Negreanu Overtakes Hellmuth!
In their first-ever heads-up match, Daniel Negreanu faced down all-time World Series money winner and seven-bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth Jr. to score a dramatic come-from-behind victory. Down at one point $17,000 to $93,000, all in three times, each time with the lesser hand, Daniel caught cards when needed to outrun Phil and score an unlikely victory. Several times, Daniel outran Phil’s kings. “The quote of the evening,” said a slightly dazed Hellmuth, “was that I was afraid to look at kings.”
Cheu Kim Lim finished ninth when Negreanu's straight beat his queens-up. At the final table, the limits started off at $1,000-$2,000 with $200 blinds and $300 low-card bring-in. Paul Ladanyi was first out. On the second hand, Phillip Ivey blew him away with a full house. Meanwhile, Hellmuth had been playing just about every hand with no return on his investment. In 13 hands he went from a $31,900 substantial chip leader down to just $13,000 before starting his climb back up.
There were two native Canadians at the final table: Negreanu from Toronto and Tom Cawley from Victoria, British Columbia. Daniel proclaimed the innate superiority of our northern neighbors as poker players, though he generously acknowledged that Hellmuth would probably make it in the top 50 percent.
Vegas side game pro Carl Smith, only playing tournaments for four months, started with the fewest chips, went all in three times, surviving twice with trips and once when his ace-high flush beat Hellmuth's king-high flush. It was Phillip Ivey who was next out, on hand 35. He went all in with pocket deuces. Hellmuth had split aces and made two pair. Poker player Kimberly Bye said bye-bye on the next hand when her three sixes were beaten by Daniel, who had three treys and filled on the river. Two hands after that a huge pot developed that temporarily put Daniel into the lead with close to $60,000. There was four-way action at the outset. Daniel started with split sixes, paired kings on sixth street and then sevens on the end. Smith, all in, made nines-up and finished fifth.
Hellmuth, meanwhile, was putting the pressure on and building his stacks. “I never slow-played once,” he announced. He then proceeded to knock out Cawley by pairing kings on fourth street, while Tom, immediately all in for $3,600, ended up with just A-K. Phil then beat Daniel in a big pot by catching a third five on fourth street to move into a huge lead. At the break he had $76,500 to Daniel’s $20,500, while advertising agency owner Sam Kassis, himself all in a few times, had clawed his way up to $13,000. After limits went to $3,000-$6,000, Kassis was out in four hands when his queens lost to Hellmuth’s kings.
Heads-up, Daniel had about $25,000, and soon dipped even lower. He began catching up when he went all in with jacks against Hellmuth’s split kings and made two pair. Right after that, he had sixes to Hellmuth’s kings and pulled slightly ahead by catching a runner-runner flush. “So brutal,“ said Phil, shaking his head. On the 17th hand heads-up, Daniel again made a flush to end one of the most dramatic confrontations of Legends 2001 to date. –Max Shapiro
BIOGRAPHY
Daniel Negreanu, 27, has a World Series bracelet for pot-limit hold’em, a Best All-Around at Foxwoods and numerous other titles. “My new stud theory,” he said, “is to start with the worst hand, and that way you win much bigger pots. I knew when I was behind, that was the key. When I was ahead, I was paranoid.” He said that he and Hellmuth knew each other’s style, so they played straightforward poker against each other and tried fewer plays. In no-limit hold’em, he explained, they use very similar strategies, which he described as aggressive trapping. In stud, he added, the slight difference is that Hellmuth likes to bring it in with a raise for the full amount while he never does.
Daniel once won a 1/2-stud/1/2-hold-em tournament, but this is his first straight stud victory. “For years it was my worst game, but I’ve improved on it greatly,” he said. “Allen Cunningham and Phil Ivey taught me a lot
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