All of a sudden we’re at the final table. I had $2,800 to my name and I put up $2,000 for the tournament. But Todd Brunson saying he has the confidence in me to play the thing, I said, why not. I’d never played pot-limit hold’em before, but at the end I beat Todd heads up and he threw me a chip and said, “I’ll take a piece of you tomorrow.” I wasn’t even going to play. Half way through I won a satellite against Todd Brunson and Mike Matusow, where we were three-handed, and we all saved a $500 chip for the $2,000 pot-limit hold’em the next day. They didn’t have $300 Giants, it was $2,000 minimum. I was a satellite guy, I didn’t have any money to play these events. I didn’t get to play until about midway through the Series. There was only one event a day, and it was a different game usually. Now it’s the other way around, where there are new up-and-comers who have the opportunity to play with me and probably have a similar experience. Now: Those moments don’t really happen for me anymore. I was watching Huck Seed in 96 playing at the final table, so getting the chance to play with Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel for the first time, that was a moment for me. Then: It was different back then because in 98 nobody knew who I was. What were/are your impressions of stepping into the WSOP People were saying, “Who’s that guy?” And I was like, “Oh, don’t worry, you’ll know.”

I was the up and comer at the time, the new kid. I played my first World Series event that same year and won a bracelet in the very first one. Everyone knew each other for the most part and I was the new kid on the block. There were a couple of hundred people maybe. Next up: six-time bracelet winner and Team Pro’s leading light: Daniel Negreanu. Throughout the World Series of Poker Main Event this year, we’ll be asking members of Team PokerStars Pro for their memories of their first WSOP visit, and for details of what they’ve learnt since then.

Daniel negreanu poker stars