There was a moment today once we thought we were counting time until Daniel Negreanu, graciously, and gracefully, bowed out of the sector Series of Poker Main Event. Coming back today he was below average stacked, surrounded by bigger stacks, and apparently depending on luck to rescue his Main Event campaign. So we sat looking forward to this momentum come to an end and to report the inevitable.

Well that moment didn't come.

Negreanu bags up 8,495,000 tonight, a figure incomprehensible 24 hours ago when he was a brief stack looking merely to work so far as he could into Day 6, but one who ensures he returns here tomorrow with 27 players remaining.

But if there have been people expecting his demise they were individuals who had lost their grip on what has become a poker reality over the process Negreanu's career, individuals who had not realised that this was a player who worked differently.

They were individuals who wanted the poker Gods to acquiesce. They were individuals who wanted bad beats to rue the day, and so they were individuals who had yet to understand that poker is skill, not luck.

Because what they were soliciting for was for the best player of his generation to slide up, to err, and to make a screw up. Well, Negreanu didn't err, and he didn't make a mistake, because Negreanu has a top ten spot going into Day 7.

If you read Negreanu's twitter feed there is a good argument to mention we should not be that surprised. In the end Negreanu made his intention clear at first of the day.

But let's be clear. Negreanu himself wouldn't pretend that by stating what he wished to reach he would ensure it. But he met it tonight.

What he did was start he day with a plan - an intention - person who would define his day, and person who would go away the poker world marvelling at a person who knows what he desires to achieve and doesn't turn away from saying it.

But he's earned the right, being a person whom most players today can credit a minimum of partially with serving as their example. A player who has joyfully sought to overcome a game most people struggle with, and a narrative soon to be made available:

And so Day 6 ends with the possibility of 1 of the game's best players having an element to play in November. That was unthinkable, or a minimum of unlikely every week ago, if only due to the sheer weight of numbers. But it is a reality as play ends tonight.

There is an old hymn, sometimes recited by politicians intent on making it clear that their plans don't rely on the actions of others but only on their selves. It includes a refrain that goes:

"Dare to be a Daniel,Dare to face alone!Dare to have a purpose firm!Dare to make it known."

There could have been a moment when this was more relevant, but I CANNOT recall to mind it. Daniel Negreanu today dared all of these things, making his intention clear and standalone against folks who seek to prevent him.

This is purely poker after all. Life goes on, Negreanu will survive without reference to how events pan out tomorrow, and the stories may be memorable whoever advances to the November Nine. But within the era of huge fields, of players wishing to make a reputation for themselves, there stands a person with a well-recognized one, able to change that, and be himself.

It have to be one heck of a ride, which we'll continue tomorrow with coverage of Negreanu's progress on Twitter. Join us there, in addition to at the @PokerStarsBlog, when play restarts tomorrow at 12pm.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: World Series of Poker]