Where Does Daniel Negreanu Play Poker Online

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The Bonus Cut: Daniel Negreanu explains. Daniel Negreanu recently won the WSOP Player of the Year title in style after winning the WSOPE Main Event for €725,000. That win brought his live poker tournament winnings to an incredible $19,549,210. The guy knows how to play poker and if you want to understand how to think about the game better. He Passed on Joining PokerStars. Fans know Daniel Negreanu and PokerStars go way back. Daniel Negreanu is easily the most recognizable poker player on the planet. It’s also safe to say he has already earned the status of a true Poker Legend. GGPoker proudly calls him one of our own. It is within the live poker sphere where Daniel is best known for his table exploits. You just need to take a quick glance at his WSOP results to.

Valerie Cross

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The poker world hates a cheater or a scammer, but over the weekend, Daniel Negreanu brought up an interesting question about where the community draws the line in regards to one issue of 'cheating' in particular.

With poker's Black Friday, the rug was pulled out from under many poker players making a living or a supplemental income playing online poker. For some of those individuals, relocating to another country was in the realm of possibilities. Many did so to continue to have access to the sites no longer available for players residing inside the borders of America.

Negreanu: 'There really is no victim here outside of the player using the VPN when he gets caught.'

Those who could not leave had a tough choice between quitting online poker, playing on unregulated sites that couldn't compete with the volume or guarantees on the now-forbidden sites, or using a VPN — a virtual private network — to break the rules and gain access to the same sites as before.

Against the rules? Yes. But is it 'cheating' or 'unethical'? These are the questions that the former long-time PokerStars ambassador brought to the fore in his tweet on Saturday that spurred quite a bit of discussion among the community.

The VPN Debate

Negreanu kicked off some discussion by comparing the use of VPNs to conceal your real location with some other technically illegal poker-playing activities, though the one on playing poker in Texas was much disputed considering its existence in a legal gray area.

It’s illegal to play poker in Texas, are those that do unethical or cheaters?

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)

Negreanu put out a poll to gauge players' thoughts on the matter, and the results from 15,919 respondents overwhelmingly favored the opinion that playing on a VPN from the U.S. is not considered 'cheating.'

Do you consider players using a VPN to play online poker from the US to play on sites that forbid play from the US… https://t.co/WzXvNIxIGn

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)

Players Chime In

Many players like Niall Farrell argued the act does not necessarily cheat other players, so long as they are playing on their own account.

Negreanu

@RealKidPoker As someone lucky enough to live somewhere where I’ve never had to face this issue; I couldn’t give a… https://t.co/yNnFniPUCY

— Niall Farrell (@Firaldo87poker)

Still, others provided some fodder for the other side of the argument, namely that playing on a VPN gives players who do so an unfair advantage over those who follow the rules.

@RealKidPoker The most compelling argument I've heard that it's cheating is this: Two players both from Vegas, A an… https://t.co/uGQd5c3YHq

— Chris Kruk (@KrukPoker)

Others had a problem with Negreanu's moral stance altogether, Norman Chad one of the most vocal among them:

1. When voting for Poker HOF, you say you ONLY consider the criteria; nothing more. Sounds right. 2. When Hellmuth… https://t.co/zexX5lDt4J

— Norman Chad (@NormanChad)

What developed into a lengthy argument about ethics along with countless tangents, seemed mostly one about semantics. After all, there's no question that using a VPN to play from the U.S. on sites where it's both illegal and against the Terms of Service (TOS) to do so, is clearly against the rules and the law — whether you agree with said law or not.

Does that mean it's an unacceptable practice among poker players? It depends on who you ask.

Victimless Crime?

As Negreanu sees it, players who choose to deceive poker sites in regards to their physical location are simply assuming their own risk without affecting others.

'So are the other players in the tournament being 'cheated' by a player using a VPN? I don’t think so. Is the online operator being 'cheated' by this player? No. There really is no victim here outside of the player using the VPN when he gets caught. He pays the ultimate price. No one else is affected whatsoever.'

Important to just about everyone in the conversation, is the distinction between players who play via a VPN under their own account, and those who create a new 'burner' account when playing from the United States. The difference is illustrated by two marquee examples in Brian Hastings (who played not from his '$tinger88' account but under 'NoelHayes' when he reentered the online poker world in 2015 - detailed here and here) and Gordon Vayo (who played under his own '[email protected]' account from Florida via a VPN, detailed here).

You can read Negreanu's detailed arguments for why he doesn't see a problem with players choosing to use a VPN to play online from the U.S. here on his blog.

What Do You Think?

The Stars Group owns a majority shareholding in iBus Media.

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The most high-profile sponsorship in the poker world has ended.

Daniel Negreanu will no longer sport the red spade, representing PokerStars everywhere he goes. He and the world's leading online poker provider have come to an agreement on what 'Kid Poker' called an 'amicable split.'

Negreanu had been the most visible member of PokerStars Team Pro since 2007, which he called 'an incredible run.'

Daniel negreanu playing poker

'It was a great run but we're no longer gonna be an ambassador for the company,' he said in an online announcement. 'I worked with so many great people, some really good people at PokerStars. I've had the opportunity to travel the world, play in Barcelona, Monte Carlo, PCA which were three of my favorite stops. I wish everyone the best.'

'I worked with so many great people, some really good people at PokerStars.”

Rebecca McAdam Willets, PokerStars associate director, group public relations extended the company's well wishes, in turn.

'Daniel has been one of the most influential faces of poker and indeed PokerStars for 12 years, and it has been wonderful to have his passion, support and insights throughout our relationship,' she said to PokerNews. 'We wish Daniel the very best for the future, as well as wedded bliss and tons of run good this summer.'

Where Does Daniel Negreanu Play Poker Online Now

Negreanu's Long History With PokerStars

Originally, Negreanu played a major role in funding and building his own poker site, Full Contact Poker.

However, in June 2007, Negreanu reached an agreement with PokerStars to join their ambassador team alongside notable former World Series of Poker Main Event champs Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem. Full Contact Poker was migrated into PokerStars and the site reverted to simply being host to Negreanu's blog, forums, podcasts and other media.

Negreanu became a regular face on PokerStars' European Poker Tour and other international events. While he never managed to win a prestigious EPT title, he did make a few final tables, finishing fourth at EPT Grand Final in 2013 for €321,000, and cashed in a few $100K events at PCA and other stops.

While other stars from the early 2000s such as Hachem and Barry Greenstein faded from the spotlight and had their sponsorships lapse, Negreanu continued to carry the flag and remained one of the game's brightest stars. His profile only rose over the years as he became poker's all-time tournament money leader — since surpassed by Justin Bonomo — and evolved his game to continue to succeed against the new generation of crushers.

Recent Troubles

In recent years, Negreanu has been a lightning rod for criticism out of some corners as both he and PokerStars took some stances that proved unpopular with sectors of the poker community.

Where Does Daniel Negreanu Play Poker online, free

When PokerStars controversially cut high-volume rewards and hiked the rake across a number of games, Negreanu rationalized the changes, to the consternation of countless pros who hoped he would fight for their cause. In the process, he became a favorite punching bag of popular content creators like Doug Polk and Joey Ingram, who made a running gag out of Negreanu's defenses for the rake increase.

Then, some of his posted opinions ran afoul of popular 'The Chip Race' podcast hosts DK Lappin and Dara O'Kearney, who went after Negreanu on their blogs, resulting in a back-and-forth spat.

That one turned nasty, as did a heated exchange with Shaun Deeb in early May that saw both parties throwing insults and discussing a bizarre bet on which man would stay married longer.

Live

Leaving on a High Note

Through it all, Negreanu remained and still does remain one of the most, if not the most, popular poker player in the world. He hopes fans will get to see him in a slightly different light now, and people around the industry will understand that the opinions he's voiced over the years don't necessarily come from on high from his sponsor.

Online

'In a lot of ways, it's somewhat freeing,' he said in a video blog. 'For years, when I make a statement about poker, people say, 'You're just saying that because you're being paid to say that.' Which I know is not true — I could pass 1,000 lie detectors to prove that — but what's great about the situation now is I can go back to essentially making comments and statements about the poker community that I guess would have more credibility because of that.

'In a lot of ways, it's somewhat freeing.'

'I've had the luxury over the last 20 years of being on the inside when it comes to the business side of poker, the professional side of poker. I know what poker players are missing. I know what some of the people in business miss about what it's like to be a professional poker player. I'll still fairly discuss any issues, positive and negative, with them, with partypoker, with WSOP.'

Where Does Daniel Negreanu Play Poker Online Game

Freshly married, Negreanu also said some things that evoked Jason Mercier's 2018 exit. He hopes to start a family in the coming years and said the split with PokerStars is just part of his 'life taking on a new direction.'

'I'm super excited about the future with my new woman,' he said.

Poker Player Daniel Negreanu

The Stars Group owns a majority shareholding in iBus Media.

Daniel Negreanu Playing Poker

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