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HEADLINE: Negreanu wins $370,000 in B.C. poker championship

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Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu was the big winner yesterday at the fourth annual B.C. Poker Championships at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.

The Toronto native, who calls Las Vegas home, beat 689 other players over the four-day, no-limit Texas hold'em main event to earn the top prize of $371,910 and the 2008 B.C. Poker Championships title.

Negreanu, 34, has already won four World Series of Poker bracelets and two World Poker Tour championship titles. One estimate of his total live tournament winnings was more than $10 million.

Following his latest win, he said earning the title of B.C. champ was "extra special" because he is Canadian. The card shark also offered high praise for the casino and staff.

"It may have been a smaller tournament, but I would say this has been the best $2,500 buy-in event structure I've ever played," he said.

Other professionals who tried their luck at the table included Brad "Yukon" Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones, Mark Napier, Gabe Kaplan, Dennis Phillips, Steve Paul Ambrose, Isabelle Mercier, Maria Ho, Tiffany Michelle and Liz Lieu.

Meanwhile, organizers of the eight-day poker championships were calling the event a "great success" with close to 2,500 tickets sold and $2.9 million worth of winnings raised. Three events sold out.

"This year's tournament has drawn the largest celebrity participation out of all B.C. poker events, confirming B.C. as a hot destination for exciting poker," said Darryl Schiewe, the vice-president of casino and community gaming for the B.C. Lottery Corp.

The event began Nov. 16 and ended with yesterday's final.

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