Negreanu Batting .500 in Heads-Up Challenge

As reported in a recent Poker News Daily article, professional poker player Daniel Negreanu has issued a challenge to anyone with the guts and the bankroll to play a heads-up match against him for up to $500,000. Over the weekend, Negreanu got his first taker in limit Hold’em expert, David Oppenheim. On the line: $200,000.

Detailing the play on his website, Full Contact Poker, Negreanu admitted that Oppenheim did probably outplay him, but he also continually stated that he was the victim of bad beat after bad beat, suckout after suckout. A couple examples of Negreanu’s luck:

• Negreanu holds 77 vs. Oppenheim’s 44. Flop comes 9-7-3, giving Negreanu his set. Turn 5 and River 6 allowed Oppenheim to hit a miracle runner-runner gut-shot straight.
• Negreanu’s 66 vs. Oppenheim’s 8-10 of clubs. Flop was A-K-6 with one club, again giving Negreanu the set. Turn was the 9 of clubs. River was the 5 of clubs and Oppenheim took down the pot with a runner-runner flush.

Negreanu was not too upset, however, as he understands that sometimes the cards just go the other guy’s way. Regarding his opponent, Negreanu was more than complimentary:

“I like David, and if I was going to lose a match it really didn't hurt too bad losing to him. He was a gentleman throughout and I think both of us enjoyed the match. He is an easy guy to root for.”

Next up was highly-regarded pro, Mimi Tran, this past Monday. She, like Oppenheim, is a limit Hold’em specialist and Negreanu agreed to her request to play that game for the maximum stakes, $500,000.

According to Negreanu, he had command of the match, leading for the first 8.5 hours (yes, hours). But Tran did not give up and actually overtook Negreanu for a short time until he put her away at 5:30am, 10.5 hours after they started. This match, the cards went Negreanu’s way.

“Overall I was happy with my play, but limit hold'em is a card catching contest and it was clear that I caught the most cards,” Negreanu said.

And while Negreanu was happy to win, bringing his heads-up record to 1 and 1, with a $300,000 profit, he doesn’t necessarily put too much stock in who wins or who loses.

“So while I thoroughly enjoy these matches, win or lose it doesn't say much about ‘who's better’ if that's what you are looking for. That's not at all what I'm looking for though, I'm just lookin' to gamble!”

Related stories: Daniel Negreanu Challenges All Comers; Negreanu’s “Challenge” Record Falls to 1-2

Originally published May 17, 2005