Is Daniel Negreanu Ready to Step Away From the Top of the Game?

Poker legend Daniel Negreanu has hinted that his main focus in life may not be fixed squarely on poker any longer. The 44-year-old Canadian gave a revealing interview with Lance Bradley from PocketFives and it was plain to see that his priorities in life have shifted somewhat.

Those of you who keep up with poker news will no doubt have heard about Negreanu’s recent engagement to Amanda Leatherman - the former PokerStars Big Game host. Now firmly on the “wrong” side of 40 is this change in his personal life coming at a time when he might want to start winding down a little? 44 is not old by any stretch but it is a time in life when many people do start to lose their drive and motivation a little. This is also seen in other mind sports such as chess.

It’s no secret that last year Negreanu took on a couple of coaches to help him to master the new game theory based approach to poker that is needed for success at the very top of the game. This switch also changed his demeanour at the tables. The chatty and ever polite guy we all know was replaced by a much more serious “I’m here for business” image.

By the end of the year though - post engagement - the old Negreanu was clearly back and looking more relaxed than ever. Into the new year and we were all waiting with baited breath for what has become something of a tradition - Negreanu’s 2019 goals list. It would appear that this is one of the first casualties of his new priorities.

“I do one every year, and because my priorities are just not aligned on that. I don’t have any clear ones that I feel like I need to achieve right now. This might be a year where I don’t write one and just take a year off of writing one.”

Although Negreanu will still be playing as much poker as usual during 2019 he has admitted it will no longer be possible to be one of the true elite, as he just won’t commit the same number of hours to study as before. He is comfortable with this though as he says he no longer has anything left to prove. He also accepts that after losing the top spot in the all-time live tournament winners list to Justin Bonomo last year he is ever likely to ever regain it.