tournaments and travel. When I come to Canada, I'm going to have some fun. This whole trip, this Grey Cup, I've never been to the event before and it's so much fun so far. People are nuts here. It's great. It's nuts in a great way.

We're seeing more and more "made for TV, invite only" poker events. Which one is your favourite to play in?

Well, I did one that was a lot of fun for me - it was a Poker Stars event, an NHL Charity Shoot-out where they had with me as well as some hockey players. It was mostly fun for me not from the sense of competition, I mean these guys are hockey players, they're not going to beat me (laughing), but it was fun for me in that I got to hang out with these guys - like Brodeur and Luongo - goalies that I've had in my hockey pool before and it was fun to just hang out with them. There are others that I've done and they were fun from a competitive sense, but the one that I enjoyed the most was probably the Shoot-Out.

So you're a big hockey pool fan, are you?

I'm in the most advanced hockey pool you could ever imagine. I'm in the number one hockey pool in the world. I've been in this league for 13 years. We draft 14 year olds. If there's a Slovakian kid with a slap shot who's got head case problems, I know. I know his name is Mike Slovenko or something, you know. Not only do we have a regular roster we have a farm roster of 20 players. I've got the best goaltenders in the world. I've got Lundqvist, Luongo, and Nabokov. Eat some of that! How are you going to beat that! What's better than that?

You have the reputation of being the nicest guy in poker. Is it true?

Nah, it's a bunch of baloney! Nah, I don't know. I don't know what defines 'nice' necessarily. I know that when I play poker, I try to have a lot of fun. I try to engage people. I try to be very conscious of never being someone that thinks they're better than everybody else. I have a group of friends that I grew up with that help ground me, because they don't think I'm nothing but Daniel, you know, they make fun of it when people come asking for an autograph, they're like, "why do you want his autograph? He's just an idiot." I try to surround myself with grounded people, and not really buy into the whole Hollywood blah, blah, blah.

Do you think it's an advantage to be every one's friend at the table?

Yeah, there's no question about it. You know, I know that there's other poker players out there like Phil Hellmuth or Mike Matusow who take the opposite approach, try to get under your skin and make you mad, but I find for me, what works best is people who root for you and then they're easier to play against. They're not trying to get you all the time. When I get knocked out of a tournament often people are disappointed, when they shouldn't be. It makes it easier for them to win, but they groan and say, "ah, I liked playing with him". That helps you in a lot of ways, so I use that to my advantage.

Other players, like Mike Matusow or Tony G, seem to thrive off being an agitator. How do you handle playing at a table with guys like that?

When I play with Mike Matusow and Phil Hellmuth, it's as simple as this. I understand they're really good people, genuine hearts, except they're 6 years old. I mean, they really are. They're six year old boys trapped in men's bodies. Tony G on the other hand, just gets too nasty sometimes. He did something on a CBS/CBC show that I just thought was way over the top. He was playing against a Russian player, he was degrading him and degrading Russians and I thought, what are you trying to start another war? Are you insane? But I think that overall, jabbing is fun, you know, a little bit of trash talking, but nothing that gets personal or over the top. And nothing with people that don't know you. When I play with Phil and Mike, I needle. I needle them like crazy. You know, I'll do whatever I can to get them off because it's fun for me. Because I know they can handle it and if they can't they shouldn't be dishing it. But I would never do that to someone who came out and played in a tournament for the first time.

You like to talk a lot at the table. Is that just to keep yourself interested in the game, or are you also trying to get a feel for your opponents and where there head is at?

It's just because I talk too much in general. You know, whether I'm at the poker table or not, I just enjoy talking. I just enjoy listening to the sound of my own voice. (laughing) No, that's just who I am. You know, if I was playing poker or whatever I'm doing, if I'm at dinner, you know I like to cook dinner with friends and have drinks and there's like six or eight of us and I like to be in there mixing it up, talking religion, talking politics, you know, whatever, so at the poker table it's just an extension of who I really am.

What do you do to keep yourself focused during a big tournament?

Well, there's a few things that I do. First of all, the day before an event, I avoid everybody, whether its interviews, media. I try to be alone to collect my thoughts and not be drained. I feel like you do too many things leading up to an event and it drains your energy. It sucks something out of you. I like to focus, lay back. No drinking alcohol, I don't do caffeine. I try to eat very well the day before, get a little exercise, and when I take it seriously that way, I do much better. The number one important thing is to make sure I get enough rest. You know, try to think like an athlete would. Like, how would an athlete, if he was playing the Grey Cup game, how would he approach it, what would he do. And I try to think along those lines. Be in the best physical shape that I can and that just automatically helps your mind. Getting oxygen in your brain, making you feel comfortable, and not feel sluggish.

So, I try to just take care of my body. And avoid people. I mean, even parties. I don't like to go …I don't like to talk to a lot of people, because when I talk, I'm blah,blah, blah, so I try to take it easy and just be alone. I also like to watch Rocky. Before a tournament, there's no better music than listening to that! I mean, you watch Rocky and you feel like you can beat anything. Eye of the Tiger baby, he beat Draggo, I mean, Draggo was a machine! And he showed heart and he didn't quit and he kept on going, and if you have that in your mind when you're playing poker, you're like, I'm Balboa, you can't knock me down. It helps you. It sounds crazy, but it's true.

Which Rocky is your favourite one?

My favorite Rocky is Rocky III. The reason for that is actually personal. There's a scene in Rocky 3 where Clubber Lang is training hard. He's just going at it, training hard. And Balboa's at the gym taking pictures, kissing babies, doing all this and taking it very slowly, you know. Doing commercials and doing all this stuff that's not grinding you know, and Clubber Lang kicks his butt. And it's a testament to, you know, you always have to make sure your first priority is the game. All that other stuff has to be put to the side. If you get caught up in that sort of thing, you can easily lose your edge and lose your hunger. So that's why I watch that one (Rocky III) always before tournaments. I'm like, you're not too big for nothing. You've gotta prove yourself every single day.

If any, what adjustments have you made due to the larger tournament fields with so many unknown players involved?

To some degree, anytime you're playing in a tournament with a large field, and you don't really have a lot of information on your opponents, the first twenty minutes is super cool. And I try to really focus during that time - to really focus on what they're doing. And I try to play a relatively basic game where I don't' go over the top with some plays because I really don't know enough about these guys. Once I find out a player's an on-line player, I know somethings about the way that they play because I play regularly at Poker Star and the bigger games, and I know the style of play and the way they think.

That was one of the reasons why I actually started playing more on-line, was to understand the way they think, so that I'd do better in the tournaments when I face them. Playing on line is the absolute best way to learn the fundamentals. You know, I'm fundamentally better now than I've ever been, simply because when you're on line, that's what you're focused on. You have to focus on playing the game well. If you win on line and you're good on line,that's going to translate to good results live.

Which do you prefer to play, tournaments or cash games?

It depends. The small rinky-dink tournaments, are not fun for me. But the same could be said about a cash game. When I'm playing a big game at the Bellagio, that's exciting for me. Or, like, the big huge tournaments that hold a lot of prestige. For me it's all about personal goals. If I set my mind on winning a title, I want to do that. It would be a combination, but both would have to be at the highest levels.

Who do you think is the top player in the world right now?

You know, I would steal a quote from Paul Newman in The Colour of Money, who says at one point, when asked who’s the best pool player in the world, he says, "well the balls roll funny for everybody sometimes." In poker, I think it’s similar, where there’s a lot of guys who play really well and you can put them all in the same hat. I’d say from a consistent perspective, Phil Ivy is a name that’s always mentioned. Patrick Antonius is another one, he’s excellent. Of course when I’m at my best I feel I can play at a level where I don’t think anyone can play better than I can.

Do you have a favorite starting hand?

Ten-seven off-suit. I feel like I owe that hand money because I’ve been so lucky with it over the years.

What hand do you think people mis-play the most?

Ace-queen off-suit. It’s a very difficult hand to play, in that when you play a big pot with it, you’re never in good shape. But a lot of players overplay it because it looks so good. Even when you catch the ace there’s still danger because you can lose to a lot of hands.

Do you have any superstitions while playing poker?

I’m not really superstitious but I’ve always had this weird thing about fifty dollar bills. I don’t like fifty dollar bills. Especially if there’s just one of them, I feel like it’s just dangling. So I’m not really big on fifty dollar bills. All fifty dollar bills. I don’t see the need for them.

I’ve read Phil Hellmuth’s books, is he as good as he thinks he is?


Well, if anybody was as good as he (Phil) thinks he is, they would never ever lose. Doyle Brunson actually said it best. He said "I wish I was as good as Phil Hellmuth thinks he is".