He’s finally coming to Hustler Casino Live!
After years of invites and apparently a whole lot of begging, Daniel Negreanu is making his HCL debut today at 2pm PT.
And, naturally, they’re rolling out the red carpet, albeit HCL-style: crazy videos, WWE hype, a wild lineup, and Nik Airball calling for Daniel's head. It's just a normal high-stakes Friday night on the most-watched cash game livestream in the game. And it all goes down today with an earlier start time.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with Negreanu to get his take on the biggest build-up to an HCL debut we've seen.
'They've been begging me to come on for so long'
Why did you change your mind and finally decide to play on Hustler Casino Live?
Nothing made me change my mind. I'm just now doing this because ultimately, they've been begging me to come on for so damn long.
I saw some fun AI videos promoting your debut. I also saw HCL regular Nik Airball calling you out. Does this grind your gears or hype you up to go battle?
I'll be honest, I get it. They're trying to create the WWE-type stuff, whatever. But I've got nothing to prove, man. I don't. You can't engage in a rivalry when only one person is interested. I've got none. You know what I mean?
Things have changed a lot since your early High Stakes Poker appearances. What are the most noticeable differences in the games today?
I remember the days when cash game players would hide the fact that they were very good. They were humble and they played down how good they were. Now, with the streams and stuff, cash game players want to show that they’re amazing.
Now there is more showboating – ‘Look at me, I'm a great cash game player.’ Back then they were more of the humble variety.
It's just changed. I think we live in a new world too, with social media and everything. We've all developed a far more robust list of narcissistic traits as a society, that's for sure.
Anything else?
Yes. I couldn't believe this, but Texas Mike told me something at the table recently and I had no idea what he was talking about. He said, 'You can't have people in the game sniping.' I said, 'Well, what is sniping?' Essentially, he said sniping is slow-playing. So, you're telling me that if you raise under the gun, that I have to three-bet all my good hands. I can't trap with aces and kings because that's sniping. What? I don't get to play full poker.
He explained that in these games, when people snipe, it means the other players can't play as many hands because they get sniped. I told Mike, ‘Bro, my whole career is about sniping.’
It sounds like Texas Mike's warning about sniping has fallen on deaf ears.
'I've got no interest in whipping it out'
Are you familiar with any of the players in the lineup?
I have no idea, I don't know any of them – there’s a guy named 3Coin. I’ve heard of Nik Airball because of the big beef he had a few years ago. And then who else? You’ve also got Andy Stacks and a guy named Steve.
Do you have a game plan?
I'm probably just going to play limpy poker, see flops, and do stuff. I’ve got no interest in whipping it out, you know. I don't mind slow-playing aces and kings and all that stuff. When Texas Mike said that, I thought, 'Wow, these are different kind of rules.' I don't like it. You should just be able to play your best game.
But the way they play, trapping is sniping. I wouldn't want to play that way. That's not even fun for me. Sniping is fun.
Will we see you playing more streamed cash games in the future?
I’m going to play this thing but I have no plans at all to play cash again. But who knows, right? The thing is, ultimately, I don't care enough. Cash games are about making money, right? But I already have money, I'm good. I'm happy here, you know – I don't need to go there to grind.
I don't know if I'm going to enjoy the company or not on Friday. Maybe I will. If I were 23 or 24 and getting into these juicy games, I'd be all about it. But listen, I did the life; I got my life. I don't need it anymore.
Don't miss Negreanu on today's Hustler Casino Live stream, starting at 2pm PT. Watch the $100/$200 high-stakes game on HCL's YouTube channel or below.
