Daniel Negreanu Swings and Misses on his Bracelet Prop-Bet

Tonight was a long night for anyone who took Daniel Negreanu up on his bracelet prop-bet. ‘KidPoker’ has found himself on the final table of the $10k. Coming in third in chips, Negreanu was feeling good about his chances, and there were quite a few rooting against him out there. Nothing personal, but for some of them, it was money out of their pocket should he win.

After first few eliminations, it was clear that, if nothing else, Negreanu was going to provide a good sweat for his fans and his bettors alike. One by one, Mosseri, Monnette, Larry Wright and Brian Rast were headed for the door.

It left Negreanu up against Jason Mercier and Paul Volpe. Mercier held big advantage over the other two, but most of his chip went Volpe’s way, and soon his stack was turned to nothing. And there it was, the opportunity!

Although Volpe was starting the heads-up battle with the chiplead, Negreanu felt good about his chances, as he clearly stated on his twitter:

Paul Volpe was clearly aware of the prop-bet, and he explained later in the interview for wsop.com that he would use this to put maximum pressure on Negreanu. On the other hand, KidPoker was giving all his had to close the gap and come in position of power.

It was a long battle, as Negreanu was looking for his chance, while Volpe was trying to profit on the fact that Daniel had more on stake than he did. Despite the fact that Paul was only seeking his very first bracelet, while Negreanu already had six to his name, Volpe wouldn’t let anything get to him and played a solid game throughout.

At one point he managed to really grind his opponent down to about 350,000 in chips and it seemed like everything would be over soon. But Kid found a way to disappoint those rooting against him once again, as he managed to string along series of pots to bring him back over 800k.

Battle continued for a while, but this was just not written in the cards for Daniel. The last hand saw him call an all in from Volpe, and after they both drew one card, Volpe got what he needed to make his Jack-Ten. Negreanu had Jx 6x 5x 4x in front of him, so he needed a card lower than ten, but the one that doesn’t pair his hand, to win.

It was a long moment for everyone in the room, as Negreanu slowly squeezed out the card dealer handed him. Rail was shouting and KidPoker was being his regular self, as he laughed and joked, although this could easily be the card that ends the tournament for him. He finally squeezed the Queen, which was no good, and the opportunity vanished into a thin air. He was the runner-up.

Although Negreanu must have been disappointed, coming so close to winning another bracelet and locking up a prop-bet that he undoubtedly has a lot of money riding on, he took it like a true pro, congratulating Volpe on what he knew was probably the biggest moment of his career:

As they say, there is always a next one!