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Poker pro Daniel Negreanu attempted to diffuse Internet reports that he had become embroiled in a high priced cult that some have suggested encourages members to engage in intimate contact with one another while ignoring other commitments.
Negreanu insisted his initiation into a life coaching program called “My Choice” had absolutely zero sinister connotations.
“I am not in a cult, nor does Choice Center have anything to do with religion in the slightest,” Negreanu said in response to the website DonkDown.com’s extensive report on the subject.
DonkDown criticized “My Choice” and its founder Robyn Williams for being what it called “a poor-man’s Scientology”. The cost to join is $2700 for the entire training.
From DonkDown.com:
Upon further examination of Robyn’s qualifications from the choicecenter.com website we find she is a “professionally trained Master Facilitator and a Master Coach who specializes in Leadership and Business development.” For those of you paying attention, that means she holds no traditional counseling degree or certification of any sort. That is a made up title. Descriptors like “facilitator” are mentioned in this 1995 Large Group Awareness Training (LGAT) work by Dr. Margaret Singer. I will be referring to this excerpt again and again in this because of how accurate it is about Choice Center Las Vegas and LGATs in general, having been written in 1995. “Leadership University” is not a real thing either. If you read on, you will read words of very little substance when it comes to qualification, but you will learn that pro athletes and business executives love this program and that Robyn Williams is very charity-minded. Rumor has it she’s trying to scoop that Michael Phelps. Now he’s a national treasure, 22 medal-winning Olympian and famous weed smoker. I don’t know the man, but he is clearly someone to protect from this bullshit. Here is an article about Antonio Esfandiari after winning the $1M lolament. He thanked 2 people after the $18M win – his father and Robyn Williams, his life coach.
“Having two of the richest poker players in the world representing ‘My Choice’ certainly is enough to catch this girl’s attention,” quipped Gambling911.com’s Jenny Woo. “Where do I sign up?”
But not everyone is going to get rich taking part in “My Choice” and therein lies the problem.
A member of the RickRoss.com Cult Education Forum writes:
“They are however a VERY high pressure sales organization. The Leadership course is essentially a class in how to recruit your friends.”
And make new one’s….
DonkDown alleges Negreanu has been engaging in an intimate relationship with one of the “My Choice” participants, something they claim is widely encouraged.
Negreanu apparently dissed the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship to be with his new “friend” while claiming on Twitter he had to “Take care of a family emergency”.
Negreanu is not alone in making the “My Choice” choice as DonkDown.com lists a number of poker pros who are rumored members including: Theo Tran, Sorel Mizzi, Gavin Smith, Antonio Esfandiari, Erick Lindgren, David Williams, Nick Helmuth, Mike & Nick Binger, Jeff Gross, Mathew Waxman, Brian Ballsbaugh and Adam Junglen.
Negreanu stands by “My Choice”, writing in his blog:
As part of our "leadership legacy" project we were challenged with the task of raising $100,000 for the St.Jude's children's hospital in 7 days. I'm proud to say we raised $277,000 in 7 days.
Over the last 15 years, over 15,000 people have attended Choice and I personally know close to 100 of those people. Of those 100 I know, one quit on the first night, another quit after the first weekend, and the other 98 all had a great experience with it. It's not for "everybody" I guess, but from my experience it was a powerful experience for the vast majority, including me.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
