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 ago5,196BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Doug Polk Plays Microstakes Cash Games Online!

As a way to warm up for the $300k Super High Roller Bowl coming up, Doug Polk hits the online cash game tables playing some $0.25/...

5 years ago3,299ChicagoJoey,

Published 5 years ago

PokerLife Podcast - With SrslySirius

Youtube legend SrslySirius aka Thomas Keeling joins Joey Ingram for this episode of the PokerLife Podcast. Thomas works  with...

5 years ago10,982BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Aces vs Kings - $100,000 Down the Drain!

Doug Polk takes a look at a big hand from the Live at the Bike live streamed cash game as Garrett Adelstein picks up pockets aces ...

5 years ago5,398ChicagoJoey,

Published 5 years ago

PokerLife Podcast - Talking Dan Bilzerian with Doug Polk!

Joey Ingrams good friend Doug Polk is back on the PokerLife Podcast, with of course the main topic of conversation being Dan Bilze...

5 years ago8,474BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Can Daniel Negreanu READ MINDS??

Daniel Negreanu is famous for his hand reading skills and it has made him one of the best players in the world. Doug Polk reviews ...

5 years ago6,505BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Adelstein Can't BELIEVE This Check-Raise!

Doug Polk gets in the chair and analyses a big hand from the 'Live at the Bike' high stakes cash game between Art Papazyan and Gar...

5 years ago12,294BDJB,

Published 5 years ago

Should Dan Colman Fold POCKET ACES?

In this hand from the 2016 Super High Roller cash game, Dan Colman has pocket aces against Scott Seiver, and the pot soon gets blo...

6 years ago5,243BDJB,

Published 6 years ago

Doug Polk - How to Improve at Poker RIGHT NOW

Doug Polk is back with another poker strategy video, this time talking about how to work on your game, and different things you ca...

6 years ago7,882BDJB,

Published 6 years ago

Doug Polk - The #1 Mistake Poker Players Make

What's the difference between a big play and great play? The difference is the #1 biggest mistake poker players make, according to...

6 years ago9,363BDJB,

Published 6 years ago

Brad Owen and the Poker Cat Rap Song!!

This is the music video of the "Poker Cat" rap song by Brad Owen's cat Cosmo!! Make sure you stay tuned until the end for some ver...

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