Canada’s top-ranked poker player with a whopping $51,277,624 in live cashes, Daniel Negreanu is back! Although he still has a long way to go until he is even against his former rival Doug Polk, he has got a little back from his rival after emerging as the champion in Round 2 of the High Stakes Duel 4.
Negreanu defeated Polk on “High Stakes Duel 4” on Thursday at the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas, taking home $200,000 first-place prize from Round 2 of the mega event. In addition, he also earned a small restitution after losing $1.2 million to Polk in a highly publicised online heads-up match.
“The hard thing about playing against Doug is that he isn’t one of those people that are afraid to put you in really tough spot,” Negreanu told PokerGO after his grand victory in Round 2. “Sometimes you’re going to have to dig deep and make the call with marginal hands like that last hand.”
Polk was one of Negreanu’s harshest critics, and their years-long battle culminated in a three-month heads-up No-limit Hold’em showdown with stakes ranging from $200 to $400. Polk, who is one of the world’s finest heads-up online cash players, won after playing 25,000 hands beginning in November 2020. Post the game, the two finally buried the hatchet and were amicable on Thursday.
“People are like, ‘Why are you playing him again?’ and it’s because I have no choice,” Negreanu said.
A six-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WPT champion, Negreanu had shipped Round 1 of the High Stakes Duel 4 in May this year. This victory earned him $100,000 and a seat in Round 2.
After falling behind early in the highly-anticipated Round 2 match against Polk, Negreanu flopped a flush and took down a big pot to grab the chip lead midway in the three-hour match. Post that, he never trailed again and made a gutsy call with a pair of aces on the final hand to win the battle.
On the final hand, Polk (9s 7s) represented the flush and moved all-in for 54,100 chips on the river after a strategic check from “Kid Poker” who held Ad 10h. Negreanu sniffed out the bluff and made the call after tanking for almost one minute. The board 6c Kc 8d Ah Qc sealed Negreanu his second consecutive win in the High Stakes Duel 4. Negreanu had the option to cash out and he did so.
“Good game,” Polk acknowledged. “Good game, bud,” came Negreanu’s cordial reply.
As Negreanu cashed out, there will be no Round 3. PokerGO is yet to announce High Stakes Duel 5