VLOG | Daniel Negreanu WSOP 2026 Day 25: $25K PLO Pain Against Foxen and a Short Stint in the H.O.R.S.E. Event

Day 25 for Daniel starts unusually calm. He's still in his room, talking about sleep, mattresses, and how crucial quality rest is during the WSOP. But soon, he's back in tournament mode. With just 31 players left in the $25K PLO, his stack is among the short ones. The issue isn't just the number of blinds but mainly his table lineup.

Daniel considers the names and immediately knows this won't be a passive table. Pärssinen, Foxen, Kornuth, Gryko, and Ding Xiao—on a regular table you might control the pot and find small spots, but not here.

Alex Foxen is once again at Daniel's table, and Negreanu jokes about it. He says Foxen must be at least 500 feet away from him and should be moved to the $500 Daily Deepstack. It's classic vlog humor, but there's a poker point: Foxen keeps appearing at Daniel's table during critical moments this summer.

A Potential Game-Changing Spot

It doesn't take long before a hand defines the entire vlog. Foxen opens, Daniel calls on the button with KK, Chance Kornuth is in the big blind, and the flop brings a king. Daniel has top set. The action comes to him, he bets 300k, Foxen check-pots, and the chips go in.

According to Daniel, it's not a hand where anyone did something crazy. In PLO, it's just a spot where two strong hands collide, and the stacks end up in the middle. Daniel says he was roughly a 59-60% favorite. Top set against a hand with a nut flush draw and other outs. Daniel hopes for a paired board, wanting the board to pair so the hand ends. However, the river completes the flush, and Daniel exits in 26th place for $69,531.

Frustration That Can't Be Hidden

Daniel leaves the table calmly, but the vlog shows the blow stings. It's not about one hand. It's the accumulated feeling from the summer, repeatedly getting good spots, playing for big equity, yet missing the river. He talks about millions of dollars in equity that have slipped away in such moments at the WSOP over recent years.

After busting out of the PLO, a classic reset with food follows. Daniel heads to Taco Tarian at Planet Hollywood, enjoys a plant-based burrito, rice, beans, and salad. It's a brief pause between tournaments and a segue into another topic stirring poker Twitter: Phil Hellmuth and the markup for his son in the Main Event.

Daniel jokes with his tweet, saying his son will play the WSOP Main in 2048 and you can already buy a share at 1.6 markup, because by then it will surely be 4.0. The point is clear. Hellmuth's son isn't doing anything wrong, but Phil is exposing him to unnecessary criticism. When someone with no results sells Main Event shares at 1.4, while grinders with real results sell at 1.1 or 1.2, the community will react.

H.O.R.S.E. After Rest

After eating, Daniel changes plans. Instead of jumping into the $10K HORSE immediately, he decides to take a nap. Given the emotional hit from the PLO, it makes sense. He mentions how transitioning straight from one bust-out to another tournament is mentally challenging. A short reset, a second coffee, and then back to the game.

In HORSE, however, there's no big comeback. Negreanu tries to spin up a short stack and briefly moves from a few thousand back to about 37-38k. The end comes in limit hold’em. Chris opens from under the gun, Daniel 3-bets with ace-king, and gets a call from ace-jack. The flop is A-6-2 with two clubs, Daniel has Kc, bets, and gets called. The turn is Jc, Daniel has the nut flush draw plus ace-king, the opponent raises, Daniel doesn't have much left and goes all-in. The river brings another jack. Full house for the opponent and a halt in HORSE.

Day 25 isn’t a story of triumph. It’s about the reality of the WSOP grind when a player makes a plan, gets the spot they want, yet still heads home feeling like the tournament slipped through their fingers.