Poker: Poker player Says Life Has Dealt Him A Winning Hand

Published on Thursday, November 18, 2004 5:37:00 PM

He had a real job. Once. That's when Daniel Negreanu decided he'd rather play poker for a living. "I worked as a telemarketer for precisely one afternoon," the Toronto native chuckled over the phone from his Las Vegas home. "That's when I realized this whole job thing, that's just not for me."

Ask what makes a good poker player and Negreanu sounds like a psychology major, not someone who started playing as a 17-year-old at charity casinos in Toronto.

"My biggest strength is the ability to read people," he said. "If I sat down with you for 15 to 20 minutes I would have a pretty good idea of your personality type, your makeup, what you're capable of. When you have a good feel for people, a good understanding of human behaviour, that will translate into an ability to get into people's heads at the poker table.

"If I'm in your head and I know what you're thinking, then the cards don't even matter. I just know what you're going to do and I know how you think."

Poker has dealt television a new winning hand. The World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker attract huge audiences in the U.S. and Canada.

Poker players have gone from shadowy figures in smoke-filled backrooms to instant celebrities.

There's Phil Laak, noted for his Unabomber look of wearing a sweatshirt with the hood up and Jennifer Harman, a five-foot-two blonde some people call the best poker player on the planet and a person Negreanu considers one of his best friends.

"Today the poker player is the modern day rock star," boasted Negreanu. "There are guys that work nine to five in a cubical and go home to an empty apartment. I'm certain their dream would be 'wouldn't it be cool to have that lifestyle."'

Canada.com has the full story. Click here.