Kid Poker – How Does He Do It?!

Daniel Negreanu does it again, laying down top straight on a gut feeling his opponent outdrew him.

There’s something about Daniel Negreanu. Something eerily akin to telepathy. I don’t think they guy is psychic, or he’d have more WSOP bracelets–at the least, an ever-elusive WOSP Championship title—adorning his trophy case. But if he’s not psychic, his wizardry is damn near inconceivable!

We’ve all seen good poker players make reads before. ‘I think this guy has me beat, because he over-bet 2x the pot. I call him out, fold my cards, and it turns out I was right—he had me by a mile.’ But this player could just as easily have been wrong. Over-bets are just expensive bluffs half the time.

But Daniel isn’t a 50/50 kinda guy. He’s not even a 75/25 kinda guy. This guy seems to be dead-on correct at least 90% of the time. He calls people out constantly, telling them what they’re holding. And frighteningly often, he’s got them pegged, card for card.

Daniel Does it Again at Super High Roller Bowl V

It was a crazy week in Las Vegas – isn’t it always? – as the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl V kicked off at Aria Resort & Casino on Monday. The colossal, $300,000 buy-in drew a respectable field of 36—only 7 of which would finish in the money, collecting a jaw-dropping portion of the $10.8 million prize pool.

Daniel Negreanu, Canada’s most decorated and highest earning live tournament pro, was not among the cash-worthy finishers on Wednesday. He was, however, involved in a phenomenal hand that showed off his most endearing talent—the ability to call out an opponent’s hand.

It was Day 1 on the SHRBV felt, and Kid Poker was up against the Belarusian pro, Mikita Badziakouski. With J♥ 10♥ underneath, Negreanu was pleased enough to bet 5k when 8♦ 6♠ 7♥ flopped. Lots of connectors meant lots of possibilities, which he was quick to point out to the table. Mikita wasn’t convinced, hesitating a few moments before he decided to fire back a $15k raise with pocket pair, 9♥9♣.

Daniel calls, and the turn delivers what he sees as a beautiful 9♠. Daniel makes the straight. Odds were certainly high that Badziakouski could be looking at a straight, but not one stronger than Daniel’s J-high. And his trio of 9s were still beat. Daniel could have gone for broke here, but he didn’t. Instead, he checks it down, and Mkita does the same.

Negreanu was in an excellent mood at this point, right up until the 8♥ fell on the river. He appeared happy enough, and was quick to check once more, but he soon got quiet as Badziakouski stared ahead, considering his situation. It was at this point that Daniel began to realize he might have a problem. His fears were confirmed when the Belarusian announced he was going 60,000.

“That’s really bad news for me,” said Negreanu, shaking his head. “I was really gonna do it to you on the turn” he added, surely wishing he’d fired the trigger when he had the chance. He tanked for a minute, orally discussing the possibilities.

As the announcers went back and forth, agreeing that they’d be shocked if Negreanu puts Badziakouski on a full boat and folds to him, that’s exactly what Negreanu did.

“What could you have that…” The Kid gets quiet, then, “Full house makes a lot of sense.” He immediately disregarded the possibility of a straight, and began thinking out loud about which full house his opponent had him beat with. In the end, he said “I think you just have a full house bro!” Two time cards later, he folded his straight.

Mikita mucked, of course, but the rest of the table got into discussion, at which time Daniel admitted he had J-10 underneath. Half of the table didn’t believe him, and the other half thought he was crazy to fold if it was true. Everyone at home, of course, knew just how unbelievably right Daniel was.

Kudos to the living legend! You can watch the whole thing go down below…