Sign Up For Card Player's Newsletter And Free Bi-Monthly Online Magazine

Daniel Negreanu Defeats Doug Polk On PokerGO's High Stakes Duel

Negreanu Cashes Out After Second Win In $200,000 Winner-Take-All Match

Print-icon
 

PokerGO’s High Stakes Duel 4 resumed Thursday night in Las Vegas with Daniel Negreanu taking on Doug Polk in a $100,000 buy-in winner-take-all heads-up match.

The two high rollers were at one point bitter rivals, choosing to settle their beef in a high-stakes heads-up match, but have since buried the hatchet. That didn’t stop a fierce competition for the High Stakes Duel $200,000 payout, however.

The match ended up taking about three hours, although it could have ended just 15 minutes into play when Negreanu was mulling over a call for his tournament life with ASpade Suit JDiamond Suit on a board reading ADiamond Suit 7Club Suit 3Club Suit KSpade Suit 2Club Suit. He ultimately made the right decision, folding to Polk’s 5Club Suit 4Club Suit for a rivered flush.

Despite falling behind 2:1, Negreanu was able to take control after flopping the nuts with AClub Suit JClub Suit on a board of 10Club Suit 8Club Suit 4Club Suit 2Spade Suit 7Diamond Suit. Polk, who held KClub Suit 3Diamond Suit, lost a lot of his stack by firing on all three streets with his missed flush draw.

On the final hand, Polk once again emptied the clip, firing three barrels with 9Spade Suit 7Spade Suit on a board of KClub Suit 8Diamond Suit 6Club Suit AHeart Suit QClub Suit. Negreanu picked off the bluff with ADiamond Suit 10Heart Suit, dragging the final pot of the night.

“The hard thing about playing against Doug is that he isn’t one of those people that are afraid to put you in really tough spot,” Negreanu told PokerGO. “Sometimes you’re going to have to dig deep and make the call with marginal hands like that last hand.”

Having won his first match with casino owner Eric Persson for $50,000 each, the poker hall of famer had the option to cash out with his $150,000 profit, or let it ride in a $200,000 buy-in match.

“I’m done,” Negreanu said. “I win the belt, right? I don’t want to put the belt on the line. But they can come back and get it in [the next] round 1 if they want it, and I defend it that way.”

With his victory, Negreanu becomes only the second player in the show’s history with more than one win, improving his record to 2-3. Tom Dwan is 1-1, Jason Koon is 1-0, and Phil Hellmuth sits at the top with a 9-2 record.

Watch the key hands from the match below, or the full replay on PokerGO.