Daniel Negreanu Wins PokerGO Cup $25,000 Buy-In Event For $350,000

Poker Hall of Fame member Daniel Negreanu broke a nearly eight-year tournament title drought at last year’s inaugural running of the PokerGO Cup, and then went on to secure the player of the series. Negreanu returned in 2022 looking to possibly defend the cup but didn’t record any cashes through the first five events of the eight-tournament series. Despite the slow start, the 47-year-old poker pro has given himself a shot at going back-to-back thanks to a win in event no. 6, a $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller. The six-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner overcame a field of 35 total entries to secure the $350,000 top prize and his 41st career title.

“I’m not gonna lie, I actually genuinely have to thank Jeff Platt because after the tournament, event no. 5, I was so frustrated that I was building chip stacks and dominating the early levels but didn’t have a single cash to show for it, so I was just done,” Negreanu told PokerGO reporters after securing this win. “I didn’t know if I could take it anymore. I’m in the gym and Jeff texts me and says, ‘You know if you win one of these [$25Ks] and the $50K that you can still win the PokerGO Cup.’ In my head, I was like, ‘So, you’re saying there’s a chance?’ As soon as I heard that, I thought, ‘All right, let’s do this. Let’s give it one more shot,’ and I did. It was a very different event no. 6 than the first five. I had no chips and I had to rebuy, the whole deal. But who knows, the poker gods are weird.”

This latest victory increased Negreanu’s lifetime tournament earnings to $44,688,983. He remains in third place on poker’s all-time money list, behind only Justin Bonomo ($59,182,835) and Bryn Kenney ($57,450,921).

In addition to the title and the money, Negreanu also earned 336 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first POY-qualified score of the year. It was also his first cash on the PokerGO Tour in 2022. The 210 points he earned moved him inside the top 20 in that race.

Negreanu entered the final day of this event in fourth chip position, with just the final five players remaining. The money bubble burst the previous night when Jeremy Ausmus was eliminated in sixth place thanks to his pocket aces being cracked by the pocket queens of Vikenty Shegal.

Brock Wilson was in the middle of the pack when play began, but was ultimately the first to fall when his pocket aces were beaten by the A3 of chip leader Sean Winter. The board brought three hearts to give Winter an ace-high flush and Wilson was knocked out in fifth place ($61,250).

Negreanu won a preflop race against Winter to double up, leaving 2019 Card Player POY award winner Stephen Chidwick alone at the bottom of the chip counts. Chidwick’s run came to an end when his 10-9, shoved from the button, was looked up by the A-10 of Winter out of the big blind. Chidwick was unable to come from behind and settled for $96,250 as the fourth-place finisher. The score saw his career earnings grow to nearly $38.2 million.

Negreanu was able to take and then extend the lead during three-handed action. Winter actually fell to the bottom of the leaderboard but was able to survive to heads-up thanks to a preflop cooler that spelled the end of Shegal’s tournament. Negreanu picked up KK on the button and raised to 125,000. Shegal shoved for 1,355,000 with 1010 and received a snap call. The larger pair held up and Shegal was sent to the rail with $140,000. This was already his fourth final-table finish of the year. he now sits within reach of the top 50 in the POY race, with 574 points and $283,735 in year-to-date earnings.

Negreanu took 4,540,000 into heads-up play with Winter and his 720,000. The two battled for a bit, but Winter was only able to grow his stack by a few big blinds before the final hand of the event arose. With blinds of 30,000-60,000 and a 60,000 big blind ante, Negreanu limped in from the button with AJ. Winter looked down at Q10 from the big blind and raised to 180,000. Negreanu limp-shoved and Winter called for his remaining 660,000. The board ran out A98K10 and Negreanu’s pair of aces were enough to lock up the pot and the title.

Winter earned $227,500 as the runner-up. This was his fifth final-table finish of the year, with $511,900 in POY-qualified earnings accrued along the way. As a result, he now sits in 14th place in the overall standings and has climbed into fifth place in the PGT points race.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

Here is a look at the current top ten in the PokerGO Cup points race:

Photo credits: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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