Daniel Negreanu has hit back at "haters" who have claimed that he's getting preferential treatment at the 2025 WSOP.
The GGPoker pro narrowly missed out on his eighth WSOP bracelet in Las Vegas on Tuesday, finishing second to Ryan Bambrick in the $10K Omaha 8 Championship.
You can find out exactly what went down in his latest daily vlog. Negreanu was filming during breaks and used highlights from the PokerGO stream to tell the story of his near miss.
However, some people called foul, claiming that Negreanu was getting preferential treatment from the WSOP by allowing him to film after a ban on electronic devices from the final three tables onward.
That rule was brought in after the controversy on the final table of the Main Event at the 2024 WSOP, when eventual champion Jonathan Tamayo was coached from the rail by players with a laptop.
Negreanu strongly denied the allegations in his latest vlog.
"One other thing I want clearly pointed out for the haters or whatever — during these 90 minutes I did not have my phone, my vlog phone, anything, I don't touch it," Negreanu said.
"As soon as the level's over, I grab it and take it over here — I am allowed to go to the rail and use it, but I am not getting any preferential treatment; I'm not cheating, I'm not bending any rules, I'm following the rules. That is the same for everybody. Okay? Stick it.
"I don't want preferential treatment. Never did. Never want it. Listen, I'm playing by the same rules as everybody else. So you know, I just want that clearly stated. Facts."
What are the rules?
Back in May, the WSOP posted the revised WSOP ruleset for 2025.
Among the rules was this, about the use of electronic devices late on in tournaments:
"Once participants have reached the final three tables in any tournament, all approved electronic devices must be removed. An announcement will be made to participants once they have reached the final three tables to remove all such electronic devices."
Players could access their devices again during breaks or after being eliminated.
The rules went on to say, "During streamed events, the WSOP reserves the right to remove all participants’ electronic devices. Participants will only be allowed to have their devices back during breaks or after elimination."
Following this announcement, Matt Berkey tweeted to say, "Is there a betting market available on if DNegs gets preferential treatment? Can I lay the wood on the yes?"
Negreanu replied to Berkey saying, "1) I’ve never had a media credential. 2) I never film hands where I still have action pending. 3) Just like everyone else, I won’t have access to it for the last 3 tables. So yeah, if you are looking to 'lay wood,' I’ll happily accept, but you will have to define preferential treatment."
WSOP relaxes the rules?
During the $10K Omaha 8 Championship, the WSOP posted a clarification on X.
"Regarding the use of phones and electronic devices at the table: The WSOP reserves the right to ask players to put away their phones and electronic devices at our discretion at the final three tables of a tournament. Phones and electronic devices are NOT allowed at ANY final table or streaming table."
And that saw a number of people question why this was being said at this particular time.
More vlogs are better
It wasn't a one-way street. Negreanu also had his supporters on X.
And there's a good point to be made here. The rule was brought in to stop players from gaining an unfair advantage.
If the rules have been relaxed to give the WSOP leeway to make common sense decisions, that's also a good thing. How they implement the ruling in the future will obviously be up for scrutiny now.
But Negreanu filmed himself during breaks and away from the table and later edited in highlights from the PokerGO stream. If you watch his vlogs, you'll also see him taking time out to bump fists and take photos with fans at the rail.
His vlogs take a huge amount of work and help to spread the WSOP way beyond the Vegas bubble. For us, more vlogs are definitely better.
