Heads Up Please! – Bankroll Challenge Day 23
Day 22 of Doug Polk’s Bankroll Challenge was one for the micro stake history books!
Doug hopped back in the low stakes MTT streets on WSOP.com, and boy did he put on a show. From exceptional bad beats to an amazing heater, day 22 had it all.
One of the advantages of tournament poker is the fact that when you win, you win BIG. Doug showcased that fact after deep runs in a $5 NLHE tournament and a $10 PLO Tournament doubled his bankroll overnight! Now, we start day 23 with a promising $480.
Tempering Expectations
Doug started the stream by saluting the Twitch chat and recapping the latest bankroll jump. After a win like that, most players would be celebratory and overconfidence. However, Doug took this chance to be honest to his audience about his expectations going forward:
‘‘The question is, how do we increase our bankroll without fucking it up like we did last time?’’
… Last time, we had this much money, we got killed. They killed us in the streets. We played heads up no limit, and we got beaten back down to the micros. That happened.
And I want us to understand that it could happen again today. We could be beaten right back down to the micros, that could happen. So I want us to know, win or lose, today we give it our best and we know we would be back here, if we lose we will be back here. It is only a matter of time.’’
He continued reaffirming his confidence that he will be able to reach his goal, though he conceded that his first expectation was too optimistic.
‘‘I said at the beginning that it was only going to take me six weeks. Seems like a stupid guess now.
…The question is how long will this take? I don’t know, depends on how we run. If we run hot, it could be done in a few months… if we run badly could be four, five, six months. Could be a year, could be five years, it might twenty years…’’
Then, realizing what he just said, he looked to the ceiling and pleaded ‘‘please don’t let it be twenty years, please.’’
‘‘I can’t guarantee you guys how long it will take,’’ he continued, ‘‘what I can guarantee you is that in day one I told you, I am going to stick this out and I’m going to get there. I won’t leave you hanging.’’
Heads Up Only Please
And after that much needed heart to heart(s), we are off to the NL20 streets. With this jump Doug has finally broken out of the “micro stakes” and into the “low stakes.” At least as WSOP.com’s tabs are concerned.
Doug began by sitting on two tables, finding action fairly quickly, with two different players, one of them being Twitch regular JohnnyBlvze. After just a few hands, Doug decided to focus the stream on one opponent, entering a two tabling heads up match with JohnnyBlvze.
Long time Bankroll Challenge followers would remember that Doug lost a NL20 Heads Up match against Blaze not long ago, but he seemed confident that this time will be different.
As always, the lack of heads up tables meant that Doug would have to stop the game periodically just to ask other players to leave. Some only need to be asked once, others though behaved like entitled brats demanding action.
(Note: We’re giving away 1-hour of FREE, private coaching with Doug Polk or Ryan Fee! 2 winners will be chosen by random draw. Enter HERE or by clicking below. Deadline to enter is in just 3 days!)
1-hour into the match, Doug’s bankroll was at $450, down $30 from the start of the day. Blaze tried to celebrate by trying to make ‘’Get your Blazes out’’ into a thing. It did not catch on.
Even while losing, Doug maintained his characteristically confident attitude, even as the chat was begging him to stop playing.
It seemed like Doug couldn’t catch a break. Not only did Blaze have him beat plenty of times, but he always seemed to get out of the way when Doug had the goods.
1.5-hours into the match, the bankroll was at $400.
The match continued for over an hour, until, after 3 hours of playing, Blaze abruptly ended the match while ahead. He just said GG and that was that. The Bankroll was at $412.
Doug wasn’t happy with how Blaze just left like that, calling it a hit and run.
However, a new opponent sat down as soon as Blaze was out, Doug would play ‘‘Blufferusky’’ for the remaining hour. Funny enough, right after someone in the chat said ‘‘I’m bringing the run good’’, Doug started to actually run good. That guy is a mod now.
Around the 3-hour mark the bankroll was starting to recover, down less than a buy-in on the day.
It was Doug’s turn to run hot, and he seemed like he couldn’t lose a big hand. He would have top set very often and he would fold whenever his opponent had a good hand.
He essentially did to Blufferusky what Blaze had been doing to him throughout the whole stream.
Doug decided to end the session after winning one final large pot with trips. The roller coaster of a session ended with a Bankroll of $489
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