#1 With a Bullet: Negreanu Begins 2014 as Man to Beat

The 2014 poker season kicked off in the Bahamas on Sunday with Daniel Negreanu beginning his 10th straight week as the #1 player in the World…

A MAGICAL 2013 SEASON

Daniel Negreanu (GPI#1) begins the 2014 poker season on top of the GPI300. All eyes will be on Negreanu as he attempts to hold onto the #1 spot as long as he can. His 2013 season was one for the ages. Negreanu, who began 2013 ranked #21 on the Global Poker Index would finish the season ranked #1 for the final nine weeks of the year after an amazing run in the second half of the ’13 campaign.

Negreanu’s career exploits were cemented further last week when he was named Global Poker Index Player of the Decade, as part of the GPI’s PoD project which ranked the top players from the past 10 seasons – honouring Chris Moneymaker and the poker boom.

RUDE WELCOME TO 2014

Negreanu has already began his 2014 journey at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas, he is scheduled to make the trek to Melbourne next to play the Aussie Millions Poker Championship. Negreanu, however, is already out of the first tournament of the year, the 100K buy-in Super High Roller at the PCA.

Negreanu bought into the tournament three times and busted that third bullet earlier on Monday:

Busted the Super High Roller never really got anything going in this one but plenty of poker to be played! Hitting gym & beach woot!

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 6, 2014

His early exit doesn’t just prevent him from adding to his points total early in the season, it also means that those in the chase group behind him – that are still alive in the tournament – have a shot at pushing their way up the standings.

Ole Schemion (GPI#2), Philipp Gruissem (GPI#4), Bryn Kenney (GPI#5) and Vanessa Selbst (GPI#8) are all ranked in the Top 10 in the World and are all still contending in the Super High Roller as of press time.

VICTIM OF HIS OWN SUCCESS

Negreanu already started losing points late in 2013 meaning that others have already started moving towards the #1 rank. Negreanu will feel some pain in the next few weeks as well as his early 2012 scores in the PCA 100K SHR event – the very event he busted in earlier today – and the LAPT Grand Final will officially come off the books.

Although he should “ok” for a few months after, the that that Negreanu has been so solid in the months of May (EPT Grand Final, WPT World Championship) and June/July (WSOP) in the past few years, he will need to have solid results in at least a few of the events in the spring/summer season in order not to lose too much ground on the opposition.

The PokerStars Pro is already aware the the odds of him remaining at #1 for a long period of time is going to be a challenge. In his most recent blog on FullContactPoker writing his goals for the 2014 season, Negreanu stated:

“End 2013 Top 5 in the Global Poker Index- The GPI 300 is an excellent barometer and I’ve been eying that list for quite a while now. So many great players in the game today that being among the top 5 is quite an honor. Since I’m scaling back my tournaments by 20% I think this is a reasonable adjustment despite me being at #1 now.”

Kid Poker will also continue to receive huge challenges from other poker pros, including another “Kid” out of Germany who will finally be able to make his debut at the 45th World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer, should he chose to do so.

Currently ranked #2 in the World, Ole Schemion, who actually has spent one week atop the 300 in 2013, will have a clean slate for events in the summer season, meaning that, for the most part, points he has accumulated in the past have not come during the WSOP season, so, any points he accumulates this summer will go directly towards his points total. Schemion is definitely in the best position of all poker pros entering 2014.

It will be fun to see what Negreanu has in store for us for an encore … why not just win the WSOP Main Event to shut up the last few critics for good, Kid Poker! Best of luck to Negreanu and all the other pros vying for GPI #1 in 2014!

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