WSOP 2017: Canada’s Daniel Negreanu Leads Final 6 of $50,000 Poker Players Championship

The final table of the WSOP event #62:$50,000 Poker Players Championship is set and leading the final six at the  table is none other than the six -time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu from Canada with 5,930,000 in chips. He is followed on 2nd position by Isaac Haxton (5,205,000) from Las Vegas, USA. Another player chasing him is Elior Sion from London, UK. He holds 4,750,000 in chips.nigraneauSharing his experience, Negreanu said “I helped create this event when it was originally created years ago.I always was so disappointed I hadn’t done better. I had a couple of cashes and last year came in 12th. I always felt, especially this year more than ever, that it’s something I wanted to win.”

“I’ve won Player of the Year twice, but this is the best year I’ve ever had, especially if I can top it off with a bracelet. I’d have six top 20 finishes.”

Things didn’t look favourable for Negreanu when 20 players remained on Day 3 in this tournament. He was the short stack player at the table. One day and six levels later, Negreanu emerged as the chip leader.

He began Day 4 fifth in chips among remaining 15 players and by the time eight players remained in this event, he was still sixth in chips. However, his rush then began and he quickly ascended the leaderboard.

Sharing his excitement about his amazing run, Negreanu said, “Obviously, it was amazing. I’ve been setting my intention every day for the chip counts. So far, everything I’ve envisioned is coming to fruition.”

Negreanu’s target for Day 1 was to bag around 400,000, but he ended up with 360,000. On Day 2 he set a target of  1 million and ended up finishing with 680,000 in chips. His plan for Day 3 was to bag about 2.4 million and he finished with 2.2. He hoped for 6 million going into the final table, and finished with 5.93 million.

“This whole tournament’s unique,” he said.” You have some of the players that clearly don’t know how to play some of the games very well, so they make up for it in other games where they play overly aggressive and stuff like that. So, I’ve been trying to avoid the landmines.” He further added.

“There’s a few players, of course, who play all of the games well and they’re doing the same thing. You can’t just be a wimp, and just be a pushover when you’re playing games they’re being aggressive on. But at the same time, you don’t want to play their games. So, it’s a nice little dance. That’s why I love the eight-game mix, because you’re doing a little bit of both.”

The final tablists from this event will have more than $55 million in career tournament winnings. 60% of that belongs to Negreanu, but it won’t be easy for him to win bracelet No. 7, as there are many tough players to beat.

A Look at Final Table Chip Counts:

Seat Player Country Chip Count
1 Ivo Donev Austria 2,990,000
2 Johannes Becker Germany 4,560,000
3 Daniel Negreanu Canada 5,930,000
4 Elior Sion United Kingdom 4,750,000
5 Paul Volpe United States 1,570,000
6 Isaac Haxton United States 5,205,000

The final table begins at 2 p.m. on Thursday. Please stay tuned in for the latest updates here.