Doug Polk Loses Finavatoral Match, $100K Online Poker Challenge

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Table Of Contents

• Persson Draws First Blood in Heads-Up Poker Match
• Code Doug Challenge Final Daily Results

Doug Polk lost a brutal cooler a few minutes into his Saturday heads-up online poker match against Eric Persson, and he couldn't ever recover to win the "Code Doug" challenge on the final day. But at least he narrowly avoided having to shave his head.

Polk set out to win $100,000 in one month on ClubWPT Gold, a challenge he began in March. He ran horrendously for most of the first half of the month before rallying late to overcome a near-$50,000 deficit. But he was running out of time to achieve his goal, and that is when he raised the stakes to $50/$100 heads-up no-limit hold'em and called in Persson for one final match he hoped would get him across the finish line.

The high-stakes poker players engaged in banter and plenty of trash talk throughout the two-hour livestreamed session on Youtube and Twitch. Polk entered the 27th and final session of the challenge up approximately $18,000, and needed to profit $82,000 to win, a tall task even against a splashy opponent.

Persson Draws First Blood in Heads-Up Poker Match

It took less than 10 minutes before the first all-in and call, and it set Polk back in his quest to crack the six-figure profit mark. The board showed 2♠8♦4♣7♣6♠and the Upswing Poker founder rivered a straight with 7♦5♦. But he ran into Persson's 9♠5♠for a superior straight in what was an early $37,626 pot.

https://twitter.com/DougPolkVids/status/1908586644724138052

Polk began to battle back to take a slight lead against his constantly trash-talking opponent. But Persson was aggressive, often three-betting to get folds from a preflop button raise.

Persson then regained his advantage to nearly one full $20,000 buy-in, and he made sure to let his opponent know that shaving his head, Polk's punishment for losing the "Code Doug" challenge, was becoming a reality.

Polk got some momentum, and chips, back an hour into the match with a shared top pair but with a better kicker than Persson held. The pressure was on Polk as the two-hour clock started to wind down, however.

The match was nearly tied up with just over 45 minutes remaining, and Polk sensed his opponent had tilt three-bet, so he went for a four-bet with 8x7xand got it through.

There would be another shift when Polk, who flopped top pair with AxKx, bet throughout and then folded to a check-raise on the river from a hand that wasn't exposed.

The heads-up battle took yet another turn moments later in the wrong direction for the co-owner of Texas' The Lodge Card Club with K♦J♦on a board of 7♦9♦J♠6♠4♠when Persson scooped a $15,000 pot with A♥J♦. If there's a silver lining for Polk, Persson checked back the river in position, or the pot would have been larger.

That hand not only left Polk in jeopardy of losing the match, but also finishing down thousands for the entire challenge.

"Doug's gotta shave his head! Doug's gotta shave his head!" Persson began chanting.

Profiting $100,000 in a month was out the window as the final 30 minutes of the challenge approached. Beating Persson, even if for only $1, became the new challenge for the heads-up poker legend and three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.

Polk stepped up his aggression late, increasing his three-bet and four-bet frequencies. He'd scoop a key $15,000 pot with king-high when Persson couldn't pull the trigger on a triple barrel bluff with nine-high, to which Polk took on the role of trash talker by telling his opponent, "you played it like a b***h."

As the challenge conclusion neared, Polk started begging for pocket aces. Polk ran into a bad beat in the final few minutes in a hand he won when he turned a straight with Qx10xbut the Axon the river brought four-to-a-straight on the board, which prevented Persson from getting carried away with a set.

The hand did essentially assure Polk would avoid being required to shave his head. But it prevented him from having an opportunity to win the heads-up match against an opponent who spent the past few days talking a ton of trash. With a minute left, Polk went into fold mode to avoid risking a loss for the challenge.

The match concluded with Polk losing $17,000, and profiting $1,421 for the challenge across 160 hours of play, good for approximately $8,80 per hour, less than minimum wage. Polk will now await the "beater" car ClubWPT Gold makes him drive this summer.

Code Doug Challenge Final Daily Results

Session	Date	Win/Loss	Overall
1	3/4	$3,840.00	$3,840.00
2	3/5	($2,690.00)	$1,150.00
3	3/6	($10,473.00)	($9,323.00)
4	3/7	$93.00	($9,230.00)
5	3/8	$4,024.00	($5,206.00)
6	3/9	$3,287.00	($1,919.00)
7	3/10	$3,460.00	$1,541.00
8	3/11	$2,270.00	$3,811.00
9	3/12	$8,450.00	$12,261.00
10	3/13	$1,570.00	$13,831.00
11	3/14	$6,330.00	$20,161.00
12	3/15	($36,480.00)	($16,319.00)
13	3/16	($13,560.00)	($29,879.00)
14	3/17	$470.00	($29,409.00)
15	3/19	($6,890.00)	($36,299.00)
16	3/20	($1,920.00)	($38,219.00)
17	3/21	($10,184.00)	($48,403.00)
18	3/22	$9,164.00	($39,239.00)
19	3/23	$1,910.00	($37,329.00)
20	3/24	$12,830.00	($24,499.00)
21	3/28	$7,030.00	($17,469.00)
22	3/30	$6,410.00	($11,059.00)
23	3/31	$11,590.00	$531.00
24	4/1	$1,521.00	$2,052.00
25	4/2	$22,300.00	$24,352.00
26	4/3	($5,700.00)	$18,652.00
27	4/5	x	$1,421.00