Doug Polk misplaced a brutal cooler a couple of minutes into his Saturday heads-up on-line poker match towards Eric Persson, and he could not ever get better to win the “Code Doug” problem on the ultimate day. However at the very least he narrowly prevented having to shave his head.
Polk got down to win $100,000 in a single month on ClubWPT Gold, a problem he started in March. He ran horrendously for a lot of the first half of the month earlier than rallying late to beat a near-$50,000 deficit. However he was operating out of time to realize his objective, and that’s when he raised the stakes to $50/$100 heads-up no-limit maintain’em and known as in Persson for one closing match he hoped would get him throughout the end line.
The high-stakes poker gamers engaged in banter and loads of trash discuss all through the two-hour livestreamed session on Youtube and Twitch. Polk entered the twenty seventh and closing session of the problem up roughly $18,000, and wanted to revenue $82,000 to win, a tall job even towards a splashy opponent.
It took lower than 10 minutes earlier than the primary all-in and name, and it set Polk again in his quest to crack the six-figure revenue mark. The board confirmed 2â™ 8♦4♣7♣6â™ and the Upswing Poker founder rivered a straight with 7♦5♦. However he bumped into Persson’s 9â™ 5â™ for a superior straight in what was an early $37,626 pot.
Polk started to battle again to take a slight lead towards his continually trash-talking opponent. However Persson was aggressive, typically three-betting to get folds from a preflop button elevate.
Persson then regained his benefit to almost one full $20,000 buy-in, and he made positive to let his opponent know that shaving his head, Polk’s punishment for dropping the “Code Doug” problem, was changing into a actuality.
Polk obtained some momentum, and chips, again an hour into the match with a shared prime pair however with a greater kicker than Persson held. The strain was on Polk because the two-hour clock began to wind down, nonetheless.
The match was almost tied up with simply over 45 minutes remaining, and Polk sensed his opponent had tilt three-bet, so he went for a four-bet with 8x7x and obtained it by.
There can be one other shift when Polk, who flopped prime pair with AxKx, guess all through after which folded to a check-raise on the river from a hand that wasn’t uncovered.
The heads-up battle took one more flip moments later within the improper course for the co-owner of Texas’ The Lodge Card Membership with Okay♦J♦ on a board of seven♦9♦Jâ™ 6â™ 4â™ when Persson scooped a $15,000 pot with A♥J♦. If there is a silver lining for Polk, Persson checked again the river in place, or the pot would have been bigger.
That hand not solely left Polk in jeopardy of dropping the match, but in addition ending down hundreds for the whole problem.
“Doug’s gotta shave his head! Doug’s gotta shave his head!” Persson started chanting.
Profiting $100,000 in a month was out the window as the ultimate half-hour of the problem approached. Beating Persson, even when for under $1, grew to become the brand new problem for the heads-up poker legend and three-time World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.
Polk stepped up his aggression late, growing his three-bet and four-bet frequencies. He’d scoop a key $15,000 pot with king-high when Persson could not pull the set off on a triple barrel bluff with nine-high, to which Polk took on the position of trash talker by telling his opponent, “you performed it like a b***h.”
Because the problem conclusion neared, Polk began begging for pocket aces. Polk bumped into a nasty beat within the closing jiffy in a hand he gained when he turned a straight with Qx10x however the Ax on the river introduced four-to-a-straight on the board, which prevented Persson from getting carried away with a set.
The hand did basically guarantee Polk would keep away from being required to shave his head. But it surely prevented him from having a chance to win the heads-up match towards an opponent who spent the previous few days speaking a ton of trash. With a minute left, Polk went into fold mode to keep away from risking a loss for the problem.
The match concluded with Polk dropping $17,000, and profiting $1,421 for the problem throughout 160 hours of play, good for about $8,80 per hour, lower than minimal wage. Polk will now await the “beater” automobile ClubWPT Gold makes him drive this summer time.
