Doug Polk Reveals How He Won $1.2 Million vs Daniel Negreanu
If you like improving your poker skills, here’s some great news for you:
Doug Polk has peeled back the curtain to reveal his strategy from the $200/$400 heads-up challenge versus Daniel Negreanu.
His new lesson (which is live in the Upswing Lab training course) has 3.5+ hours of exclusive content covering all major aspects of the match, including never before seen hands that didn’t go to showdown.
Get instant access when you join the Upswing Lab!
(Already a Lab member? Find this lesson in the What’s New section of the course.)
Free Sneak Peek: Doug Turns Pocket Fives Into a $38,808 Bluff
Want to get a better idea of what the content is like? Check out this free preview video in which Doug analyzes one his biggest bluffs that didn’t reach showdown:
And for those who prefer reading, here’s a written version of the hand and brief snippets of Doug’s analysis:
Preflop:
Doug raises to $948 with 5♦ 5♠. Daniel 3-bets to $4,269.28. Doug calls.
“I open Pocket Fives and face a 3-bet, which is a standard call.”
Flop ($8,538.56): Q♠ Q♣ 7♥
Daniel checks. Doug bets $1,707.21. Daniel raises to $10,671.94. Doug calls.
“Daniel checks and I bet very small, which is preferred on paired boards. Daniel check-raises big. Now, there are some things to think about here. You need some floats that can bluff later streets and I think you prefer calling hands that can draw to [a full house]. So I think I like to Pocket Fives here more than a hand like J♥ T♥ or J♠ T♠. We do choose to float.”
Turn ($29,882.44): J♦
Daniel checks. Doug bets $9,860.38. Daniel calls.
“Now he checks. You can maybe argue that Fives should check here and lower pairs could bluff. But I think Fives is right around the cusp. We do go for the 1/3 pot turn size and he calls.”
River ($49,603.20): 3♥
Daniel checks. Doug bets all-in $38,808.05. Daniel folds.
“The river is a 3 so now Pocket Threes has improved to a boat. Our only worse hands we can shove here are Deuces and Fours. You should bluff those before Fives, for sure. But we do jam and get the fold. I think he likely turned a Jack.”
Results: Doug wins $88,411.25
The module is packed with hands like this — interesting, informative and downright entertaining.
Lesson Breakdown
Video #1: Overview. In the opening section, Polk reveals never before seen statistics from the challenge. He also showcases the hands that he and Negreanu played from every position.
Video #2-3: Single Raised Pots as SB. Doug looks over the biggest pots that went to showdown in single raised pots as the preflop raiser from the small blind. To assist his analysis, he uses PioSolver to analyze some of the most interesting pots.
Video #4-6: Single Raised Pots as BB. Doug reviews the biggest single raised pots in which he called from the big blind preflop.
Video #7-8: 3-Bet Pots as BB. Doug analyzes the biggest 3-bet pots as the 3-bettor that didn’t reach showdown. For example, he takes a deep dive into this $28k overbet bluff with ten-high:
Video #9: 3-Bet Pots as SB. Doug shows us the biggest non-showdown pots as the small blind in 3-bet pots, again using PioSolver to supplement and prove his analysis.
Video #10: 4-Bet Pots. Doug reviews the biggest 4-bet pots of the 25,000 hand match.
Video #11: The Biggest Pots. Doug wraps up the module by analyzing the biggest pots of the entire match.
Final Thoughts
For the final words on this new module, let’s give Doug the floor:
“It was a year ago that I started training for this. Here we are a year later, and we got the win. I’m proud of how I played. But I could have played better, obviously.
I [won $1.2 million] despite making tons of mistakes. And if I did it again, I’d make tons of mistakes again. You’re always going to make mistakes in poker.
The question is: can you learn from your mistakes and improve?”
Improve your skills today when you get the Upswing Lab training course, which grants to instant access to:
- Doug’s new module.
- Loads of training content for cash games and tournaments.
- 439 preflop charts, including comprehensive Advanced Solver Ranges.
- Access to the members-only poker group where you can get help with your strategy.
- 5+ hours of new content added every month.
