daniel negreanu, wsop online

A Week in Review: DNegs Denied a WSOP Bracelet, Abby Merk Gets in Hot Water, and Ari Engel Wins WSOPC Ring #21

Op-Ed / / By

It was a relatively uneventful week in the poker world, as major live poker tours took a short break, and live cash games were back to regular programming with no outstanding events. 

The WSOP Online festival at GGPoker was one of the main things to look at, and it was Daniel Negreanu who came close to making history in this festival, as he reached three final tables in total, including two close calls for bracelets in major events. 

Abby Merk got into hot water over a questionable decision and a bit of an overreaction in a low-stakes game over on Poker at the Lodge, which reflected quite poorly on her overall poker persona. 

Finally, two of WSOPC’s most highly decorated players added to their resumes and won new rings, pulling one step closer to Maurice Hawkins in the never-ending race for the best Circuit player in the world. 

Daniel Negreanu Makes Back-to-Back WSOP Final Tables

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas is long gone, but the Series has moved on to the online arena, as GGPoker plays host to one of online poker’s biggest festivals of the year. 

Daniel Negreanu, one of the most decorated tournament poker players in the world, has been playing the WSOP Online events regularly while visiting Vancouver, Canada, and he’s had a few close calls for WSOP bracelet number nine last week. 

Negreanu has become somewhat of a high roller specialist in recent years, and he continued this trend during the WSOP Online festival, as his first real run at a bracelet came in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller. 

Negreanu reached a final table that included the likes of Ole Schemion and Pedro Neves, and was in the running for a $900,000 first-place prize and WSOP bracelet number nine. 

Unfortunately for the Canadian Poker Hall of Famer, a series of unlucky hands at the final table sent him packing in 4th place, earning him just over $415k, but eliminating him from contention for the title. 

Daniel first lost an all-in confrontation with A♦K♠ against Schemion’s A♠Q♠, before getting tested for 27 big blinds by Casimir Saire’s 9♣8♦. Negreanu held pocket Tens, but an unlucky runout gave his opponent two pair and ended his run prematurely. 

Saire, on the other hand, ended up taking down the tournament and winning the bracelet, showing that a little luck can go a long way in any poker tournament. 

Just days later, Negreanu was back at it, this time making the final table of the $5,000 PLO Bounty event. DNegs would take another shot at a bracelet in what might be his favorite game, but once again, luck wasn’t on his side. 

Daniel’s run in this one ended after he lost pocket Aces to pocket Aces, followed by a hand in which he made two pair, only to lose to a flopped set. 

Kid Poker cashed for about $60k total in this one, but would have to contend with a sixth-place finish and another unfortunate end to a bracelet hunt. 

Abby Merk Stirs Up Controversy

It’s not every day that a hand played at the $1/$2 tables makes it into the poker news cycle, but that’s exactly what happened, as one of the most popular poker vloggers got into hot water over an unusual hand played on Poker at the Lodge. 

Abby Merk was playing in what must have been one of the smallest games of her poker career and got into an unusual altercation with Susan, a casual poker player she claimed to be somewhat friendly with. 

Holding A♦5♦, Merk went for a 4-bet bluff worth $821, putting Susan to the test with her pocket Sixes. There was a good chance Susan was going to fold her cards, but the two got to talking, and things changed quite a bit. 

Susan asked Merk is she wanted action, and she answered, “Not really,” perhaps a bit too honestly for her own good. 

For better or worse, Susan eventually made the call; the players ran it twice, and Abby lost both boards before buying back in for the minimum to stay in the game and honor the side bets. 

What made the hand stand out so much was Abby’s reaction to the whole thing, as she said she expected Susan to fold her cards and was visibly annoyed that she got called after saying she didn’t want action. 

Merk has since claimed that she was in “friend mode” and was expecting friendly treatment from this particular player, but the truth is that, anyway you spin it, she was simply in the wrong. 

Things are only made even worse by the fact that Abby is a popular poker streamer, and this game was probably the smallest one she’s played in a while. Getting upset over a call for a few hundred dollars made her look bad on TV, and the look is even worse when you consider the fact that it all happened while playing against a recreational poker player. 

In the future, the young poker vlogger should probably learn not to reveal too much information about her hand at the table, while simultaneously taking the beats as they come, as poker tables can be significantly more brutal than what she experienced at The Lodge. 

Engel and Lowery Both Win WSOPC Ring #21

While the world’s most elite players have all been chasing after Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP bracelet record for years, a different group of tournament grinders has been doing the same at the WSOPC tables, where Maurice Hawkins is the man to catch. 

Hawkins recently extended his lead on this leaderboard to 26 WSOP rings, and this week saw both of his closest rivals add a ring to their resumes, putting them one step closer to the top. 

The first to extend his record was Daniel Lowery, who won his WSOPC ring #21 at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs Event #7: $400 Big O, which he took down for an $8,607 first-place prize and a WSOPC ring. 

What’s interesting is that Ari Engel was in contention for a ring in this one as well, as he came third out of 96 runners and had a real chance to be the first one of the pair to reach 21. 

It only took a single day for Ari to win a ring of his own, as he entered Event #9 the very next day, and won it all at the NLH tables. 

The field was quite small in this one as well, so the grinder only took home a prize worth $6,613 for outlasting 68 opponents in total. 

With these two events in the books, both Engel and Lowery now have 21 WSOPC rings and are trailing by five behind Hawkins, who remains the undisputed king of the Circuit despite all the drama that’s been surrounding him away from the tables. 

The race is certainly on, and we can expect to see these players winning more rings and chasing that top spot for years to come, with a few other players in contention to join the race as time goes by. 

Must Read

Your correct answer streak: 0