Daniel Negreanu Sets Lofty 2012 Goals

Daniel Negreanu has set some lofty goals for the 2012 season, including moving up to the top spot on the all-time live tournament money list.

Negreanu, the all-time winningest Canadian poker player, currently sits at second on that list, having won over $14.9 million in his illustrious career. However, he sits nearly $2 million behind the player who sits atop the list: Erik Seidel, who has won almost $16.9 million in his career. Other players close behind Negreanu are Phil Ivey and Phill Hellmuth.

Negreanu has noted some other goals for the year, inlcuding making more than $1 million in tournament earnings. He's off to a good start in that regard, having already won over $250,000 at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller tournament.

One of Negreanu's planned poker tournaments for 2012 has a good chance of accomplishing both of those goals in one fell swoop. Negreanu has already committed to playing in the "Big One for One Drop" tournament, which will be help at this year's World Series of Poker and requires an incredible $1 million buy-in from each player. Negreanu has mentioned that he may sell up to $600,000 of his action in order to allow him to play in the tournament.

In total, Negreanu has set ten different goals for himself in 2012. Along with regaining his spot at the top of the all-time money winner's list, he has also made a point of wanting to regain his place as the #1 all-time winner on the World Poker Tour. He also wants to win both a WSOP bracelet, as well as at least one major tournament win outside of the World Series.

"Any major win counts [toward this goal],
" Negreanu said, "and since I only really play major events, pretty much any win outside of a WSOP bracelet counts."

One of the more humorous goals on Negreanu's list is #8: Have a better year than Jason Mercier. Given that Mercier has not only played incredibly well over the last few years, but he has run well, too, putting up some results that have been hard for other top pros to match.

Other goals for Negreanu include ending on the Top 10 of the major Player of the Year lists, and "following [his] personal tournament rules religiously."