Poker legend Daniel Negreanu is owed more than $5 Million in loans handed out to fellow poker players and this week he took to Twitter to ask if he should publicly out those who owe him the massive sum…
Many people in poker owe me money. Some did it letting me know they didn’t know when they could pay, others acted dishonestly and lied about their situation to get money from me.
Should I make these debts public?
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 21, 2019
The numbers in from almost 30,000 votes show a resounding YES to outing those who owe KidPoker, just over 50% of the total saying that only the dishonest debtors should be named and shamed.
The amount loaned by Negreanu – which he describes as ‘closer to 8’ figures – could account for almost 25% of his lifetime tournament winnings.
With $40,045,583 recorded by the Hendon Mob database at the time of writing, Daniel sits in 2nd spot on the all-time list behind Justin Bonomo.
Whether he actually intends to take the polling results as a clarion call to out those who haven’t paid him, or if it’s perhaps a warning shot to his creditors isn’t clear, but some big names have weighed in on the debate already.
Yes. Make all dishonest debts public to save others from getting scammed as well
— Ryan Riess (@RyanRiess1) June 21, 2019
DNegs gave an example of what his World Series of Poker ‘banking problems’ look like…
Example of dishonest that has happened to me multiple times at WSOP:
“I have a wire coming in a couple days”
“This will save me a trip to LA”
I did not get the money and still haven’t.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 21, 2019
Phil Galfond was among those sitting on the majority side of only outing those who have been dishonest in their dealings with Negreana, prompting a little joke from the Canadian…
Ok let’s start with Phil Galfond:
8 years ago he asked for $5 to tip the cocktail waitress and promised to pay it back.
He has made no attempts to do so. Lenders beware.
***this is a joke***
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 21, 2019
Jungleman Dan Cates, Bill Perkins and John Duthie all gave their thoughts on Negreanu’s problem.
Cates remarked, “Well people who have no honor should probably at least be punished socially (shamed)” while Perkins joked: “I’m telling you checks in the mail!”
Duthie relates that he too has loaned money and never seen it again, saying: “If someone (anyone) capitalises on your good nature, knowing they will never repay you, then this is theft, pure and simple”.
Bad debts, and the scam versions of it, however, are a serious matter. This year alone there have been two high-profile cases in the poker community -with Eli Elezra and Randall Emmett as the main players.
Elezra was outed in January as owing Abe Mosseri $853,000, with a further mostly-unpaid loan of $100k from Cole South, and rumours of many, many more owed by the Israeli.
The Elezra debts came to light after an AMA session as he launched his autobiography, and the translator of Eli’s original work in Hebrew joined in the Negreanu debate…
Treat others as you’d like to be treated. You already do that, so no need to change your modus operandi.
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) 21 June 2019
Even more recently, producer and amateur poker player Randall Emmett was panicked into repaying $1million to rapper 50Cent in the now-infamous ‘fofty’ affair.
I got my money, so I have no problem with Randall Emmett, in fact I’m wishing him and his family a very blessed day. positive vibes now guys. LOL #lecheminduroi #bransoncognac #bellator pic.twitter.com/ieFjoLrVUc
— 50cent (@50cent) April 29, 2019
Back to the here and now with Negreanu’s ‘outing poll’ and there was an unexpected tweet offering up some ‘old school’ advice on how to settle matters…
When people owe me money, I throw my fists. Ask @phil_hellmuth
— Sam Grizzle (@SamGrizzle2) June 21, 2019
