Daniel Negreanu wins eighth WSOP bracelet and $2.25 million in $100K PLO

It seemed destined to come down to Negreanu and Artur Martirosian. The pair spent much of the tournament trading the chip lead before Martirosian ran away with it on a crazy Day 2 that saw 21 players max late-reg.

Just two-and-a-half hours later, the bubble had burst after a chaotic stretch of eliminations. Most of the late reggers were eliminated along with some other players that got pulled into the undercurrent. 

Negreanu was joking on Day 2 that Martirosian couldn’t stop hitting the nuts. And it must have been one of the most enjoyable tournaments he’s played – until the end.

Christopher Frank was eliminated in third, leaving Negreanu and Martirosian heads-up.

Travis P Ball

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No stream for Negreanu win

Down to three, and it was high-stakes PLO player Christopher Frank who stood between the Negreanu and Martirosian clash. Frank's biggest win was the 2024 PLO Main Event at Triton Montenegro for $2,008,910.

Negreanu was the showman, Martirosian the stoic technician, and Frank the livewire, living every moment as if it was the first time he’d played the game. 

“I love watching you play,” Negreanu said as Frank doubled through Martirosian to stay alive. “You’re so dramatic.”

Frank gave him the thumbs up and took another long swallow of what looked like coffee. If it was coffee, he clearly did not need any more.

The real crime is that this wasn’t streamed. 

Negreanu chasing bracelet No. 8, the biggest buy-in PLO tournament of the year and — once Frank exited in third — two of the game's biggest names battling heads-up for the bracelet. What are we doing here?

It was a victim of circumstances. With the Main Event underway, ESPN's focus was elsewhere. The WSOP stream stopped yesterday – ESPN wouldn’t want a competing stream going up against their first Main Event broadcast of the year. 

But this deserved to be watched by everyone who loves poker. As it was, it was confined to an excited rail two deep.

Artur Martirosian dominated large periods of this tournament but had to settle for a runner-up finish and $1,477,434.

Tyler Abrams

Negreanu keeps PLO streak alive 

Martirosian started heads-up with the advantage, but it didn't last long.

• Artur Martirosian: 30,125,000
• Daniel Negreanu: 19,675,000

After Martirosian took down the first couple of pots, Negreanu came firing back to win two big ones and take the chip lead. He was all-in on one hand – and revealed afterwards that it was a bluff: "I had dust."

Negreanu’s wife Amanda was watching on the rail.

“His spirits were amazing today,” she told us. 

She looked remarkably calm as well. 

“I used to get much more nervous – this time for some reason I feel calm about it. Usually I’m a crazy person with nerves, and if he’s losing a pot I’m kicking shit. I feel good about it. When he’s in the zone he’s really in the zone and locked in. And he’s locked in right now.”

He was. He won another pot to move above 30 million in chips, leaving Martirosian below 20 million. 

Phil Hellmuth did his best to wrest some of the limelight away with his Main Event entrance. But he wasn’t moving this rail. One person asked him to get it on the vlog but Negreanu shot back, “I’m busy winning.”

And he was. 

When the chips went in on the final hand, the rail pushed forward in anticipation. Negreanu flopped the wheel and didn’t notice straight away. It was all over by the turn and a huge cheer went up as he started to celebrate. "Let's go!" he shouted. 

“I’ve been doing so well in the PLOs,” Negreanu told PokerOrg afterward. “I’ve played seven and cashed in all but one. I’ve always said that I’m at the top of tier 2, but I might have elevated myself to the bottom of tier 1 now.”

And the win kept his PLO streak alive. Talking with the WSOP’s Jeff Platt he added, “I’ve never lost heads-up at PLO in my entire life. He [Martirosian] said that as well but we kept that streak alive.”

This puts Negreanu back into the Player of the Year mix. How does he feel about that? 

“That’s always a possibility,” he said. “You never give up. I’m a big Rocky guy and boxing’s a great analogy. You keep getting punched in the face and you keep getting knocked down, but the champions are the ones who keep getting up.”

$100K High Roller PLO results

1. Daniel Negreanu: $2,257,718
2. Artur Martirosian: $1,477,434
3. Christopher Frank: $1,002,107
4. Philip Sternheimer: $705,448
5. Yosuke Miki: $516,160
6. Sean Winter: $393,139
7. Sergio Martinez Gonzalez: $312,233
8. Jeremy Ausmus: $259,047
9. Robert Cowen: $224,962

^{Images courtesy of WSOP.}