We catch up with KidPoker at EPT Barcelona to talk charity, meaning, Platinum Passes and how many runners the PSPC will get.
Was your charity themed Platinum Pass Adventure promotion your idea?
Daniel Negreanu: If you look at every pro giving away a pass they personalise it. You see Igor and Liv doing their fun little quiz, and for me this makes sense. I’m a big believer in part of living a happy life is giving. So, this was an opportunity to give something, which the winner can also give as well.
I’ve been around poker for more than 12 years and I noticed something a few years ago where around five years a lot of professionals had an existential crisis wondering what they were doing with their life, because poker is a solitary game. I’ve noticed the players that do something like give to charity or produce content seem much happier, because they get to do something more meaningful.
Daniel Negreanu: It’s funny you say that because I never thought of the fact that something like Black Friday may have had an impact. It’s definitely true that if all you do is play poker just to make money, and don’t have a real reason for what you are doing, once you’ve made the money you can feel a little empty. One of the things you struggle with as a poker player is what does a poker player do? They take, they take money, so what do you give back to society? I think a lot of young people who get into the game are well read and interested in what is the meaning of life?
I seem to remember a period around Black Friday where you seemed less interested in the game. Can you track when you started doing charity work to when you got your passion back for poker?
Daniel Negreanu: For me charitable endeavours have been part of life from the way I was raised by my parents. When I did something called Choice Center about five years ago, one of the things we were tasked with was raising $100,000 for St Jude Children’s Hospital within a week. That sparked a deep understanding in me of how much a bigger role I could play, not just in terms of how much money I could donate, but awareness I could bring to causes.
You are judging the promotion entries, does that create an ethical conundrum for you because you have to ‘reject’ some of the charities?
Daniel Negreanu: Well that’s a dark way to look at it. I’m sure we’ll see a lot of worthy charities and we can only choose one. I’m just going to let my heart decide, I don’t see it as we are rejecting other charities.
”I’m betting the PSPC will get 1,094 entries
It seems if there was ever an event that would challenge the WSOP Main Event for the most special tournament for pros and amateurs alike, it might be the PSPC. Do you think it could?
Daniel Negreanu: It’s been a while since we’ve seen something innovative in poker that can create a buzz. Having a one year lead up with 300+ packages, and you’re not going to just see a bunch of High Roller crushers in this thing. It’s also at a new price point, $10ks have been around a while, at $25k you are going to have some players that typically don’t play $500 buy-ins. Plus it has the $1 million added on top, every grinder in the world who plays poker for a living would be foolish not to play this.
Do you have a gut feeling on what the attendance will be in the PSPC?
Daniel Negreanu: I’m going to go with 1,094.
For you what defines success in this event?
Daniel Negreanu: I don’t look at numbers, I want this to be an experience. I want that event to be special and not just a regular tournament. I want them to feel this is different, this is an elevated tournament. Everything about I want players to say it was really well run and awesome.
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