The Opening Session Between Negreanu and Polk — Overview

Daniela Negreanu and Doug Polk made a decision to meet in a heads-up match and decide on who’s the better poker player. They completed their first session, where they played a total of 200 hands at the PokerGo Studio on Wednesday Night. The two players previously agreed to play a total of 25,000 hands.

While they met in person this time, they will continue the competition from the comfort of their homes, using the WSOP.com poker site. The two of them have been frenemies for a very long time, but many poker lovers were surprised by how relaxed they were with one another.

Doug Polk  is a heavy favorite in this duel. However, Daniel Negreanu immediately stated that he is not to be taken lightly.

Daniel Negreanu Starts Great

The buy-in for Polk and Negreanu was $50,000, and they are playing at $200/$400 stakes. At this moment, it’s very difficult to make a prediction on who will win this duel, as 200 hands aren’t even 1% of the planned 25,000. Therefore, the two players will have to play a bit more before the first predictions could become at least somewhat valid.

However, Daniel Negreanu still managed to gain a psychological advantage during the first 200 hands.

During the first three hours of the game, the players managed to complete a total of 150 hands. Even though this period could be described as highly competitive, we weren’t able to see some big swings happening during that time. The advantage fluctuated between the two players, but it was the most important hand in the late part of the duel.

What Negreanu managed to do was pull off a big bluff with (K-9) king-high on the river. At this moment, he decided to go all-in, investing more than $30,000. Doug Polk had better cards in his hand (A-Q) but decided to fold nevertheless. By the end of the duel, Negreanu won two more big pots and even managed to see through Polk’s bluffing attempt.

When Polk tried to bluff, there was $27,000 on the river, and Polk had Q-J in his hand, with the board opening 6-K-6-8-2. At that moment, he decided to increase it to $43,000. On the other hand, Negreanu held 10-6 in his pocket, which means he had trips, and that he wasn’t planning on folding that hand.

Negreanu gave it a thought but decided to call Polk’s bluff, winning the largest pot for the day, which was $113,000. 

Doug Polk may have tilted a bit as he tried to make a bluff one more time but failed to pull it off once again. In the end, Negreanu walked off as a winner of the land-based duel, making a $117,000 profit.

However, this is just the start of a long session. Despite the psychological advantage, the two players will now move to the realm of online poker, where Polk definitely has plenty of experience.

Up To $3,000 in Bonuses! Play Now
100% up to $3,000 Bonus

Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply