A Million Dollar Dilemma for Stay-at-Home Dad Daniel Strelitz
Eight players at the final table of the WSOP $1,000 Mystery Millions were playing to win $1,000,000. Daniel Strelitz was playing to win $2,000,000 thanks to a hat.
On a normal day, two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Daniel Strelitz’s attention is consumed by the needs and wants of his three-year-old daughter, Sierra. It’s an episode or two of her favorite shows, Bluey or Ms. Rachel, maybe a trip to the park to burn off some energy, a healthy-ish lunch, and maybe a Target run.
On Monday night however, Strelitz’s attention was consumed with trying to win $2,000,000 at the final table of the WSOP $1,000 Mystery Millions event where the top prize was $1,000,000. He was in a genuinely unique position at the final table with a $1,000,000 bonus available only to him.
Earlier in the event, he was spotted wearing a ClubWPT Gold hat by somebody from ClubWPT Gold and the former WPT LA Poker Classic champion was rewarded with a ‘Gold Rush Ticket’ which gave him entry to an end of summer camp freeroll online, but also a chance to earn a $1,000,000 bonus if he won one of nine pre-determined tournaments, with eight of them coming at the WSOP.
The Mystery Millions event was one of them. As play progressed throughout the day and night, Strelitz decided to keep the bonus a secret from the rest of the table for as long as he could so as not to impact his play - or his opponents’.
“I didn't want to tell when there were too many people left because I didn't want it affecting how they think I'm playing,” Strelitz said. “But once it got down to four and I was kind of in the ICM coffin a little bit, I told another player but I don't think it mattered that much the way it worked out. With my card distribution, it wouldn't have mattered anyways.”
Had all the players found out, not only would the pressure from other players have been more intense on Strelitz, there could also have been talk of a deal that would have had to ultimately result in Strelitz winning so that the bonus $1,000,000 would be split amongst the remaining players.
All of that went out the window when Strelitz busted in third place, earning $429,950 - the fourth biggest score of his career. Looking back, Strelitz isn’t sure how the dynamic would have changed had the final one or two remaining opponents found out and offered up what would be a mutually-beneficial decision. WSOP rules would have presented a challenge and there was also some other considerations.
“Well, first of all, it's really hard already because WSOP doesn't facilitate deals at all, and so I don't know if I would trust someone I don't know personally to make a deal,” Strelitz said. “I mean, I guess they would have to throw to me, but I don't know … that also feels kind of unethical. … I think I would've probably just tried to play normally, especially against someone that I didn't know.”
Had somebody suggested a deal though, Strelitz admits he’d have to at least consider it as long as it was within the rules that ClubWPT Gold has for the promotion.
“I think I would have to. I don't really know if I would get in trouble or conditions or anything about that though, so I would probably ask my friend to do some research or something first, make sure I won't lose it or something, but I would have to at least think about it for sure.”
In all likelihood, ClubWPT Gold wouldn’t have any issue with Strelitz chopping. At the heart of the promotion is the opportunity to create a viral moment. There were a few representatives from the online poker operator on the rail during the event, ready to hand Strelitz one of those Happy Gilmore-sized checks for a $1 million if he won.
Strelitz, who won WSOP bracelets in 2019 and 2022 and a WPT title in 2017, has played a limited amount of poker the last few years as he’s enjoyed the opportunity to be a stay at home dad while his wife works with the Garden Grove School District in their hometown of Orange, California. Ask Strelitz to talk about his little girl and he turns into any other girl dad: proud and cautious.
“She's great, except when she's not. She's reaching her ‘threenager’ stage,” Strelitz joked. “She's super smart, super creative, imaginative, but also very into testing the limits of everything too at the same time.”
Thanks to Sierra’s grandmas stepping in, Strelitz is spending most of the summer in Las Vegas playing a full WSOP schedule while Sierra gets spoiled back home. He’s going to be in Las Vegas until late June when he’ll make the 4.5 hour drive home to spend a week with his family before heading back for the Main Event.
“It's awesome that my mom retired recently, so she's taking over for 12 to 15 days total while I'm gone,” Strelitz said. “And my mother-in-law lives close by and she watches her a lot already and she's also taking over when I'm not there, so she's been just the biggest help ever. I'm so thankful for her.”
With a mid-six figure score already on the scoreboard just eight days into the WSOP, Strelitz hopes it is just a start of something much bigger. While Sierra is back home in California making Target runs with grandma and probably getting more ice cream than normal, Strelitz is focused on taking on more events.
“I think there was one year a few years ago where I definitely preferred to play the mixed (games) over the No Limit, but I think this year I'm playing more No Limit, and then if I bust, I'll hop in a mix or something like that,” said Strelitz, who won one of his bracelets in Razz. “I'm probably not going to play as many of the $10K mixes as I did in previous years, probably only like two or three, but yeah, I'll play lots.”
The Overlay’s WSOP Week 2 Playlist is Here!
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Daniel Negreanu Gets Close … Again
In 2024, Daniel Negreanu won the WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship for his seventh career bracelet and first in 11 years. On Tuesday, Negreanu had a chance to secure his eighth bracelet and become one of just seven players with at least that many WSOP titles at the final table of the $10,000 Omaha 8-or-better Championship.
Negreanu ended up getting heads-up for the bracelet but ultimately had to deal with being on the ugly end of nearly every hand to lose to eventual winner Ryan Bambrick. It marked the 11th time that Negreanu was heads-up for a WSOP bracelet and was unable to walk away with the victory.
A closer look at the heads-up records of every player with at least seven bracelets shows that Negreanu has made that stage of a WSOP tournament (18 times) more than anybody in WSOP history not named Phil Hellmuth but is the only player with a winning percentage below 50%.
Phil Hellmuth: 17 bracelets, 14 runner-ups (54.84% winning percentage)
Phil Ivey: 11 bracelets, 5 runner-ups (68.75%)
Doyle Brunson: 10 bracelets, 4 runner-ups (71.43%)
Johnny Chan: 10 bracelets, 5 runner-ups (66.67%)
Erik Seidel: 10 bracelets, 3 runner-ups (76.92%)
Johnny Moss: 9 bracelets, 2 runner-ups (81.82%)
Scott Seiver: 7 bracelets, 3 runner-ups (70.00%)
Daniel Negreanu: 7 bracelets, 11 runner-ups (38.89%)
John Hennigan: 7 bracelets, 3 runner-ups (70.00%)
Men Nguyen: 7 bracelets, 6 runner-ups (53.85%)
Billy Baxter: 7 bracelets, 4 runner-ups (63.64%)
Data courtesy The Hendon Mob