Doug Polk Reveals How He Won $1.2 Million vs. Daniel Negreanu

3 min read
Doug Polk vs Daniel Negreanu

If you want to improve your heads-up poker skills, here��s some great news for you:

Doug Polk has peeled back the curtain to reveal his strategy from the $200/$400 heads-up challenge versus Daniel Negreanu.

His new lesson (which is live in the Upswing Lab training course) has 3.5+ hours of exclusive content covering all major aspects of the match, including never before seen hands that didn��t go to showdown.

(Already a Lab member? Find this lesson in the What��s New section of the course.)

Free Sneak Peek: Doug Turns Pocket Fives Into a $38,808 Bluff

Want to get a better idea of what the content is like? Check out this free preview video in which Doug analyzes one his biggest bluffs that didn��t reach showdown:

And for those who prefer reading, here��s a written version of the hand and brief snippets of Doug��s analysis:

  • Preflop: Doug raises to $948 with 5?5?. Daniel 3-bets to $4,269.28. Doug calls.

��I open Pocket Fives and face a 3-bet, which is a standard call.��

  • Flop ($8,538.56): Q?Q?7?

Daniel checks. Doug bets $1,707.21. Daniel raises to $10,671.94. Doug calls.

��Daniel checks and I bet very small, which is preferred on paired boards. Daniel check-raises big. Now, there are some things to think about here. You need some floats that can bluff later streets and I think you prefer calling hands that can draw to [a full house]. So I think I like to Pocket Fives here more than a hand like J?10? or J?10?. We do choose to float.��

  • Turn ($29,882.44): J?

Daniel checks. Doug bets $9,860.38. Daniel calls.

��Now he checks. You can maybe argue that Fives should check here and lower pairs could bluff. But I think Fives is right around the cusp. We do go for the 1/3 pot turn size and he calls.��

  • River ($49,603.20): 3?

Daniel checks. Doug bets all-in $38,808.05. Daniel folds.

��The river is a 3 so now Pocket Threes has improved to a boat. Our only worse hands we can shove here are Deuces and Fours. You should bluff those before Fives, for sure. But we do jam and get the fold. I think he likely turned a Jack.��

  • Results: Doug wins $88,411.25

The module is packed with hands like this �� hands that are interesting, informative and downright entertaining.

Final Thoughts

For the final words on this new module, let��s give Doug the floor:

��It was a year ago that I started training for this. Here we are a year later, and we got the win. I��m proud of how I played. But I could have played better, obviously.

If you think the games are getting really tough, I [won $1.2 million] despite making tons of mistakes. And if I did it again, I��d make tons of mistakes again. You��re always going to make mistakes in poker.

The question is: can you learn from your mistakes and improve?��

Improve your skills today when you get the Upswing Lab training course, which grants to instant access to:

  • Doug��s new module.
  • Loads of training content for cash games and tournaments.
  • 439 preflop charts, including comprehensive Advanced Solver Ranges.
  • Access to the members-only poker group where you can get help with your strategy.
  • 5+ hours of new content added every month.

Learn more now!

Sponsor-generated content by Upswing Poker

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