06 September 2025
Daniel Negreanu fell victim to the new "first card off the deck" rule at live tournaments; angry, Negreanu decided to move all-in blind, pushing his entire stack to the middle of the table.
The rule, recently released in the latest draft of the Official Tournament Directors Association Rules, states that "a player must be at his seat when the first card is dealt on the initial deal or he will have a dead hand. A player not then at his seat is dealt in, he may not look at his cards, and the hand is immediately killed after the initial deal. His blinds and antes are posted and if dealt the bring-in card in a stud-type game he will post the bring-in. A player must be at his seat to call time. "At your seat” means within reach of your chair. This rule is not intended to condone players being out of their seats while involved in a hand."
Negreanu had just posted his small blind, and was talking with Philipp Gruissem, his back to the table. The dealer, seeing that Negreanu was not at his seat, immediatly mucked his cards.
As expected, Negreanu wasn't happy about this decision; he claimed he was in compliance with the rule, and called the staff. Tough luck, the tournament director sided with the dealer - Negreanu's hand was rightfully dead.
Irate, Daniel Negreanu immediately proceeded to move al-in blind, as he kept on cursing - “these f***ing rules are so stupid they make me want to shoot myself in the face!”
As it happens, the Kid Poker ended up buying-in again for the High Roller, and managed to move forward to Day 2.
Gerard Piqué, Barcelona's football player, who already participated in the EPT Barcelona Main Event, has also managed to survive until Day 2 of the EPT Barcelona €10k High Roller.
