Main Event: Negreanu Knocked Out - by a Cold

Daniel Negreanu was knocked out on the second level of the 2009 WSOP Main Event. In his blog he describes why he played his worse poker ever.

During the second level of the WSOP Main Event, the tournament almost hasn't even started yet. Players expect to sit out several very long days just to make it into the money.

But one of the big names, Daniel Negreanu, was already out. In his blog, he describes why he played worse than he had ever played before, "comically bad":

Negreanu style book signing

"The night before play I was a bit sniffly so I took a Tylenol Cold before bed. Woke up ok, but about 10 minutes later my nose started dripping like a faucet. I took another one and figured I'd be fine. I get down there and find out I'm at the featured table, yet my nose won't stop dripping.

Someone throws me a Claritin- I take it. I assume it's a bad mix or something, I was so drowsy, woozy, and sneezy I couldn't think straight at all. Had an easy table, but the most simple poker concepts were lost on me. I was sloppy, weak, loose, and just bad. I wasn't lucky either, missing a few open ended straight draws in spots, but the truth is, if I was even half "there" I would have easily won both those pots with a bluff."

For all fans of the friendly Canadian, this is sad news. But the WSOP Main Event goes on. Nearly 6,500 players came to play, in the end, and so the numbers are right up on par with last year.

The first prize winner is looking at a good $8 million in cash, which should be enough to stimulate even most of the high stakes pros, not to speak of all the amateur accountants and students etc in the field.

Of course, just as in the 2008 WSOP, we're going to have to wait until November to learn who the winner is.