The high-stakes feud between Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu is now at 17,878 hands, but for the first time since the two began their highly-anticipated joust, Negreanu officially fell below the $1 million mark. Negreanu was stuck almost a million last month, but he chipped away and won half of that back. However, Polk won four session in a row and during Round 30 he banked $298,984.93 over 770 hands. Polk currently leads with $1,002,595 with a little more than 7000 hands to go.
Kid Poker is stuck seven figures! Sure, that's just a technicality. He's only $2,596 over the cool million mark. But just when you thought Kid Poker was ready to make a big run of his own, Doug Polk pulled away and tilted Daniel Negreanu in the process.
Negreanu finished 2020 on a positive note. He chipped away and when the two reached the midway mark, Negreanu wanted to push on. It looked like he was ready to small ball his way and unleash some old-school alligator blood grinding to get unstuck. However, Polk stopped the bleeding and then unleashed a fortune streak of his own.
Negreanu began 2021 with five straight winning sessions. His deficit dipped under a half-million on Jan 11 after a 750-hand session. At that point, the two passed the 15K hand mark. Polk donked off $132.6K on that day and Negreanu was only stuck $484K at that point after a six-figure score.
"Just about a 12 bi downswing now peak to trough," tweeted Polk. "Tough stretch, but feel good about how we are playing."
Alas, the momentum as about to swing the other way. Polk would win the next four sessions. He turned the tides on Jan 13 during a 600-hand session. Polk won $119.6K and he moved back over $600K.
"Good to finally get a 6 figure win in," tweeted Polk. "Up 15 buyins with about 9k hands to go. Not over by a long shot but we stopped the bleeding and if we can get a couple more solid wins should be hard to lose."
On Jan 15, Polk booked a tiny win as they reached 16,500 hands.
"Just about even today. Caught Daniel running some bluffs in some big spots. Also, caught Daniel betting some boats in some big spots. Basically this session was Daniel betting the river and me calling."
On Jan 18, Polk booked his third-straight win. In 608 hands, Polk won $73.7K and Kid Poker's deficit was now over $700K. That's when all the unlucky chatter bubbled up on both sides.
On Jan 20, the wheels fell off the bus for Kid Poker. During a 770-hand session, Polk won nearly $300K. It was total carnage. When the dust settled, Negreanu lost approximately +$298,985. Polk surged over the million mark to +$1,002,595.59 through 17,878 hands.
"Finally broke a million," tweeted Polk. "Had so many big hands today... nice to get a big win after so many difficult sessions. Went on a 500k downer but recovered and am ready to finish this thing out."
- Total Hands: 17,878
- Current Leader: Polk +$1,002,595
- Jan 20 Hands: 770
- Jan 20 Results: Polk +$298,984
The two have 7,122 hands to go. If they play 700 hands per session, then can end this in ten more sessions, or sometime in early February.
Will Negreanu stop the bleeding on Friday? Or can Polk pad his seven-figure lead?
