Poker Star Negreanu Turns Up at High Schoolers' Home Game

Most of us would be apprehensive about a professional shark entering our regular home poker game. However, for a group of Las Vegas high schoolers on Sunday, having six-time World Series of Poker champion Daniel Negreanu join their kitchen table game was truly an experience to remember for the semester.

Whilst out walking his two dogs, Rocky and Apollo, Daniel Negreanu, who boasts career earnings of over $50 million, was asked to join a high school poker game being held later that day. The invite came from one of the teens standing with him and wearing a suit, as Negreanu shared on his Twitter account. A poll of his 546K followers ensued, and the majority of them voted in favor of his attendance. As a result, Negreanu had to drop down in stakes for the game.

Drop in Stakes

Daniel Negreanu arrived to the address with merchandise from sponsor GG Poker as gifts and took a seat at a $0.25/$0.50 cash game with a $50 buy-in. There, he discovered the boys at the table were students from Nevada’s prestigious Meadows school dressed in suits and playing poker to classical music – something Negreanu found remarkable as he shared in a post on Twitter. All of them were about to start a new stage in their studies, concentrating in subjects Negreanu had never heard of like Classics or Government. “What the hell is that?” he commented in amusement. Despite winning at the table Negreanu left the money there and returned home still feeling the “best night ever” as he later wrote on Twitter. A truly incredible experience.

Common Touch

The poker star “Kid Poker,” with amazing tournament career earnings of up to $50 million, has not allowed his success to take away his common touch. This was highlighted when during last year’s WSOP he reported on his blog being harassed and threatened to be extorted. He had apparently received anonymous phone calls from somebody claiming that he had left a wife and a family in Lake Havasu, Arizona and wanted $1 million to remain quiet. Negreanu reported the situations to the FBI. His wife, Amanda Leatherman, was very disturbed and advised him to hire a bodyguard, which he apparently did not go for.