Doug Polk Gets Called By King High: The Problem With Streaming

Streaming poker via Twitch.tv has many advantages. It allows previously unknown poker players to make a name for themselves and eventually monetize that newly gained popularity using the Twitch.tv partner program or various other business ventures. It also allows the big name players like Doug 'WCGRider' Polk to further their brand and use that to their benefit in the changing poker landscape.

That being said, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Streaming poker has some major issues that were recently highlighted by an insane hero call that aforementioned Doug Polk fell victim to during a $2100 SCOOP event. 

Clash of the Titans

Both Doug Polk and Limitless are absolutely world-class players and because of that, it's very hard to analyze what happened in the hand from a strategic point of view. If we venture into the realm of massive oversimplification, we can assume that what allowed Limitless to make this insane hero call with K-high, was the fact that Polk's range was somewhat capped due to the chosen preflop action (he'd most likely 3bet preflop with premium combinations like the overpairs, he might not have deuces in his range etc.) coupled with the fact that his range for river overbet was bound to be polarized especially when the top card paired the board.

However, what's more, important is the fact that Doug Polk is the famed proponent of the GTO playstyle and even casual poker fans know that given how often he mentioned this preference in his YouTube videos, and puts it into action during Twitch streams. Limitless certainly knew that as well and figured out that Polk is capable of making the overbet bluff on the river with nut-low, where many other players wouldn't dream of making such a play. Polk's Twitch streaming sure made him more popular, but it's pretty safe to assume that it cost him his tournament life in that $2100 SCOOP event. 

No More Secrets

The dawn of coaching websites like CardRunners, DeucesCracked, BlueFirePoker or RunItOnce was the first moment in poker history when players were forced to stop and consider if we're not giving away too much information, and if so how will this affect the game of very small edges? Nowadays, this issue is even more pronounced.

Quality poker content is no longer hidden behind a paywall. Twitch allows us to follow the game of great players for hours on end and even though some of them try to protect their strategy by focusing more on the entertainment than education, open access to hole cards is enough to ensure that said protection can only go so far. There's no way around it, players like Doug Polk, Lex Veldhuis, Parker Talbot, Jamie Staples etc. are paying for their popularity with their win rate 

Ghosting

Lastly, let's talk a bit about the issue of ghosting. While it doesn't really negatively affect the players - at least not those with any sense of self-preservation - it still has a profound effect on the world of poker streaming. The possibility that dishonest opponents could, in theory, know the streamer's hole cards if they tuned into their stream makes long stream delays a necessity. Because of that, watching poker on Twitch is considerably less attractive than watching any other game.

The ability to interact with the viewers is one of the main reasons why the Twitch platform exploded in popularity and poker players can't really utilize that ability to its full potential. Three, five or even seven-minute delays create a disconnect between the epic hands - like the one between Doug Polk and Limitless - and the viewer's reactions.

In order for poker to grow its Twitch presence, we might have to come up with a more elegant solution than the long delay times.