(Distributed Feb. 7, 2006)
(NOTE: Last I knew, ESPN planned to air this final table on Aug. 15. Check local listings. Daniel puts on a heckuva show!)
“DANIEL THE TALKER” STARTS 2006 WITH BIG WSOP-CIRCUIT VICTORY
TUNICA, Miss. — Daniel Negreanu doesn’t bully his way to major poker tournament victories. Rather, he talks the title into going home with him.
Listen to Daniel the Talker en route to his $755,525 win on Jan. 27 in the no-limit Texas hold ‘em championship here on the World Series of Poker Circuit.
* “Cocktails! All I need is a cup of hot water (for his caffeine-free tea)” — spoken in a thick British accent with ESPN cameras rolling and noisy fans packing the bleachers.
* “Did you wake up for your interview this morning, Kia?” — said to slow-moving Kia Mohajeri, 52, of Cocoa Beach, Fla., the Iranian-born senior citizen at the table.
* “I’m fixin’ to make me a tea!” — directed at spectators after his hot water arrived, this time in a heavy Southern drawl befitting the Grand Casino’s Mississippi venue. The fans loved it.
* “What’s that with your tongue? Is that what you do when you win a pot?” — said to eventual second-place finisher Bryant King, a concert promoter from Liberty Lake, Wa., who rolled his tongue over his front teeth after winning a hand.
* “Attaboy, Wendell. I might be the No. 1 fan of Wendell Barnes!” — spoken to the welder from Charlton, Mass., after he won a nice pot. Barnes mostly just plays poker with his friends.
* “Don’t pull out the teeth on me!” — said to Barnes a few minutes later when he called Negreanu’s big raise and began digging into his right pants pocket. Barnes pulled out a set of fake country-redneck front teeth to wear as the hand progressed. Although he had two-pair, aces-up, Barnes easily was eliminated by Negreanu’s pocket aces for a monster full house. Negreanu had set up Barnes perfectly.
And all of that came in the first hour!
On the next hand, Negreanu crippled chip leader Brian Lamkin of Austin, Texas. With a community board of A-Q-4-6-5, no flush possible, Negreanu showed A-Q in the hole for top two pair to win a $938,000 pot. Lamkin mucked without showing. We’ll find out what he had when the show airs in July or August.
Those back-to-back hands exploded Negreanu’s chip count to 1.25 million, more than half of the 2.41 million chips in play with just six players remaining. It was all but over.
Seizing the moment, Negreanu, who was born in Canada and now lives in Las Vegas, playfully asked, “Anybody want to see the prize-money list?” He was telling his competitors they were playing for something other than first place.
The 2004 “Player of the Year” and three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner even turned a potentially awkward moment into a laugh fest. After folding a hand, he bolted from his chair headed for the restroom, but stopped in a flash when he heard King announce “re-raise all-in” against Mohajeri and veteran pro Lee Markholt.
Standing nearby, Negreanu fidgeted as Mohajeri and Markholt deliberated. “This might be the toughest decision I’ve had to make all day — to go or not to go!” said Negreanu, drawing big laughs from the crowd and attention away from the hand.
Markholt, of Eatonville, Wash., joined the fun, saying, “I’m going to sweat out this hand a bit longer (before folding) and maybe you’ll wet your pants.”
Negreanu, 31, rained his disarming chatter on the players to the end, at one point telling King: “I’ve got big plans for you, my friend. Yum, yum. It’s going to be sweet!”
And it was. Before going heads-up against King for the title with a million-chip advantage, Negreanu warned everyone to prepare for a two-hour battle. Then, with rapid-fire surgical precision, he finished off King in eight hands, winning the last six in a row.
In the post-tournament interview, ESPN’s Norman Chad noted Negreanu’s off year in 2005, then asked if this victory put him back on top of the poker world.
“When was I not?” shrieked Negreanu, sounding very much like Daniel the Bully.
Daniel Negreanu on Poker After Dark
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COPYRIGHT 2006 RUSS SCOTT
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