Daniel Negreanu is Favorite to Win WSOP 2013 Main Event
While thousands of poker players have gathered in the gambling mecca that is Las Vegas to participate in the 2013 World Series of Poker, they aren’t the only ones putting their money on the line. In true Vegas fashion, sports bettors are being presented the chance to place bets on their favorite poker pros in regards to who will emerge the eventual winner of the 44th Annual WSOP Main Event. According to leading online sportsbook Bwin, 39-year-old multi-million-dollar winning poker pro Daniel Negreanu is leading the pack among potential championship winners.
The Canadian poker pro, with 5 WSOP bracelets and 2 WPT titles under his belt, has racked up over $18 million in live tournament cashes over a long and illustrious career. He has cashed 185 times out of countless tournament entries worldwide, emerging as the 1st place victor 35 times. The one thing he has yet to do, however, is win the WSOP Championship. The closest Negreanu has ever gotten to that oh-so-sweet triumph is 11th place, just missing the final table by 2 positions, and that was a very long twelve years ago at the 2001 WSOP Main Event.
If Negreanu has had so little success in the Main Event over all these years, one might wonder why he’s been given the best odds, 40/1 (+4000), to win the championship this year? If you’ve been following Daniel’s performances of late, it’s not such a far stretch. Just last week, he won his very first major online poker tournament event by eliminating the field at the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Event #39, $5,200 PLO Six Handed, worth $216,000 in the bank. But that was just one of multiple achievements for the Team PokerStars Pro in the last few months.
Negreanu hauled in his 5th WSOP bracelet in April by taking down the WSOP APAC Main Event for $1,092,465. On May 6, he whittled his way into the final table of the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, where he busted out in 4th place for $460,479. Two weeks later, Daniel found himself at yet another prestigious final table, the WPT No Limit Holdem Championship, where a 7th place finish earned him another $137,085. Just a few days ago, he came close to donning yet another WSOP bracelet in Event #5 of the 2013 WSOP, 7 Card Stud Omaha 8 or Better, but was eliminated in 12th for a $12k win.
Kid Poker, as he is known by his friends, as well as foes, at the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars, is on one of the hottest streaks of his career. If anyone has the adept skills to win this year’s World Series of Poker Main Event, Negreanu has every right to sit proudly atop that totem pole. Just below him are some other familiar names among the professional card players community, including Phil Hellmuth (50/1), Phil Ivey (50/1), Johnny Chan (50/1) Allen Cunningham (66/1) and Jeremy Ausmus among the next top 5.
The complete list of poker pros who can be wagered on to win the WSOP Main Event at the Bwin online sportsbook, and their respective odds (UK and US provided), are as follows:
| Futures Sports Betting Odds 2013 WSOP Main Event Winner | ||
| Poker Player | UK Odds | US Moneyline |
| Daniel Negreanu (CAN) | 40/1 | +4000 |
| Phil Ivey (USA) | 50/1 | +5000 |
| Phil Hellmuth (USA) | 50/1 | +5000 |
| Johnny Chan (CHN) | 50/1 | +5000 |
| Allen Cunningham (USA) | 66/1 | +6600 |
| Jeremy Ausmus (USA) | 66/1 | +6600 |
| Bryan Piccioli (USA) | 66/1 | +6600 |
| Chris Ferguson (USA) | 66/1 | +6600 |
| Jonathan Duhamel (CAN) | 66/1 | +6600 |
| Tom Dwan (USA) | 80/1 | +8000 |
| Erik Seidel (USA) | 80/1 | +8000 |
| Doyle Brunson (USA) | 80/1 | +8000 |
| Aaron Lim (AUS) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Jesse Sylvia (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Vitaly Lunkin (RUS) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Michael Mizrachi (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Jason Mercier (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Patrik Antonius (FIN) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Pius Heinz (GER) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Russell Thomas (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Josh Arieh (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Gus Hansen (DEN) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Winfred Yu (HKG) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Greg Merson (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Eoghan O`Dea (IRL) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Daniel Marton (AUS) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Ben Lamb (USA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Bertrand Grospellier (FRA) | 100/1 | +10000 |
| Hoyt Corkins (USA) | 125/1 | +12500 |
| Scotty Nguyen (USA) | 125/1 | +12500 |
| Ram Vaswani (ENG) | 125/1 | +12500 |
| TJ Cloutier (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Steven Gee (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Shawn Buchanen (CAN) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Andras Koroknai (HUN) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Roy Brindley (ENG) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Michael Esposito (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Mike Matusow (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Jim Collopy (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| George Tsatsis (USA) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Joe Hachem (AUS) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Juha Helppi (FIN) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Martin Staszko (CZE) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Jonathan Karamalikis (AUS) | 150/1 | +15000 |
| Ami Barer (CAN) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Jacob Balsiger (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Steve Billirakis (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Edward Dravenson (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Daniel Kelly (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Robert Salaburu (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Benny Spindler (GER) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Junzhong Loo (MAS) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Chris Moorman (ENG) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Mikel Habb (AUS) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Griffin Benger (CAN) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Chris Oliver (USA) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Christopher Brammer (ENG) | 200/1 | +20000 |
| Marc Wright (ENG) | 200/1 | +20000 |