"I'm not afraid of conflict"
PokerStrategy.com: You recently walked out of a tournament in protest of a ruling. Does your responsibility as an ambassador sometimes become distracting from your performance at the tables?Daniel Negreanu: I think it could be, and probably would be for most people, but I am very comfortable in both roles. I don't think I expend that much energy on the "outside of the table" issues when I'm actually playing. I talk to players, I get feedback from players, and try to understand what they want and think.
Whenever there is an opportunity for me to be a voice for the community and make changes, I'm going to. I think the two are separate in terms of my playing ability and it isn't affected by my role as an ambassador.
PokerStrategy.com: It seems you get more detractors than most when you are successful, does that ruin the fun of the achievement? Daniel Negreanu: It doesn't ruin it, it actually makes me laugh, because it's fun to prove them wrong. These players who hashtag #yearofscience, the young geniuses who are 3- and 4-betting who know the way; when I continue to win it smacks a big hole in their entire theory and everything they believe in. It bothers them because it seems impossible.
It is similar to what they do to Phil Hellmuth as well. The real reason is simply because they are thinking inside of a box, which has them trapped into a lack of success in other areas. Most of the people who are detractors are the ones who are not successful.
The online guys like Scott Seiver and Isaac Haxton have great respect for my poker game, it's just the ones who don't know any better. They might look at a play I made in a vacuum and think "oh my god that's really bad" but they don't understand the overarching theory behind why I did it and the overall story I am trying to set up to help me win the tournament.
PokerStrategy.com: How do you deal with haters and trolls in general - given you are so active in the poker community you must come across a lot of them?Daniel Negreanu: I try to focus less on the haters and more on other people. I find sometimes people are just haters so that you will respond. I don't waste my time on that, I'd rather spend my time on being positive. In terms of how I handle it, I'm not afraid of conflict. I have no fear buttons when it comes to that stuff.
"If Choice Center was a cult, it was the best cult ever"
| KidPoker's 2013 Achievements |
| • 2013 WSOP Player of the Year • Current Global Poker Index #1 • Current Bluff Player of the Year • Current CardPlayer Player of the Year • WSOPE Higher Roller Champion: €725,000 • WSOP APAC Main Event Champion: $1,087,160 • Made the final table of both the EPT & WPT Championship event • 10 WSOP cashes • $3,208,630 in cashes |
PokerStrategy.com: You have also been criticised for your participation with the Choice Center in Las Vegas. Why is it that people have such a problem with self-improvement?Daniel Negreanu: It's unfortunately the human condition. There is an episode of Sopranos called The Happy Wanderer where Tony says:
"I see some guy walking down the street, you know, with a clear head. You know the type. He's always fucking whistling like the happy fucking wanderer. I just want to go up to him and I just want to rip his throat open. I want to fucking grab him and pummel him right there for no reason."
Essentially what it is is that when people who are depressed or down and not happy with their lives see others that have what they want and dream about, they don't want to believe it. Essentially what that means is that they have to take responsibility for their actions. Instead of doing that they would rather hate on others and call you lucky, say you wouldn't be where you are without your PokerStars deal or you are just lucky you are on TV.
It's also a fear. With Choice Center (which I attended for three months) the vast majority of people that went had an amazing experience. The ones who don't are afraid of it - it is just a fear of change, fear of the unknown. Some people were chiming in saying "you're in a cult". Even if I was, what evidence was there of any wrongdoing? If it was, it was the best cult I ever joined; I became number one in the world, I have good relationships with my brother, my family, my friends.
Whatever you want to label it or call it, do it. Self-improvement and self-awareness is the way of the future, it is really where success comes from. It's not about how much you know, it's about the recognition that there is so much you don't know.
"I'd like to win eight more bracelets in the next ten years"
PokerStrategy.com: You just got back from the gym before we started talking. How important is that for your performance?Daniel Negreanu: There are plenty of studies that show that working out, even if it's just 30 minutes a day for three times a week, has a massively positive impact on your life. Not just physically but mentally, the secret to happiness is physical exercise.
I think a lot of poker players are smart enough to realise if they want to be happy, they have to work out. The best way to get out of a depressive state is to do something, to exercise.
PokerStrategy.com: How hard is it to keep up when you travel so much? Daniel Negreanu: It always was something that was such a sticking point for me when I was on the road. Looking back, and this is a revelation I had at Choice, I created it all - I created all the excuses for why I couldn't get it done. Was I as prepared as I needed to be? Was I setting up my time in such a way that would allow me to do that? The answer to both questions was no. Whose fault was that? Mine.
Once I took responsibility I started to ask myself when I would get to a new city: where are the vegan restaurants? Do they have delivery if I need it? Lets make time to go to the gym, lets put it in my phone and make sure it happens, and do the best I can.
I used to be a perfectionist, so if I missed a day of working out I was like "OK, what's the point?" If I hadn't worked out for six days what was the point in doing anything? That's changed, for the first time in my life I really enjoy going to the gym; it's less about what I look like, and more about how I feel.
PokerStrategy.com: You are top of the Global Poker Index, you are one title away from a Triple Crown and you are back in the bracelet race - what is the next big goal for you?Daniel Negreanu: The next big goal, I guess you would call it a ten-year goal. I felt like when I was at four bracelets I was behind where I should have been in terms of my career and age, my goal is to surpass everyone. I feel like in the next ten years, I'd like to win seven or eight bracelets. That seems exceptional and obviously it would be a crazy thing, but I believe it's possible.
0 Nhận xét