This week’s High Stakes Duel sees Kid Poker and ‘Kid Polker’ clash at the felt for $200,000… but who will come out on top? PokerGO is the place to be this Thursday as Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk take to the purple felt for a heads-up battle with a difference.
Battling for a $200,000 purse, Negreanu and Polk – who have some history – will be taking to the felt live on PokerGO, with the Weigh-In providing all the hype before the match itself takes place.
Kid Poker Announces the Bout
“Doug Polk has never in history beat me playing live poker.” ~ Daniel Negreanu
Back during the World Series of Poker, Negreanu announced the drama to come as he decalred himself virtually unbeatable for the forthcoming match-up between the two men.
ICYMI: High Stakes Duel 4 Round 2 is coming in August. @RealKidPoker v @DougPolkVids.
? – Find out more about the upcoming match here: https://t.co/UYnDVVWgjU pic.twitter.com/eHedS09cnU
— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 28, 2023
As Negreanu said, “Doug Polk has never in history beat me playing live poker. It’s never happened. We played once, I obviously won. Online poker thing, forget about that. Live poker, my arena, I’m gonna come away with the victory. Bring it.”
That’s some fighting talk for sure, but Kid Poker did admit also in that video that should the ‘unthinkable’ happen, he’s highly likely to rechallenge.
“We’re not even going to throw out the idea of him beating me. If something crazy were to happen, chances are pretty good I’d do a rematch, but we’re not looking at no rematch.”
Losing $1.2 million to Polk in that clearly forgettable online heads-up battle, Negreanu and Polk have since become friends and while Polk remains on the right side oof the profit margin – and will even if he loses on Thursday – Negreanu’s edge is clearly at the live felt.
Negreanu used that initial bout at the live felt – billed as High Stakes Feud back in 2020 – to run up a $180,000 uptick in those opening sessions. Anyone betting on ‘DNegs’ was to be seriously underwhelmed when the online streets came calling, as Polk reversed that to the tune of almost $1.4 million, eventually winning $1.2 million from his Canadian ‘frenemy’.
Water Under Many Bridges
Since that online bout ended High Stakes Feud in Polk’s favor, the two men have gone through many changes. Negranu is no longer a PokerStars Team Pro but a GGPoker one, and is happily married, with Polk having turned from YouTube to cardroom co-owner, now part-owning The Lodge Card Club in the Lone Star State, Texas.
This week’s High Stakes Duel kicks off at 5 pm exclusively on PokerGO, with the Weigh-In portion of the show likely to be screened on their YouTube channel for free as in other bouts. This is Round 4 and the second match, hence each man has put up $100,000 instead of $50,000. The purse from Polk’s side will come right from his wallet, but Negreanu can simply collect his winnings from the first match in this round where he trounced Eric ‘Maverick’ Persson for a thoroughly deserved victory. Persson’s almost immediate concession and refusal to rechallenge meant a new competitor needed to step in – enter Polk.
Following Round 3, there was a slight rule change, with Negreanu now able to cash out $200,000 ($150,000 in winnings plus his initial $50,000 stake) should he beat Polk out of his six-figure stake. If Polk wins, he’d need to beat Negreanu – or another challenger – again to cash out $400,000, as each player must win back-to-back heads-up games in order to hit the collect button from now on.
Who’ll Win Grudge Match This Time?
After Polk got the better of Negreanu heads-up over so long, it might be easy to go with the heads-up specialist. But live poker is, as Negreanu himself says, very much his domain and few players in the history of poker have more experience at final tables in the live arena. Kid Poker should have the edge when it comes to experience.
Writing of Polk would be dangerous, as he’s shown that he is more than capable of closing out huge live heads-up matches, winning three WSOP bracelets since Negreanu won the most recent of his six. Perhaps the crucial factor here is a geographical one. How often is Polk likely to want to travel back and forth in order to get the better of his old frenemy and at what cost?
The highest buy-in amount the High Stakes Duel format can go up to is $12.8 million, but as we saw when Jason Koon’s sole victory over Phil Hellmuth was enough to put off any challengers, once it gets to a seven-figure buy-in, even the most confident of poker crushers simply walk away, with variance clearly coming out on the side of high risk rather than high reward.
We’d back Negreanu to get the job done on Thursday night. Whether he then exercises his right to cash out is up for debate, and something only Kid Poker knows, but we think Polk will be heading back to Texas to focus on the Lodge $100,000 lighter.
Verdict: Negreanu to take a little revenge at the live felt for his losses in the online streets.
If you’re a PokerGO Subscriber, you can watch the match play out right here.
