oug Polk

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Doug Polk

Doug Polk 2017.jpg

Doug Polk in 2017

Born December 16, 1988 (age 31)

World Series of Poker

Bracelet(s) 3

Final table(s) 5

Money finish(es) 11

Highest ITM

Main Event finish 592nd, 2011

European Poker Tour

Money finish(es) 1

Information accurate as of 6 June 2017.

Douglas Polk (born December 16, 1988)[1] is an American former professional poker player. Polk
played under the alias WCGRider,[2] specializing in heads-up No Limit hold'em.

Contents

1 Early life

2 Poker career

2.1 World Series of Poker

3 References

4 External links

Early life

Polk was born in Pasadena, California, and has loved strategy games ever since he was five, when his
father taught him chess. His family moved from California to Raleigh, North Carolina, during his
childhood. In 2007, he graduated from Wakefield High School. At the age of 15, Polk was a
competitive Warcraft 3 electronic sports player competing at multiple World Cyber Games
tournaments under the name T-Rider before transitioning to poker in college.[3]
Polk is a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights.

Poker career

Polk attended the University of North Carolina Wilmington, but dropped out before graduating to
pursue poker full-time. He started playing $0.01/$0.02 stakes at PokerStars and ran a $20 deposit
into $10,000. During this time, Polk described himself as a "breakeven rakeback pro".[3]

In 2011, Polk was nearly broke and decided to fully focus on the game. By 2013, he was considered
one of the best online cash game players in heads-up no limit hold'em. He played fellow professional
poker player Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky in a highly publicized match of 15,000 hands. Polk walked away
a $740,000 winner and received an additional $100,000 bonus for winning.[4]

Polk was vocal about Daniel Negreanu's challenge of beating the $25/$50 stakes with two weeks of
practice, criticizing him for underestimating his opponents.[5] In mid-2015, Doug started the poker
training site Upswing Poker with longtime friend and fellow poker professional Ryan Fee.[6] Polk
started a YouTube channel, Doug Polk Poker in 2016, and posts frequently to it.

In 2015, Polk was selected to play heads-up no limit hold'em against A.I. poker bot Claudico, along
with professional poker players Dong Kim, Jason Les, and Bjorn Li. Each player was set to play 20,000
hands against Claudico for a team total of 80,000 hands. The human players ended up defeating
Claudico for 732,713 chips, with Polk beating the bot for 213,000. The team received a total of
$100,000 for the victory.[7]

Polk was involved in an argument with fellow poker player Ben Tollerene over a coaching deal.[8][9]

In June of 2017 Polk won the WSOP One Drop High Roller tournament, outlasting 130 players.[10]

As of September 2017, his total live tournament earnings exceed $9,400,000.[11]

World Series of Poker