Here’s my summary analysis of what happened to Negreanu.

It’s not that complicated.

During the poker boom, Daniel saw most of his contemporaries and peers make boatloads of money. Howard, Ivey, Bloch, and 15 others from Full Tilt. https://twitter.com/dougpolkvids/status/1288331353100963840

Phil H, Annie and others from UB. All the regs that made up his world were just printing money. Meanwhile, Daniel was forging his own path. He was blogging, funding his own site Full Contact Poker, and just crawling out from under a mountain of debt. It’s all documented.

Then ... BAM! Black Friday hits. Daniel discovers that all the “friends” and peers got filthy rich by stealing and cheating people. And he sat wondering about the injustice as no one got punished. The poker community and poker public - save but a few drowned out voices - forgave.

And forgot almost overnight. And while he was no better off financially, the scums all skated off into the sunset only to be continually idiolized by a newer crop of pros and recs who neither knew the history nor cared to know. He stopped releasing those videos lambasting Howard.

And Ferguson. And the others. It’s at this time Daniel must’ve determined he would seek redemption. Long the lone wolf (youngest for his era’s crew) among the pack of wolves, Daniel made a hard left turn. The new strategy?

Get as deeply into bed with the Corporation as possible and squeeze every ounce of benjamins as he can humanly get. After all, it was he who did the right thing. He who chose the road of independence that poker itself is borne out of.

That’s the first noticeable change. He went from (all) solo endeavors to becoming Corporatized. The PokerStars years got off to a great start.

Then, the Supernova Elite debacle shook the very foundation he had re-laid and remade. Looking dilemma square in the eyes ...

... he had to pick a side. And this time, he would not make the same mistake. He would discard the idealism and romanticism of an independent poker pro. And, go all-in on ownership and the Corporation. These are all the same pros and recs who envy the crooks and cheats anyway.

Fuck them all. They can all get raked to oblivion. “I’m getting max free market profit” (sound familiar?) and that means “more Rake is better!” You pay more, PS profits more, I get a bigger share of what’s been mine all along. I could go on but the last few yrs has been ...

... pretty consistent that way whichever way you want to slice it.

Ask anyone who has worked closely with Daniel out of the spotlight of the community’s eyes and ears. What you’ve seen lately on his streams is standard. He’s been an angry person the last decade.

He wants to wipe the history clean. At the same time, history is what drives him.

He’s going to get the last laugh no matter the cost. And would you blame him? What does he owe the poker world? Is it not the poker world that owes him?

I don’t agree with anything Daniel stands for. He and I are as different as night and day.

But, it is with this backdrop that I try to at least understand him. He’s a bit on the narcissistic side. But, as far as the poker industry goes, Daniel knows exactly what he’s doing.

Don’t be fooled by his “awe shucks” persona and even his polarizing preachy politics and veganism leaks. He’s an angry guy who is singularly driven.

Driven to get it all. And upgrade to a larger house in Summerlin. His own Little House on the Desert.

It’s not that complicated.