button in SafariDaniel Negreanu Getting Crushed in Hustler Casino Live Debut; Can He Turn it Around?
Daniel Negreanu made his Hustler Casino Live debut Friday afternoon, and the start has been anything but pleasant.
The GGPoker ambassador, making a rare cash game appearance, is fresh off a strong summer at the 2026 World Series of Poker (WSOP). But this isn't a tournament, and he's competing in a format he hasn't played much for years.
There's some good news, bad news for Negreanu. The good news being, at the time of publishing, he was only a couple hours into the session. But the bad news is those first two hours were brutal.
Can Negreanu Rally and Book a Win?
Negreanu, who won his eighth bracelet this year, lost an early pot to high-stakes regular Brandon Steven. Negreanu had 10♠9♠ and called a preflop three-bet against AxKx.
The flop brought middle pair for "DNegs" and a gutter-ball for Steven, who bet the flop and turn before hitting a king on the river to win the $99,000 pot in the $100/$200 No-Limit Hold'em cash game.
Moments later, Sam "Senor Tilt" Kiki took a $110,000 pot from the poker legend. Things got even worse for Negreanu when he entered a pot with A♦7♦ and hit top pair on the 4♦7♥6♦ flop after Nik Airball called his flop bet in position with Kx3x only to hit a Kx on the turn. The river paired the 4x, so Negreanu missed his draw. Airball went for value, betting $25,000 and received a call to scoop the pot.
Negreanu, holding J♥J♣ in the small blind, three-bet to $11,500 in a hand that was about to balloon. Randy "3Coin" Sadler, who initially limped with Q♠Q♥, called. "Jellyfish," the original raiser, also called on the button with 10♥9♣.
The flop came 9♦8♠3♠, which all three players liked. All the money would get in the middle on the flop, with Negreanu calling off stacks of $46,400 and $52,400. No improvement would come on the turn or river, which sent the pot to 3Coin.
Negreanu's only wins through two hours were small. He found himself down nearly $160,000 in his Hustler Casino Live debut. Not an ideal start, but there haven't been many opportunities to win one. He added on and still has time to turn it around.
Having Negreanu on for the first time is paying off for Hustler Casino Live. Over 12,000 players were tuned in on YouTube early afternoon on the West Coast. That number should grow later in the stream.
