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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5 years ago3,360Bellagio1,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk - Pocket Aces EVERYWHERE!

Doug is on his way to completing his $100 - $10,000 bankroll challenge, and it should surely help him if he keeps getting dealt po...

5 years ago10,315BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Poker Night In America - Jen Tilly Bluffs Doug Polk, TWICE!

Jennifer Tilly is FIRED UP on this high stakes episode of the Poker Night In America cash game, and Doug Polk struggles to combat ...

5 years ago26,759killjoy1987,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk Top 10 Bankroll Challenge Moments

It's been a bit of a crazy ride since Doug Polk restarted his $100 to $10,000 bankroll challenge, and he takes a break from the gr...

5 years ago3,379Bellagio1,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk - These Tournaments Are EASY!

Continuing his bankroll challenge, Doug Polk takes in a full day of tournaments, and ends up wandering why he ever played cash gam...

5 years ago2,433BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk - This is What I Am Now

After his mis-click cost him a sizeable portion of his bankroll, Doug Polk is back on the micro stakes grind, which is testing his...

5 years ago13,040BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

EPIC Stories with Doug Polk

Doug Polk recounts some epic high stakes poker stories, talking about some of the tougher experiences he has faced against online ...

5 years ago22,521Bellagio1,

Published 5 years ago

Poker Night In America - Must Be Nice to Be Doug Polk!

Poor Love can't seem to do anything right against Doug Polk, and it continues in these hands from high stakes Poker Night In Ameri...

5 years ago3,265BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk - Extremely HIGH Stakes!

After his DEVASTATING mis-click in the previous video, Doug Polk continues his action in a $320 buy-in tournament amongst others o...

5 years ago3,461BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polks DEVASTASTING Misclick!

So far Doug Polk has got his bankroll challenge going turning his initial $100 into $1,334 but his quest to $10,000 could be dealt...

5 years ago3,640Bellagio1,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk - Let's Win This Bankroll Challenge!

Doug Polk has returned to try and complete his $100 - $10,000 bankroll challenge, and it's going well so far and he tries to take ...

Wolfgang Poker Reaches 1 Million Subscribers Milestone on YouTube

Wolfgang Poker has made history as the first poker player-focused YouTube channel to surpass the 1 million subscribers mark.

Doug Polk Loves Poker Again - Will He Unretire?

Doug Polk has expressed his excitement over falling back in love with poker

Twitter Spaces Unite: Poker Players Address Bullying Accusations in Doug Polk Discussions

​​Doug Polk and several other poker players have gathered on Twitter Spaces to address allegations of bullying against Polk

“Harassment-free” Ladies Event at Doug Polk Poker Room gets $50k Bonus from Bill Perkins

Bill Perkins has responded to the recent outcry about a man entering and winning a Ladies Only event

Phil Galfond Posts Public Statement on Bullying in the Poker Community

Phil Galfond has written a public statement about Doug Polk, following a significant backlash related to recent news

Fernando ‘JNandez’ Habegger Buries Doug Polk after $150k Lawsuit Win

Quickly overshadowed by this week’s events, Doug Polk was recently called out for setting the legal dogs loose against Fernando ‘JNandez87’ Habegger

Doug Polk Apologises to Charlie Carrel Over Paedophile Row

Warning: Contains sensitive subject matter NSFW

JNandez Reveals All About Upswing Poker Court Case

JNandez has tweeted a comprehensive response about what really went on during his bitter court case against Upswing Poker

Business & Industry, 11 months ago

Doug Polk Facing Lawsuit in Attack on Texas Poker Clubs

Mark T. Lavery has filed four lawsuits in Texas targeting social-club poker clubs

Doug Polk Takes Pot Shots at Matt Berkey in Nik Airball Spat

Doug Polk, Matt Berkey and HCL reg Nik ‘Airball’ Arcot have spent the past week feuding on social media