Daniel Negreanu sat at the top of the All-Time Money List for quite a long time before being over taken by Justin Bonomo in 2018. Negreanu is a member of the Poker Hall of Fame and has six WSOP bracelets under his belt and close to $40 million in total tournament winnings. He is one of the greatest poker players of all time, and most importantly a global poker ambassador with a massive influence in the world of poker.
Negreanu has recently faced a tirade of hate on social media following his comments on the state of poker in 2019. Negreanu initially addressed the issue in a controversial tweet that has since been deleted. He made his thoughts clearer in a new blog post on his own website Full Contact Poker.
In his first tweet, Negreanu listed the traits of what he considered to be the worst kind of poker player to which poker players from around the world reacted strongly. Negreanu said a player who is slow, cheap or selfish, a winner and a complainer is a cancer to the game of poker.
Backlash Pours In
Taking offense at Negreanu’s comments, several poker players fired back and attacked him for possessing a holier-than-thou attitude. Some of the comments hurled at him state that he is a man who has no idea what a small-stakes scene looks like, he hasn’t played with low-level players, he avoids the small cash games, yet he pretends to know everything and wants to tell every player how they should behave.
The backlash poured in with players saying that Negreanu’s credibility has fallen drastically in recent times; he lives in a bubble and is completely disconnected from a big part of the poker world. Most of these were comments made by DK Lappin and Dara O’Kearney, hosts of the The Chip Race poker podcast sponsored by Unibet Poker. Both came up with a blog post to refute Negreanu’s points.
Doug Polk also joined the debate and criticized Negreanu for showing no respect to certain poker players. He suggested that all types of poker players, how they play, and what they do to get at the table deserve to be embraced and understood.
On his Poker Fraud Alert website, Todd Witteless also took issue with what Negreanu had to say. Witteless said it wouldn’t hurt to recognize the fact that poker players have different personalities. Some just don’t have the energy to provide entertainment while at the table, some players are fun to play with, while there are also serious players who just want to stay focused.
Witteless said what players need to do while at the table is just to stay courteous, honest and avoid things that could interrupt gameplay. Other than that, they should have the freedom to be themselves, and should not be told they are “bad” for the game just because of who they are and how they play.
Negreanu Admits Comments Were Harsh
In a new blog post published on Full Contact Poker, Negreanu owned up to his mistake and apologized for his rude comments. But the poker pro said his statements were misunderstood by people who were not able to completely digest what he was talking about. Negreanu offered a new argument on the issue highlighting the “positive” traits a poker player must have. Those trains include acting quickly, being generous, not being afraid of losing money, being friendly, and being positive.
The second post did not do much to stop the flow of anger and hate towards Negreanu.
Some Players Defend Negreanu
Phil Galfond took to Twitter to say that while he does not agree to Negreanu’s initial statement, he just doesn’t get it why people are still taking offence with Negreanu’s latest blog post.
Poker pro Joey Ingram also came out in support for Negreanu by saying that there are a lot of issues surrounding poker have been evolving for years and Negreanu should have immersed himself much more in the game today in order to better understand these issues and clearly discuss them with the rest of the poker world.
Negreanu is no stranger to controversy or criticism and has handled most of the backlash pretty well. However, he has hand enough and in his latest blog post has called on the poker community to put it behind them and stop spreading hate and negativity.