Daniel Negreanu has missed his first WSOP cash of 2026, busting with pocket aces on the bubble of Event #2 - the $5,000 8-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. The GGPoker ambassador took a brutal cooler when his A♣A♦ ran into Ryuta Nakai's pocket tens on a 10♠7♠4♣ flop. Nakai had flopped top set, called a shove on the turn, and the river bricked.
How the hand played out
Negreanu opened with the aces, Nakai called with pocket tens, and the 10♠7♠4♣ flop hit one player and missed the other. Nakai led the betting, Negreanu shoved, Nakai snap-called and the runout of 6♣ on the turn and 9♣ on the river did nothing for the ambassador. He left short of the 86-player money line that paid $9,947 for a min-cash.
A slow start to Vegas
Negreanu has been one of the most visible faces of the new WSOP broadcast push - the dedicated PokerGO stage, the ESPN-syndication return, and the free streams roll-out have all been built around appearances from GGPoker's top names. Missing the first cash of the summer doesn't change any of that, but it does extend a frustrating live run that goes back to mid-2025.
Plenty of summer left
The WSOP runs through July 16 and Negreanu has historically played 30+ events per series. Expect him in the larger field events from this weekend forward, particularly the $10K Heads-Up Championship and the Main Event.
Source: PokerNews report on the elimination.
