The 56th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP) has been running for just under a month, with more than 50 of the 100 planned bracelet events now in the books.
Today marks a special day on the WSOP calendar, as the $50k Poker Players Championship, one of the most prestigious events of the Series, kicks off.
The $50k mixed game event is considered a key event in the WSOP, as it brings together the world’s most elite players to compete in a deep stacked structure across multiple game formats.
This kind of a structure makes it impossible for players who specialize in just one form of poker, such as Texas Hold’em, to even compete. This makes the Poker Players Championship more prestigious among the pros than even the Main Event.
Last year, Daniel Negreanu finally won his 7th WSOP bracelet after a long draught, and doing so in this prestigious event made it all the more special for him.
This time around, Kid Poker will be entering the $50k event with a desire to repeat his success, and his recent results show that he may just have a chance.
Daniel Negreanu Crushing at the WSOP
Tournament poker is an interesting game, and more than one metric can be used to assess success at the tables.
While prize money and trophies make all the headlines, tournament poker is all about consistency and regularly giving yourself a shot at winning those trophies.
This is the one area where Daniel Negreanu excels, as he is one of the players with the most deep runs in every single WSOP he plays.
This year has been especially successful for DNegs in this area, as he has cashed in seven separate events at the WSOP. Interestingly enough, he recorded these cashes in seven different games as well, once again demonstrating his proficiency in different game formats.
Daniel kicked the Series off with a second place finish in the $10k Limit Omaha 8 Championship, before running deep in five other $10k Championships, the $250k No Limit Hold’em, and the $25k Pot Limit Omaha event.
With over a million in prize money, a second place finish, and several final tables under his belt, Negreanu will be entering the $50k Poker Players Championship as one of the favorites.
Not only is he playing great poker across the different disciplines, but he is also the reigning champion, which always adds some mystique to a player’s performance in any event.
Poker Players Championship in particular has had an interesting history with defending champions, with several players coming back to defend the title in back-to-back years.
Repeat Champions at the Poker Players Championship
The Poker Players Championship has been running at the WSOP since 2006 (under different names), when late Chip Reese won the event after beating a field of 143 elite poker players.
Over the years, many of the game’s most famous poker players have won the event, including the likes of Scotty Nguyen, John Hennigan, and Freddy Deeb.
In 2012, after only seven years, the event saw its first two-time champion crowned in Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Mizrachi, who had won the event in 2010, came back and won it all once again, demonstrating his mastery of all the poker games.
Incredibly, Michael would come back to win it all again in 2018, winning his third WSOP bracelet in the Poker Players Championship alone, which forever cemented his place in the history of poker.
Not to be outdone by his friend Michael, Poker Hall of Fame Brian Rast managed to repeat this insane feat by taking down the $50k tournament in 2011, 2016, and 2023, becoming the second three-time champion in the event.
A somewhat surprising name on this list of mixed game specialists in Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, who won the event in back-to-back years in 2021 and 2022. Cates, generally considered a No Limit Hold’em and PLO player, managed to outlast the mixed game pros two times in a row and give them a reason to ponder their approach to the game.
In just 19 years, the Poker Players Championship has seen three players win the event more than once, with two of them winning three times. This gives Daniel Negreanu a reason to be optimistic about his own chances in 2025.
Can the Master of All Games Do It Again?
For the likes of Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey, the Poker Players Championship is a special WSOP event they look forward to more than the others.
It combines all their best skills, and allows them to outlast their opponents by playing elite level poker across 10 different poker games.
This year, Daniel has already shown he is in full sync with the strategy of all the popular poker formats that will be played as part of the mix in the Championship.
He has seen the likes of Mizrachi and Rast do it in the past, and will undoubtedly be gunning for his second title in this prestigious tournament as well.
Aside from his skills in all the games, another thing that bodes well for Negreanu is the traditionally small field this tournament attracts.
Given the elite competition, slow blind levels, and the skill requirements, most poker players choose not to compete in the $50k on a regular basis.
Last year, Negreanu had to outlast only 88 other players to capture his 7th bracelet, and the tournament has never attracted more than 144 players in total.
This makes the Poker Players Championship one of the best statistical chances to win the bracelet for those competing, everyone gets more than 1% chance of going all the way in a vacuum.
Of course, Negreanu’s chances are much higher than that, as his skill in mixed game events is legendary, and he seems to be in the form of his life when it comes to playing in similar formats.
Get strapped in for the marathon that is the $50k Poker Players Championship, which will run over the next six days, and truly showcase the skills of the best poker players in the world.
