Doug Polk

Polk was born in Pasadena, California, and has loved strategy games ever since he was five, when his father taught him chess. His family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, during his childhood. At the age of 15, Polk competed in several World Cyber Games tournaments as a Warcraft 3 electronic sports player under the name T-Rider.{{Cite web |last=Holloway |first=Chad |date=March 6, 2014 |title=Joy Ride: Doug "WCGRider" Polk's Road to the Nosebleeds |url=http://www.pokernews.com/news/2014/03/joy-ride-doug-wcgrider-polk-17677.htm |access-date=December 5, 2014 |website=PokerNews}} In 2007, he graduated from Wakefield High School.{{Cn|date=November 2023}}

Polk attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington but dropped out to pursue poker full-time. He started playing $0.01/$0.02 stakes at PokerStars and ran a $20 deposit into $10,000. During this time, Polk described himself as a "breakeven rakeback pro".

In 2011, Polk was nearly broke and decided to fully focus on the game. By 2013, he was considered one of the best online cash game players in heads-up no limit hold'em. He played fellow professional poker player Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky in a highly publicized match of 15,000 hands. Polk walked away a $740,000 winner and received an additional $100,000 bonus for winning.{{Cite web |last=Chad Holloway |date=October 25, 2013 |title=Doug "WCGRider" Polk Defeats Ben "Sauce1234" Sulsky in $100K Challenge |url=http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/10/doug-polk-defeats-ben-sulsky-16618.htm |access-date=December 5, 2014 |publisher=PokerNews}}

Polk was vocal about Daniel Negreanu's challenge of beating the $25/$50 stakes with two weeks of practice, criticizing him for underestimating his opponents.{{Cite web |last=Rodriguez |first=Julio |date=October 20, 2014 |title=Doug Polk Calls Out Daniel Negreanu For Insulting High-Stakes Poker Community |url=http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/17946-doug-polk-calls-out-daniel-negreanu-for-insulting-high-stakes-poker-community |access-date=December 5, 2014 |website=CardPlayer}} In mid-2015, Doug started the poker training site Upswing Poker with longtime friend and fellow poker professional Ryan Fee.{{Cite web |title=Upswing Poker Pros - Meet Us |url=https://www.upswingpoker.com/about-us/ |access-date=May 2, 2016 |website=Up Swing Poker |language=en-US}} Polk started a YouTube channel, Doug Polk Poker in 2016.{{Cite web |last=Cacovean |first=Alexandra |date=2017-10-31 |title=Doug Polk Awarded YouTube's Silver Play Button |url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2017/10/doug-polk-receives-youtube-s-silver-play-button-29268.htm |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=PokerNews.com |language=en}}

In 2015, Polk was selected to play heads-up no limit hold'em against A.I. poker bot Claudico, along with professional poker players Dong Kim, Jason Les, and Bjorn Li. Each player was set to play 20,000 hands against Claudico for a team total of 80,000 hands. The human players ended up defeating Claudico for 732,713 chips, with Polk beating the bot for 213,000. The team received a total of $100,000 for the victory.{{Cite news |last=Glatzer |first=Jason |date=May 11, 2015 |title=Man Proves Greater Than Machine: Players Win $732,713 Against Bot "Claudico" |url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2015/05/man-is-greater-than-machine-players-win-732-713-against-ai-p-21508.htm |access-date=April 21, 2024 |work=Poker News}}

Polk was involved in an argument with fellow poker player Ben Tollerene over a coaching deal.{{Cite web |last=Op de Woerd |first=Frank |date=September 9, 2016 |title=The Railbird Report: Doug Polk and Ben Tollerene's Big Online Brawl |url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2016/09/the-railbird-report-doug-polk-ben-tollerene-fight-brawl-25763.htm |access-date=April 5, 2017 |website=PokerNews Global}}{{Cite web |date=September 4, 2016 |title=Doug "WCGRider" Polk Calls Out Ben "Ben86" Tollerene Over a Coaching Deal |url=https://www.highstakesdb.com/7172-doug-wcgrider-polk-calls-out-ben-ben86-tollerene-over-a-coaching-deal.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405175028/https://www.highstakesdb.com/7172-doug-wcgrider-polk-calls-out-ben-ben86-tollerene-over-a-coaching-deal.aspx |url-status=usurped |archive-date=April 5, 2017 |access-date=April 5, 2017 |website=HighstakesDB}}

In June 2017, Polk won the WSOP One Drop High Roller tournament, outlasting 130 players.{{Cite web |last=Schult |first=Steve |date=June 5, 2017 |title=DOUG POLK WINS $111,111 ONE DROP HIGH ROLLER |url=http://www.wsop.com/news/2017/Jun/9118/DOUG-POLK-WINS-111111-ONE-DROP-HIGH-ROLLER.html |access-date=January 26, 2019 |website=WSOP.com}}

As of September 2017, his total live tournament earnings exceed $9,400,000.{{Cite web |title=Doug Polk's profile on The Hendon Mob |url=http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=191988 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database}}

In September 2018, he said he will quit playing poker but would continue to add videos to his YouTube channel.{{Cite web |title=Doug Polk Poker - YouTube Channel |url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyI7FNTudkyALBh9N7hwI9Q/featured |access-date=April 21, 2024 |website=YouTube.com}}

On March 16, 2020, Polk uploaded a video saying he doesn't like the game anymore and is formally quitting the poker industry after retiring from play in late 2018.{{Cite web |last=Nuwwarah |first=Mo |date=March 18, 2020 |title=Doug Polk Retires Industry-Leading YouTube Channel |url=https://www.pokernews.com/news/2020/03/doug-polk-retires-industry-leading-youtube-channel-36821.htm |access-date=March 30, 2024 |website=PokerNews.com}}

However, in July 2020, Polk challenged Daniel Negreanu to a high-stakes heads-up no-limit hold'em match, and Negreanu accepted.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/sXl-VdR9sZE Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20210420200415/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXl-VdR9sZE Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web |date=August 4, 2020|publisher=Doug Polk |title=It's Happening: MILLION DOLLAR Grudge Match vs. Daniel Negreanu |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXl-VdR9sZE |access-date=April 21, 2024 |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} Polk subsequently came out of retirement to practice for the match, and played HUNL on WSOP.com.{{Cite tweet |number=1291792268408496134 |user=DougPolkVids |title=Talked with @ACR_POKER and it's... |date=August 7, 2020}} The duel ended on February 4, 2021, with Polk winning approximately $1,200,000 over 25,000 hands.{{Cite web |last=Seaton |first=Paul |date=February 5, 2021 |title=Doug Polk breaks the tape, wins $1.2m from Daniel Negreanu |url=https://calvinayre.com/2021/02/05/poker/doug-polk-breaks-the-tape-wins-1-2m-from-daniel-negreanu/ |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=CalvinAyre.com |language=en-US}} He won an additional $530,000 in public side bets, with speculation that there were many more private ones.{{Cite web |date=February 1, 2021 |title=Polk Vs Negreanu: Doug Polk's insane side bets |url=https://www.acepokersolutions.com/poker-blog/pokerarticles/polk-vs-negreanu-doug-polks-insane-side-bets/ |access-date=February 7, 2021 |website=Online Poker Software {{!}} Ace Poker Solutions |language=en-US}}

Without including side-bets, Polk's combined winnings from his two heads-up challenges exceed $2,000,000. Including public side-bets, they approach $2,600,000.

In 2021, Doug Polk moved to Austin, Texas, and has been playing live poker locally. He has made appearances on The Lodge Live Stream in Round Rock. In January 2022, Polk became co-owner of The Lodge Card Club.

Doug placed 674th in the 2023 WSOP Main Event for a prize of $27,500.{{Cite web |title=54th World Series of Poker - WSOP 2023, No Limit Hold'em - WSOP Main Event (Bracelet Event 76) |url=https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/event.php?a=r&n=909123 |access-date=March 30, 2024 |website=The Hendon Mob Poker Database |language=en}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.cardplayer.com/poker-players/205223-doug-polk Card Player profile]
• [https://www.globalpokerindex.com/poker-players/doug-polk-191988/ Global Poker Index profile]
• [http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=191988 Hendon Mob profile]
• [https://www.pokernews.com/poker-players/doug-polk/ PokerNews profile]
• [https://www.worldpokertour.com/player/doug-polk/ WPT profile]
• [https://www.wsop.com/players/profile/?playerid=93324 WSOP profile]

{{2010s WSOP Bracelet Winners}}

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Category:1988 births

Category:American poker players

Category:World Series of Poker bracelet winners

Category:People from Pasadena, California

Category:Living people