A documentary that was a couple of years in the making, detailing the life of poker professional and Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, is now seeing its premiere over a major streaming service. The documentary KidPoker, produced by PokerStars Original Films, premiered on the streaming service Netflix last week and has already generated some decent buzz in the poker community. It has also done well so far on Netflix, drawing a four out of five-star rating from the streaming service.
The 90-minute documentary details out Negreanu’s life, from his birth in Toronto to immigrant parents from Romania, to his greatest achievements in his poker career, particularly his 2014 induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. The story of the early years of Negreanu’s mother and father is arguably one of the best in the film, with Daniel recounting how they came to Canada with $5 to their name and were able to build their family into an upper middle class success story. “My parents – my Mom was always the type to make sure you were fed and my Dad was always the one to make sure your glass was full,” Negreanu remembers about his parents.
Another star of the movie is Daniel’s brother, Mike, who also offers his commentary about growing up Negreanu. He remarks how Daniel, knowing he had an older brother, would “often let his mouth get him into situations” that required his brother’s help to avoid a serious beating. Mike Negreanu also remembers how smart Daniel was, talking about how he always excelled at everything that he did.
Daniel’s life as a pool hustler gets a slight touch, as does his experiences in the poker rooms of Toronto, but a major focus is in how he continually drove himself to be the best poker player possible. Negreanu himself recounts how, on many occasions, he would go to Las Vegas with a meager bankroll (of around $3000), only to return to Toronto with nothing in his pockets but lint. Eventually, however, the stays in Las Vegas became longer and longer until, in 2000, Negreanu decided to make the transition to calling Las Vegas home.
For those of you knowledgeable about Negreanu’s career, this was AFTER he had already won a World Series of Poker bracelet AND the U. S. Poker Championship in Atlantic City.
The entirety of the film is interspersed with stories from friends who have been by Negreanu’s side over the 20-plus years he has been in the poker world. Such luminaries as Phil Ivey, European Poker Tour founder John Duthie, James Hartigan, Antonio Esfandiari and fellow Poker Hall of Famers Jennifer Harman and Phil Hellmuth (just to mention a few) open up about Negreanu’s passion for the game, his drive to succeed and, Harman in particular, the difficulties that he faced following the death of his mother in 2009 following several severe strokes.
There are areas that aren’t touched on in depth about Negreanu. His marriage to wife Lori (Weber) ended in 2007 and it isn’t discussed much in the film, but Negreanu has admitted in the past that she helped him become a better man (it is also possible that she is the person that Negreanu speaks of in discussing how the Choice Center helped him in his life). And, although she shows up in photos and videos throughout the documentary, former paramour Evelyn Ng is not mentioned at all.
For those that expected a fluffy piece of confection, KidPoker is exactly that, a “documentary” that speaks glowingly of its subject without uncovering too many thorns. For those in the normal world who have never heard of Daniel Negreanu, they will learn about a man who wants to do more with his life than just be remembered for playing cards for a living. Even for those of us that know Negreanu’s history well, it is a pleasant trip down Memory Lane that was well done overall. There will be those out there, however, that are looking for something to “bring Negreanu down” and those people aren’t going to be very pleased with the movie.
I found myself enjoying KidPoker, even though I knew everything that the documentary touched on in its story. It was more like an extended Pokerology, the poker documentary series on Poker Central, but with a bigger budget that made it well worth checking out. If you find yourself with some time to spare and an itch for a poker-related movie offering, KidPoker might be up your alley.
