Daniel Negreanu on Needling Phil Hellmuth at the Poker Masters

Daniel Negreanu bet big on himself before the Poker Masters and he’s heading into Day 2 of the $100,000 Championship Event exclusively on PokerGO as one of the top stacks. He’s notably got $1.5 million in must-win side action on the Poker Master Purple Jacket™ Standings and with Day 2 closing in on the bubble, 23 players will be sweating his stack.

“No buyout offers yet,” Negreanu told Poker Central late Monday night. “It’s still a long way to go and these are the best players in the world.”

Negreanu bubbled Event #1’s final table and hasn’t had much luck in the other preliminary events. “I feel like I’ve been playing all week, but the deck hasn’t been cooperating with me in my all in spots,” he said.

“Every single day I’d build my chips up, playing a little street poker here and there when need be,” Negreanu added. “Today I won a key hand that I needed to, got lucky in a spot where I was three-betting light and made a straight against a set of jacks. Now, I’m going to use my chips as leverage, continue to go with my reads and push people around a little bit.”

As Day 1 progressed Phil Hellmuth tangled with Steffen Sontheimer on the PokerGO stream, they built a rivalry earlier in the week, and Hellmuth went on a typical Hellmuthian meltdown.

“There’s nothing more fun than when Phil Hellmuth picks a guy,” Negreanu said. “He’s had many guys he goes back and forth with, but he’s never had a German give Phil “Phil” in German – he gives it right back to him and it’s hilarious.”

“Phil kind of lives in his own world and the difference between him and I is that I have a deep respect for these players and think they’re amazing,” said Negreanu. “I know that they are – I don’t assume.”

“When I see myself not picked in a fantasy draft – it’s feedback for me, why is it offensive?” Negreanu asked. “These guys have worked real hard on their game the past couple years where I haven’t, and Phil thinks he’s the one seed – it’s delusional. It’s not real life.”

Despite Hellmuth’s pointed rants, Negreanu still enjoys playing against him. “It’s really fun. You’ve got Scott Seiver and myself needling Phil and anytime he is at the table he’s my favorite player to play with for multiple reasons,” Negreanu said. “One is that I have a good history against him. He’s great, he gets so into it, he’s so funny – he’s made for TV for real.”

Negreanu tried to block out his side bet action implications while playing the earlier events. “Honestly, the whole week I’ve been playing like I was going to play anyway. Which is a more aggressive style against these players – I was already doing that,” he said. “What the Jacket does is make it even more correct. If I win, I win – great.”

Catch all of Negreanu’s Day 2 action of the Poker Masters $100,000 Championship event exclusively on PokerGO live at 5:30 pm ET.