Say what you want about Phil Hellmuth, but you can’t deny he’s entertaining. The man isn’t afraid to open his mouth, which generally—but certainly not always—makes for good theater. I plan on spending some time peeking over his shoulder at some point during the day, but he has to get here first. As is his habit, his seat remains empty an hour and a half into Day 1D. There’s a rumor swirling that yesterday he wrecked a race car sponsored by Ultimate Bet in the Rio’s parking lot. I am sure I will hear all about it. In the meantime I have had to make do with watching Daniel Negreanu. Not a bad second choice.

Negreanu is one of my favorite players to sweat because he likes to yak it up at the table and get involved in a lot of pots. He also has the amazing ability to make friends with everyone at the table while at the same time taking all their chips. During the first level of play today, he popped out of his chair and jogged to the other side of the table to see what one of his opponents was reading. Turns out it was Harrington on Hold’em. “I’ve never read it,” Negreanu told the kid. “Does he tell you how to beat me?” I have a feeling he was fishing for more information than that. On the very next hand he opened for a raise and the kid popped him 1k more. “I know one thing,” Negreanu said as he mucked his cards. “My hand doesn’t match up very well with yours.”

Fellow Canadian Brad Booth stopped by a moment later to relay the news that he’d just been knocked out. “Just lost with aces,” he said. Negreanu, who was proudly sporting a bright red Canadian hockey jersey, nodded and went back to studying the player on his right who looked like he was trying to steal a pot with nothing more than position. The player had bet the river after it got checked to him twice and two blanks had fallen. Did he really have a hand or was he just taking a stab at it? On the very next hand that same player raised from the button and Negreanu reraised him from the small blind. His opponent called and the flop came AsJh7h. Negreanu bet 1.5k and his opponent folded. Had he picked up some information while staring at his opponent on the previous hand? It sure looked like it.

Several hands later, Negreanu raised 250 from late position. The standard opening raise for most players at this level is 300, three times the size of the big blind, but Negreanu has been raising 50 less. I believe he does this because he wants to get called. He’s not looking to steal the blinds at this level. He wants to build a pot and outplay his opponents on the flop and beyond. Sure enough, he got a caller on this hand and the flop came Kh9h8s. Both players checked. The 10s fell on the turn and Negreanu bet 2.5k. His opponent called. The 4h came on the river, and his opponent led out for a 4k bet. Negreanu threw his hands in the air in frustration. At that point about ten press people rushed over. Negreanu then proceeded to do something that appears to be the lone weakness of his game but may actually be a strength. Very much aware that he was beaten, he called anyway. This is how he confirms his reads. As long as he still has chips to work with, it can be effective because he might win a much bigger pot off this opponent later on down the road when winning pots becomes even more important. His opponent showed him Ah2h, which gave him the nut flush. Negreanu showed the Qh and mucked his other card. Another guy at the table asked what the other card was. “A four,” Negreanu joked. I have to assume he made the nut straight on the turn with Q-J and didn’t have a queen-high flush on the end as he surely would have semi-bluffed with his flush draw on the flop.

The very next hand he raised a limper to 350. The limper asked, “You on tilt?” “I am,” Negreanu answered. “Absolutely.” After As3h8h flopped, he bet 650, and his opponent folded. Negreanu showed AhQh. “Not a bad flop for me,” he said, obviously not on tilt.