If it wasn’t over with his PokerGO Cup title, the narrative that Daniel Negreanu cannot close is officially done as he took down Event #5 ($10,000 NLHE) of the 2021 Poker Masters for $178,200, his second victory in the past 60 days.
Just two months ago, articles were written and videos were made about how Negreanu had a multi-year long streak of finishing as the runner-up (rather than the winner) in big-time tournaments and heads-up battles. But almost as soon as the conversation hit its high point, Negreanu broke that streak in Event #7 of the 2021 PokerGO cup, a $50K in which he walked away with the win and $700,000. Now it appears he’s in no hurry to going back to runner-up status as he locked up his second victory of the year in the PokerGO studio for another six-figure score.
Entering the final table as the short stack, Jeff Trudeau was going to need to make something happen early in order to stick around. With just five players returning for Day 2, everything seemed to take place a little faster, giving him less time to find a spot. With the blinds at 25,000/50,000 (50,000 bb ante), Trudeau had just six big blinds. Negreanu, who started the day with a healthy chip lead, opened to 125,000 from the cutoff with his 
. On the button, Trudeau found his spot and moved all-in for 300,000 holding 
. The action folded back to Negreanu and he made the call. Negreanu jumped out to the lead with the 
flop. His pair of tens held through the 
turn and 
river and Trudeau was eliminated in fifth place for $52,800.
Twenty minutes later it was Jake Daniels‘ turn to try and double. With just over ten big blinds, Daniels moved all-in from the button with the 
and Nick Petrangelo looked down at 
in the small blind. Petrangelo made the call and after Negreanu folded his big blind, the cards were on their backs. The flop came 
keeping Petrangelo’s pocket kings in the lead and leaving Daniels looking to spike an ace or one of the last two kings in the deck. The turn came the 
, giving Daniels some additional outs. However, the river came the 
and Daniels exited in fourth place for $66,000, his second cash of the series.
After the knockout, Petrangelo took over the chip lead and had nearly ten times the amount of chips as Vikenty Shegal, the short stack at three-handed. Forty-five minutes later, with the blinds up to 30,000/60,000 (60,000 bb ante), Shegal looked like he was on the cusp of a critical double. Petrangelo, holding 
, folded the button. Negreanu, holding the same hand, 
, applied max pressure to Shegal by moving all-in. With 10 big blinds left, Shegal decided to make the call holding . Dominated with the ten and with a seven in the muck, the flop came 
giving Negreanu the lead. The turn was the 
and Shegal was left looking for a king. The river came the 
leaving Shegal to say his goodbyes before he went to collect his $85,800 for third place.
Heads-up play started with Petrangelo holding a 1.5-to-1 chip lead however both players had plenty of play with the shorter stack of Negreanu being 50 big blinds deep. Even so, the match didn’t take long. After a short break, Negreanu dragged a pot that put him in the chip lead and five minutes later, the pair played the most critical hand of the final table.
At 40,000/80,000 (80,000 bb ante), Petrangelo raised the button to 180,000 with the 
and Negreanu quickly three-bet to 610,000 with his 
. Petrangelo called and the pair took a flop of 
giving Negreanu two pair but giving Petrangelo top pair as well. Negreanu led out for 725,000 and Petrangelo made the call. The pot swelled to more than 2.7 million, slightly more than Petrangelo had left in his stack. The turn was the 
and Negreanu opted to check it over to Petrangelo who checked it back. The river came the 
and Negreanu took a few moments and made it 1.8 million to go. Petrangelo didn’t take much time to make the call and was shown the winner by Negreanu.
Petrangelo was left with just under 10 big blinds and the very next hand Negreanu picked up and made the call on the button. Petrangelo looked at the 
and moved all-in. Negreanu snap-called and the board ran out 
, providing little drama for Negreanu’s aces. Petrangelo finished as the runner-up for 132,000 and Daniel Negreanu scored his first Poker Masters win of his career and the $178,200 first-place prize.
2021 Poker Mastrers Event #5 Final Table Results
- Daniel Negreanu – $178,200
- Nick Petrangelo – $132,000
- Vikenty Shegal – $85,800
- Jake Daniels – $66,000
- Jeffrey Trudeau – $52,800
