Early life
Negreanu was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His parents, Annie and Constantin, left the old Communist regime of Romania in 1967, looking to start a new life in the United States. They ended up settling in Toronto instead, where Constantin found work as an electrician and a sweets seller. They soon started a family, Daniel arriving five years after his older brother. It was a supportive environment, even when it became clear Daniel was destined for an unconventional lifestyle. While nursing dreams of a career as a professional snooker player, the 15-year-old learned how to play poker. By 16, he was spending time in pool halls, hustling, sports betting and playing cards. When he was several credits short of graduation, Daniel dropped out of high school and began his life as a rounder playing at the local charity casinos, namely Casino Country, and looking for illegal games around the city. While in Toronto, Daniel met and began dating Evelyn Ng, who would also become a well-known professional poker player. After building up his bankroll, he left for Las Vegas at the age of 22 to pursue his dream of becoming a professional poker player. However, "The Strip" got the better of him and he was forced to move back home to Toronto to rebuild his bankroll.
Poker projects
In May 2008, Negreanu's book Power Hold'em Strategy was released. The book resembles the Doyle Brunson book Super/System in that it has contributions from several other poker players, including Evelyn Ng, Erick Lindgren, Paul Wasicka, Todd Brunson and David Williams. Negreanu's section presents and explains the strategy of small ball poker. At the same time he started a poker teaching site called Poker VT. Negreanu is also featured in the 2006 poker video game Stacked with Daniel Negreanu, providing tips and hints as to how to play effectively. He has written over 100 articles for CardPlayer Magazine and contributed to Doyle Brunson's revised book, Super System II. He has tutored on the web as part of Poker School Online and also personally given lessons to celebrities such as Tobey Maguire.
Personal life
In August 2005, he married Lori Lin Weber and they later separated in November 2007. He resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Negreanu has a blog at Full Contact Poker where he posts his thoughts and feelings about different things in life, politics, the poker world and everything. He is also a heavy NHL fan once claiming on Poker After Dark at the dream table he was thinking of declining the offer because the tournament was in the middle of hockey season. He is often seen wearing NHL jerseys of the Toronto Maple Leafs and other teams. He has been vegan since 2003. After many years living in the USA, he received his green card on July 15th 2009.
