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’.

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3 days ago64PokerTube,

Published 3 days ago

Doug Polk Joins The Game & Crushes The Table

The tension crackled in the air as Doug Polk pulled up a chair at the live-streamed cash game at The Lodge. By the end of the nigh...

3 weeks ago280PokerTube,

Published 3 weeks ago

Doug Polk CAN'T BELIEVE Nik Airball Jams All-In

Nik Airball thrusts Doug Polk's Pocket Kings into a precarious position at Poker At The Lodge!  Offering round-the-clock cash...

1 month ago547PokerTube,

Published 1 month ago

The Viral Poker Player Everyone Is Talking About

Tesla makes a notable entrance at Poker At The Lodge, engaging in unforgettable hands against poker luminaries such as Xuan Liu, D...

1 year ago4,368PokerTube,

Published 1 year ago

$69,375 Poker Hand In Doug Polk's $50/$100 Game

Poker player and Lodge partner Doug Polk hosted a $50/$100 game on Poker At The Lodge. There were tons of insane hands, including ...

1 year ago4,231PokerTube,

Published 1 year ago

Brad OWEN vs Doug POLK [Battle Of The Lodge Card Club OWNERS!]

Brad Owen & Doug Polk are both owners at the Lodge Poker Card Club in Texas and today they battle against each other on their ...

1 year ago17,439PokerTube,

Published 1 year ago

Doug Polk Tries To Win His Own Poker Tournament (LCS Main Event Final 6)

The final 6 players of the $2 million guaranteed Lodge Championship Series Main Event battle for the trophy and the $417,800 grand...

1 year ago6,255PokerTube,

Published 1 year ago

Let's Talk About Everything (w/ Daniel Negreanu)

Daniel Negreanu rejoins the Doug Polk Podcast to discuss the cheating allegations, wild stories, and comical events that have been...

1 year ago4,661PokerTube,

Published 1 year ago

Did Phil Hellmuth Scam An Amateur?

Doug Polk investigates if Phil Hellmuth scammed amateur Slime during the Ludwig $1,000,000 cash game stream which featured Mr Beas...

1 year ago3,742Pokertube1,

Published 1 year ago

Greg Merson Talks Poker Cheating With Doug Polk

With poker cheating scandals rocking the community, Doug Polk talks to Greg Merson about blacklists, Ali and poker sites keeping p...

Tom Dwan's Mind is Blown

​One of the most shocked facial expressions during a televised hand of poker was displayed by Tom Dwan during an episode of High Stakes Poker during the late 2000s.

How Doug Polk Won Millions of Dollars Playing Poker

Polk felt compelled to explain why he has earned the right to give advice on poker strategy. His resume speaks for itself, and perhaps one day the poker newcomers will understand.

Investing In Poker Players - Is It Worth It?

The recent launch of PokerShares by Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald prompted Doug Polk to take a look at the world of poker staking.

Billionaire vs. Brunson: Polk Breaks it Down

​A recent video of "Poker Hands with Doug Polk" took us back to the days of "High Stakes Poker" and a whopping $818,100 pot.

Durrrr Challenge to Restart in 2017?

​Dwan finally finishing his challenge match with Cates? It’s never going to happen is it? Well, hang on, there may be light at the end of the tunnel...

The Truth About Dan Bilzerian's Poker Ability

Doug Polk set out on a mission to determine whether the social media sensation has the poker chops that would allow him to win the amount of money that he claims.

Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey Go To War

The hand between two of poker's best players was analyzed on the latest episode of "Poker Hands With Doug Polk."

Doug Polk: The Fight For Humanity

The humans were taking one hell of a beating from Libratus even a visit in the final few days from Doug ‘WCGRider’ Polk couldn’t turn the match around.

Doug Polk Reveals Plans About YouTube, Twitch, Upswing Poker

Polk covered all the bases, taking a shade more than 24 minutes to explain exactly what his growing number of fans can expect from him in the near future.

The Doug Polk Music Video

Doug Polk released a new video - a music video, no less - and it has all the makings of a huge hit. We're talking number one ....... with a bullet.