Home / Poker News March 2011 / PokerStars’ SuperStar Showdown – Negreanu rebounds
PokerStars’ SuperStar Showdown – Negreanu rebounds
Posted by: Randy Williams - Wed, 2011-03-30 05:28
After the trouncing he was subjected to last week, many of the railbirds speculated that Daniel Negreanu would not return to the SuperStar Showdown tables for the second round. It only took Blom 1,439 hands of the planned 2,500 to take Negreanu’s entire bankroll and thus to end the first round of the series in a landslide of a win. Not only did Negreanu step up to the challenge again though, he saved face by finishing the second round with a $26,500 profit, thus evening the score.
Blom started with the psychological edge and he managed to carry the momentum of the first round rout right through: in the beginning, it appeared that the bout would head down the same path as last week, with Blom taking a massive early lead in just 350 hands. For more than an hour, the Swede continued to extend his lead, and he soon had Negreanu on the ropes again.
One of the larger early hands saw Blom’s pocket Js go up against Negreanu’s Jh, 8h. Negreanu proceeded to flop a flush with his suited pocket cards as the chips went into the middle. The turn and the river gave Blom a runner-runner boat though to deny the Canadian.
Another interesting hand developed later which saw Negreanu’s A,Ko go up against Blom’s As, Qs. Blom proceeded to catch another Q on the board to take that pot as well.
After 1,279 hands, Negreanu was in a $119,600 deep hole and it looked like he was about to be bludgeoned again, when the incredible happened: he managed to mount a comeback.
He doubled up a few times as his superior starting hands began to hold up, and he found himself back in contention.
The last all-in pot, a $20k monster, landed in Negreanu’s possession after his A,Q got the better of Blom’s A,2o. At the end of the 2,500 hands, Negreanu held a modest $26.5k lead, winning the second round of the challenge and thus drawing even, but finishing with a $123.5k overall loss.
