I don’t, and I when I don’t I often regret it immediately. That is not to say that I remember it every time I should while I’m playing. The admonition has stuck with me ever since. Cloutier, since I read a couple from each of them before moving on to other authors. Unfortunately, I now can’t remember which book it was, though I’m guessing it was by either David Sklansky or T.J. I was reading one of my first poker strategy books. I was eating at a Subway sandwich shop on my way to one of my first live poker tournaments at an Indian casino in Wisconsin in about 2004. I remember where I was the first time I encountered this piece of advice. And with a bigger pot, any mistake will be more expensive. A difficult decision is always bad because your probability of making a misstep is higher than it is for easy decisions. If you fail to heed this principle, you’re suddenly stuck with both (1) a difficult decision and (2) a bloated pot - a toxic combination.

If you don’t know, it’s usually better to check than to bet, or to call rather than to raise. So there’s the lesson: Before you bet (or raise), know what you’ll do if your opponent raises you back. Upeshka De Silva, sitting on Negreanu’s right, apparently heard that last comment, and replied, “On the river, I don’t think he’s calling you.”Īnd that is what leads to Negreanu’s lesson, in the form of a response to De Silva: “I didn’t know what I was going to do if he raised me.”

The cards were revealed, and Negreanu won.Ī visibly relieved Negreanu chuckled, saying to Blumenfield, “I was thinking tens or queens.” Then, under his breath, “I could have bet one there.” Blumenfield called, making a pot of 1,925,000. Blumenfield called, making the pot 1,125,000. Blumenfield reraised to 210,000 with J ♦ J ♣.

Negreanu opened for a raise to 95,000 with A ♥ A ♦. Negreanu - who would end up making it to 11th - was in Seat 2, with a stack of about 2.3 million. Neil Blumenfield - who would eventually go on to finish in third place - was on the button in Seat 7 with a stack of about 2.7 million. There were 87 players left in the event and they were at Level 25, with blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a 5,000 ante. It came during Episode 8 of this year’s shows, starting at about the 6:30 mark in case you still have it on your DVR. During one of the ESPN broadcasts of the 2015 World Series of Poker Main Event, Daniel Negreanu tossed off a useful poker lesson to attentive viewers, though I don’t think he necessarily intended to do so.

Daniel negreanu early tournament poker