Daniel Negreanu pulled no punches in part one of our post-WSOP interview. In part two, Negreanu looks at other WSOP issues, including Phil Hellmuth’s take on the Player of the Year winner, covering your neck at the table, and whether leaving one chip behind is clever or angle shooting.
'The Main Event is supposed to be a grind'
Phil Hellmuth stirred things up post-WSOP when he said Michael Mizrachi should have won Player of the Year instead of Shaun Deeb. Does he have a point?
First, this isn’t about Phil. Phil wasn’t in the POY race, but he still decided to throw a fit. But it’s true. It's very difficult to create a system that balances all variables and, in turn, makes everything fair for the POY race.
What changes would you like to see?
One of the most significant fixes I would look at is making the Poker Players Championship and the Main Event worth more points because one of the things that people don’t factor in is structure. But the POY system was in place before the series started, and everyone knew what the rules were. Shaun goes above and beyond to maximize his chances of winning, so I have to give kudos to him.
That’s not the only thing Hellmuth was talking about. He also thinks the Main Event needs another day off on Day 6 and is threatening a boycott in 2026. Do you agree with him?
It's funny that Phil is the one who wants a day off on Day 6. I'm like, ‘Buddy, how about you make Day 4 before you start talking about Day 6.’ Overall, the schedule is fine. I mean, the guy who won it (Michael Mizrachi) was out till 8am at the Sapphire Club after playing cash all night on Day 6 and then showed up 30-40 minutes late. He didn't need a day off, and he partied all night.
They already have one day off before the final, so I think it's all kind of silly. The WSOP Main Event is supposed to be a grind — that's just the nature of the event.
Players covering their neck, mouth and eyes was an issue again this summer. Should there be a rule that you can only cover one of three?
I like the idea of having the choice of one of the three. It can be frustrating because sometimes when rules are made, they're not really understood by everybody, and they're not appropriately enforced. The rules already state that you can’t cover all three.
I think one of three is good. Suppose you want to wear sunglasses because of the bright lights. Okay, then take your mask off and stop covering your neck. Ohhhh! Now you're worried about COVID. Okay, you can wear a mask. However, then you don't get to wear sunglasses and cover your neck.
Frankly, covering anything is not ideal. But I understand that some people have their reasons, whether it's health concerns with the mask or an issue with their eyes. However, the idea that covering your neck is necessary is not real. There's no medical condition that says you need to cover your neck from your opponents. That's ridiculous.
Hellmuth wants another day off in the Main Event schedule next year but Negreanu disagrees.
'It is bad for poker, unequivocally.'
The final issue we wanted to ask you about is leaving one chip behind — something a lot of pros are doing. What’s your take on this and why is it an issue?
It’s very complex and not easy to do anything about it. It is bad for poker, unequivocally. It’s undeniable. It might make people money, but it's also bad for poker.
There are various reasons why players do it. Let's say you have 500,000 in chips, and you bet 499,000 on the river. When you have it, and you get called, it’s great. It costs you very little. But when you're bluffing, you get to save that one chip and because you can pick up the big blind ante the next hand, this one chip can be very valuable. From that perspective, that function of it makes sense.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that it creates dynamics for angle shooters.
Let's say, for example, I move in on the turn but I leave one chip behind. You call and turn your cards over because you didn’t see that I left one chip behind. Now I’ve seen your cards and when the river comes and I can see I’ve lost, I get to save that one chip. Players like Puggy Pearson and the old-school angle shooters would think this generation of players have some really good scams to use at the tables. They would be jealous of how sharp some of these angle shooters are.
Are there any other negatives about leaving one chip behind?
There is one other — pay jump stalling. It’s where people don't have a decision, but they waste 5-7 minutes trying to steal equity from other tables. So, overall, leaving one chip behind is a net negative.
What’s the solution?
It’s very difficult to do anything about it. I tried to come up with some ideas where you can’t bet that much without being all-in — so a bet sizing of 90+% of your stack would no longer be allowed.
But something needs to be done because it’s bad for the game. Good, smart players do it, but only players who are nits — people that are cancerous, venomous, money-sucking people who would climb a mountain to pick up three pennies. It’s people like this that come up with these ideas, and then we have to find ways to deal with them. Again, they're not breaking the rules. In some cases, it’s angle shooting, but angle shooting is legal, right? So, you have to create regulations to curb it as best you can.
What is the one thing you would do to make the WSOP series a better experience overall for next year?
The WSOP+ app was revolutionary, right? I think everyone loved it, especially getting rid of the long lines.
I think the next thing to tackle is the food issue. We need to find a way to streamline how we get food to the table. But that's a union issue and a Caesar's issue. But if you could order food to your table from the WSOP+ app, that would be a real game-changer.
WSOP Paradise is next in December. What are you most looking forward to there?
The Bahamas is fun. There are a couple of great PLO events that I like and I get to play the Tritons — I don’t normally play them because I don’t travel for them. They’ve got the $250,000 Invitational event again this year, so I’ll see who I end up partnering with. And then of course, there’s the Super Main Event. It's got another massive guarantee on top of it — $60 million this year. They're nuts. That would be fun to win.
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