Doug Polk

Californian Polk, born at the end of 1988 in Pasadena, has not only become one of the world’s best players, but also a leading light in the poker vlogging and training worlds.

Californian Polk, born at the end of 1988 in Pasadena, has not only become one of the world’s best players, but also a leading light in the poker vlogging and training worlds.

He started out as an eSports player before poker took over his life while at college, where he gave up his degree to concentrate on poker full-time after running up an initial $20 deposit into more than $10K.

Within a few years he had become a specialist in heads-up NLHE and challenged the king of heads-up, Ben ‘Sauce123’ Sulsky to a series of matches totalling more than 15,000 hands in the autumn of 2013, at the end of which Polk was up a staggering $740,000. This also entitled him to the $100,000 side-stake for winning.

His online game was honed as part of the self-styled ‘Evil Empire’ crew alongside fellow high-stakes players Ryan Fee and Jason Mo, with Donger Kim and Jason Les as close associates, the crew sharing ideas and strategies to conquer the world of poker.

Although primarily noted for his online mastery under the name ‘WCGRider’, Polk’s live tournament winnings also stand at over $5million, and in 2015 he started up the training site Upswing Poker along with close friend Ryan Fee.

He was also part of the 4-man team to face the AI poker program Claudico in the first of several challenge matches, emerging as the biggest winner – although more recently a superior version of Claudico gained its revenge, Polk not being part of the losing team on that occasion.

Around the same time, Polk decided to start streaming and vlogging – and his intro ‘What’s up guys, Doug Polk here’ has become synonymous with excellent hand analysis and rather controversial views on fellow pros and events in the poker world’.

Polk’s outspokenness on certain subjects has led to many calling him arrogant, but he has developed a huge following in spite of, or perhaps because of, very public disagreements with the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier and others.

His beef with Negreanu started when Daniel claimed he could beat the $25/50 NLHE stakes with only 2 weeks of practice, which Polk described as “naïve”, whereas in Mercier’s case the falling out centred around Polk having him tagged as a ‘bad reg’ in his online tournament notes.

More recently he came under fire from English pro Luke Schwartz, who claimed among other things that Polk is a losing player online and therefore his training courses on Upswing Poker are a ‘scam’.

Read More
8 years ago8,839BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Poker Hands - Will Kassouf Does it Again!

In honor of William Kassouf's victory in the high roller event of the last ever EPT, Doug Polk breaks down another hand from his i...

8 years ago15,945BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Poker Hands - What is Phil Ivey DOING?

David "Viffer" Peat is the man in this lineup best known for volatility and being unpredictable. However, it's actually Phil Ivey ...

8 years ago6,763BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Poker Earnings LEAKED! How Much Money They Really Made!

It's Doug Polk's birthday, and he gets the best gift ever: unlimited access to player earnings at tracking site HighStakesDB.com! ...

8 years ago9,881BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Doug Polk Wins His First Belt

Doug Polk tries to win THE CAGE outright by eliminating every opponent online on America's CardRoom, but the last kid has alligato...

8 years ago7,571BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Flipping for One Million Dollars!

In this classic moment on High Stakes Poker, Patrik Antonius and Sam Farha refuse to give up on the pot. They both stubbornly figh...

8 years ago10,132BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Poker Hands - Samantha Abernathy's Bluff STUNS Mike Dentale

Samantha Abernathy runs a daring bluff against Mike Dentale in this hand from Poker Night In America. Dentale's line is remarkably...

8 years ago5,143BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Doug Polk - Top 3 Craziest Poker Bluffs

Doug Polk takes a look at three big poker hands where someone tried to run a huge bluff. Not surprisingly, these hands feature som...

8 years ago12,400joeingram1,

Published 8 years ago

Table Talk - Episode 3

Doug Polk and Joe Ingram discuss the latest poker news in a rapid-fire format. This week on Table Talk: Alex Dreyfus, William Kass...

8 years ago4,796BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Doug Polk on Pokerstar's "Best Online Poker Operator" Award

Still reeling from the GPL Finals, Doug makes the horrifying discovery that PokerStars has won an award for the best online poker ...

8 years ago5,643BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Doug Polk on the GPL Finals

Doug Polk wakes up in a panic, realizing that he's missing out on the Global Poker League Finals. This is a historic moment in pok...

Daniel Negreanu Responds to Joe Ingram and Doug Polk on His Podcast

The first person KidPoker called out by name wasn’t Polk, however - it was Joe Ingram.

Shaun Deeb Not Welcome at HighStakes Cash Game

Shaun Deeb had to find a new place to play this week after being told he wasn’t getting a seat at the highstakes game in Seminole Casino Coconut Creek

Uber Drivers Alleged Hell Ride With Phil Hellmuth

During the weekend a screengrab of an Uber driver complaining about Phil Hellmuth surfaced on the web.

Doug Polk Calls Daniel Negreanu ‘an Embarrassment to the Game'

Doug Polk launched a vitriolic verbal attack on Daniel Negreanu, calling the PokerStars pro “a massive hypocrite” and “an embarrassment to the game”.

The “Mother of All Bubbles” or “Growing Pains”? The $Multi-Billion Question as Bitcoin Plunges

Is the ‘Bitcoin bubble’ about to burst or is it a bouncing ball which will keep coming back for more?

‘Irrelevant’ Luke Schwartz Needles ‘Biggest Life Pigeon’ Doug Polk

Luke ‘_fullflush1_’ Schwartz tweeted a series of petty polls on Twitter, reigniting a long-standing feud between the poker pros.

How Chris Moneymaker Teaches Poker

Chris Moneymaker hosted “poker boot camps” around the United States where he taught all levels, from absolute beginners to professionals.

Mason Malmuth Takes the North Korea Approach to Censorship

The poker publishing magnate is still suppressing voices he doesn’t like!

Poker Pros and Fans React to Retirement of Vanessa Selbst

The recent announcement made by Vanessa Selbst to retire from the game of poker came as a shock to many.

Jobs With Doug Polk and Phil Galfond Up for Grabs

Doug Polk and Phil Galfond are on the lookout for fresh blood for their sites.