Grudge match of the year: Negreanu vs Polk

One of the most anticipated matches in the history of poker is going to happen after all! Longtime enemies Daniel Negreanu and Douglas Polk have come to terms of their high-stakes HU battle. When is it going to happen, which are the terms and who people are ready to bet their money on? Find all the details in our article!

How did it start?

HU match terms

Brief stats and bets

How did it start?

Celebrity foes Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu and Douglas "WCGRider" Polk have openly expressed their contempt to each other for several years now both online and live. It is now hard to even remember how the conflict of those seemingly peaceful players began. However, those who play regularly on PokerStars and watch famous poker players' streams of course remember the so-called"starting point" very well.

It all started back in 2016 with Daniel's quote "More rake is better" when he was a part of PokerStars team. By saying this he pretty much killed his relationship with regulars. But Douglas Polk was the one to react the most, he ceased all the communications with Daniel and started some harsh trolling towards "KidPoker".

First "WCGRider" made appearance at Super High Roller Bowl wearing provocative T-shirt with "More Rake Is Better" print on it. Where, ironically, he had got to play with his nemesis at the same table. Then Doug rented a huge billboard next to the well-known Rio casino and posted the same quote there. By the way, before the whole conflict had began, Negreanu was basically Polk's idol, until he "he sold out to brands".

Last time Douglas didn't miss a chance to troll the Canadian in the summer when Daniel was banned on Twitch streaming service (because of insults towards one of the viewers). Then both sides started blaming each other on Twitter and eventually they came up with an idea to settle the dispute in a HU poker match. A few weeks after the conflict died down and it would seem nothing is going to happen after all, but in September new details of their high-roller duel appeared.

HU match terms

At the time of this writhing the following details are known:

Game type: No-Limit Hold'em;

Blinds: $200/$400 (two tables);

Auto top-up: Yes;

Possibility to raise the stakes: Yes;

Assisting software: Absolutely not;

Rake: None (play chips games);

Volume: 12,5k hands and more;

Start: November 1st, 2020;

Place: Las Vegas, NV (online);

Room: WCOP.com.

Also worth mentioning that after 12,5k hands both parties have the right to refuse to continue playing. In addition, after 50% of the volume the stakes can be raised. Live broadcast of the match with Kane Kalas commentaries will take place at PokerGo studio.

Brief stats and bets

Considering the fact that both players haven't played online for quite some time hence online stats are not relevant, we can compare their offline achievements:

Daniel Negreanu - $42 053 305 in prize money and 7 bracelets;

Douglas Polk - $9 454 008 in prize money and 3 bracelets.

PokerShares favors Polk: 5 to 1. Many poker stars have already placed their bets on other platforms. Mike Matusow, for example, decided to bet $10,000 on outsider Daniel Negreanu. He would actually like to bet more, but as he stated on Twitter he has to pay a bill of $6,000 on November 1st. Despite the fact he had bet another $5,000 in March on Trump winning elections again.

Another odious pro Phil Helmuth is sure Daniel will win. Phil recently added $400,000 to his bankroll after a great HU streak against high-roller Antonio Esfandiari. He believes the bookmakers' 4 to 1 odds are simply unfair. As a proof of this the holder of a record number of WSOP bracelets offered a $20,000 bet with 4 to 1 odds on the Canadian. Polk was the first to respond to this offer, so if he wins he makes $80,000 extra. And whether it would actually happen, we will find out very soon!