Colman bests Negreanu to win Big One in World Series of Poker
Daniel Colman is best known as a trash-talking online poker giant.
On Tuesday, he became one of the richest live-tournament players of all time.
Colman won the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop tournament at the World Series of Poker, besting famed pro Daniel Negreanu before an enthusiastic crowd at the Rio Convention Center.
It is the first career bracelet for Colman, and the 23-year-old from Holden, Mass., earned $15,306,668, which is the second-largest payout in WSOP history. Antonio Esfandiari took home more than $18 million when he won the inaugural Big One for One Drop event in 2012.
This was the third WSOP cash this summer for Colman, whose best finish in Las Vegas came in the $10,000 buy-in Heads-Up No-Limit Hold ’em event last month when he took third.
In 2013, Colman became the first hyper-turbo online player to win more than $1 million, and in April he won the EPT Grand Final, Monte Carlo for more than $2 million.
“I think it’s really great, this event, what we were able to raise for charity,” Colman said during an interview with ESPN. “It went to a pretty worthwhile cause, giving water to parts of the world that just don’t have that.”
Colman declined all other interview requests.
The three-day tournament benefits the One Drop Foundation, which provides access to clean water in disadvantaged parts of the world. The event drew 42 entrants for a prize pool of more than $37 million and attracted a diverse mix of poker pros, businessmen and even a few minor celebrities such as actor Gabe Kaplan and Rick Salomon, the husband of Pamela Anderson.
ESPN will broadcast the tournament on three consecutive Tuesdays starting July 29.
Colman entered the nine-handed final table with the third-largest chip stack and went into heads-up play against Negreanu with 54 percent of the chips in play.
Negreanu took the lead early in their heads-up duel, but Colman won a massive pot worth approximately 60 million chips shortly before the 8 p.m. break and owned more than a 3-to-1 advantage when they returned 20 minutes later.
Negreanu, who was responsible for five of the eliminations at the final table, was eliminated less than 30 minutes later. The 39-year-old Las Vegas resident and fan favorite flopped two pair, setting off a massive celebration from most of those watching the final table. But the next card gave Colman a straight, and Negreanu was unable to make a full house on the final card.
Negreanu missed out on his seventh bracelet but pocketed $8,288,001 — last year’s WSOP Main Event winner, Ryan Riess, won $8.36 million — to surpass Esfandiari as the winningest tournament player in history with more than $29.8 million, according to the all-time money list compiled by the Hendon Mob Poker Database.
“Anytime you don’t win it haunts you because it’s a bracelet that would have counted on your numbers that you don’t get,” Negreanu said. “He’s a really class act. He’s a good kid. I really like the way that he plays. He plays different than a lot of the young kids because he’s a lot more careful.”
■ NOTE — Hugo Pingray, a 22-year-old native of France and hospitality management student in Martigmy, Switzerland, won the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold ’em Monster Stack tournament early Tuesday for more than $1.3 million. Joseph McKeehen, of North Wales, Pa., finished second.
The tournament, in its first year on the WSOP schedule, drew 7,862 entrants. It was the third-largest field in WSOP history, behind the 2006 Main Event (8,773 players) and this year’s $1,500 buy-in “Millionaire Maker” tournament, which drew 7,977 entrants.
Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.
