Does Daniel 'Kid Poker' Negreau need a new nickname? It's hard to believe that the youthful, selfie-stick-carrying ambassador is already 50 years old. It must be true, though, because Negreanu played his first-ever Seniors event yesterday at the World Series of Poker.
The 'Battle of the Ages' pitted the over-50 crowd against the under-50 crowd by splitting up the groups into two different starting flights. Negreanu joined the first group.
"I will be representing Team Geezers for the first time," he posted on social media.
How Negreanu planned to handle Team Geezers
Negreanu suited up in his Doyle Brunson 'Godfather of Poker' t-shirt, representing his new team. He talked through his strategy as he headed to the table.
"Strategically, we definitely want to build a stack," he said. "There are two re-entries. We want to play aggressively. But what you tend to see with older players is less three-betting, more overfolding, a little bit weaker play, and a little bit more predictable."
It sounded like he had a clear plan coming into his new team.
"Day 1, we're going to try to avoid paying off. We'll try pushing them around a little bit, and then Day 2, hopefully, we have a big stick to battle with the kids. Wouldn't it be cool if I won the first one?
Running into it early: Key hands
sees a bad river
Despite the best-laid plans, they all fall apart when you can't make a hand or your opponents keep making better ones. That's what happened to Negreanu on his first two bullets.
At the 500-big blind level, Negreanu opened to 1,300 from UTG+1 with . The button called, and the small blind called. The flop was 
. Negreanu bet 1,500, and only the button called. The turn was the 
, and Negreanu checked to the button.
"He bets 3,500 very quickly, very bluffy," said Negreanu. "He could have eights or sevens or something, but could very well be good."
Negreanu called to see a 
on the river. Action went check-check, and his opponent rolled over 
for the rivered three-outer.
all-in four ways'
Negreanu raised from middle position to see the three players to his immediate left all move all in.
"If this weren't a rebuy tournament, I would fold," said Negreanu. But I didn't come here to fold. I call, I have queens."
He was in a decent spot given the situation and the action. He was up against 
, 
, and 
.
"Look at these hands," he said.
The flop came the 
, leaving Negreanu drawing extremely thin.
"I think we're in trouble," he said.
Indeed, no miracles came, and his first bullet was down the drain. His second bullet wouldn't go any better.
- no good
"A guy limps under the gun for 600," starts Negreau. "I make it 2,000 on the button. The big blind calls, and he calls."
The flop rolled off 
. Action checked to Negreanu, who continued for 3,000. Only the limper called. The turn came the 
. Action went check-check.The river brought top pair for Negreanu when the came.
After a check, Negreanu bet 10,000, to which his opponent called and showed for the better top pair.
"Maybe I should have just bet on the turn, but he might call me anyway," said Negreanu.
That left him very short, and he busted shortly afterwards, leaving just one final bullet.
The final bullet: One last chance
"I wish I had come at 10am," Negreanu said. "It's very easy — you just have to have chips. If I had come at 10am, I would have had 40K without much risk."
- is a drawing hand
A Scottish player that Negreanu read as on the tight and weak side, opened the button to 2,500 at the 1K big blind level. Negreanu looked at in the big blind and raised to 7,500.
"I want to make it easier for him to call," said Negreanu. "Make him throw one 5K chip. I want action here with ."
The button called to see a flop of 
.
"What I've found with these types of players is they will peel flops for cheap and then fold turn."
Negreanu bet 4,500, and the button called, bringing a on the turn.
"I don't love that card, but if he does have a pair like eights, I feel like a second barrel will get it done. So, what do I bet? You don't have to bet big; a bet is a bet."
Negreanu bet 6,500, and the button called again. The river fell the 
, and Negreanu slowed down with a river check. The button bet 8,000. Negreanu folded, shipping the sizeable pot to the Scotsman.
Negreanu busted shortly afterwards after flopping top pair against the middle set of his opponent, and his day was over.
'It shouldn't tilt me, but I'm so tilted'
So, the $1K, thirty-minute-blind event shouldn't tilt you at all," said Negreanu. "I'm so tilted, I'm so frustrated. This was so unbelievably easy. But every hand I played, they had top pair. They never missed."
It wasn't Negreanu's day. No matter how good you are, no matter how good your strategy is on any given day, sometimes you burn through three bullets.
"I really thought I was going to go deep in this thing," said Negreanu. "The cards were spitting in my face. I swear to you, if I play that thing 100 times, I'm going to cash 50 of them."
Watch Daniel Negreanu's full vlogs from which these hand histories came on his YouTube channel.
