Daniel Negreanu Wins WSOP POY But Was It Worth It?

In order to win, Daniel Negreanu had to jet off to Europe for a month, play like a maniac, rebuy countless times, and battle it out non-stop for weeks on end to win…a title. No money, no bonuses, nothing except the honour of being named WSOP Player of the Year. Was it worth it?

Of course, only Daniel Negreanu can really answer that question – and he has said it was ‘acknowledgment of a lot of hard work, long gruelling days against top competition’ – but to the wider poker community it sounds like madness.

The best-known player in poker, with titles coming out of his ears, now boasts another one that most people couldn’t really care less about.

For those who were challenging Negreanu – namely Robert Campbell and Shaun Deeb – it seemed to hurt more than it should have when KidPoker scooped the points leaderboard race…

Campbell’s tweet is a bittersweet one – the best WSOP campaign of his life, two gold bracelets thrown in, but one that he doesn’t intend to repeat.

Many believe Campbell ought to have been the winner, given DNegs’ ability to simply rebuy to his heart’s content. 

That’s hardly Negreanu’s fault, of course, the rules are the rules and he played by them – pipping Campbell and Deeb at the post in the very last event.

It was an interesting culmination to the race, but it could have been an amazing sweat if there had been a more level playing field of sorts and a prize worthy of the title at the end of it.

That’s what most people have been focusing on this past week, Negreanu included; sort out the points system, find a worthy sponsor and rework the whole thing until it becomes a true honour.