Doug Polk made it clear on Twitter that he can't wait to finish his challenge with Daniel Negreanu, and possibly never play poker again. But don't count on him quitting poker for good despite what he's saying now.
Polk still operates the poker training site, Upswing Poker. His website is considered by many to be the top place to learn how to play poker at an advanced level.
Strangely enough, however, Polk doesn't enjoy playing poker. In fact, playing poker gives him anxiety, or at least it did two years ago. In 2018, he retired from the game due to having a lack of interest in poker. He then retired from creating poker content on his YouTube channel in 2020.
But then an opportunity arose this past summer to face his hated rival, Daniel Negreanu, in heads-up no-limit hold'em, his specialty. He just couldn't pass it up, so he came out of retirement to play a 25,000-hand challenge.
As the match went on and he started crushing Negreanu for hundreds of thousands of dollars, additional potential future challenges presented themselves. Bill Perkins and other poker players contemplated challenging Polk to a similar competition. Polk made it clear that he would consider those offers once he's done battling Negreanu. As it turns out, however, it appears that won't happen.
Doug Polk done with poker for good?
Doug Polk sure does love to let everyone in the poker world know how much he dislikes playing poker, which may seem like an odd play consider he runs a poker training site. The three-time WSOP bracelet winner posted a series of tweets recently addressing his future in the game.
He first began his tweetstorm by informing his followers that he isn't going to accept a rematch against Negreanu, if the opportunity arises. The poker pro, however, said his reason for declining a rematch isn't due to his lack of confidence in winning again.
"Make no mistake about it I still have an edge. But its much lower than it was at the start. I'm not going to run this back for even less money after winning buyins+sidebts. Not worth the stress of doing something I dont enjoy doing," Doug Polk wrote.
Will he face a different opponent?
Polk made it clear that he won't accept a rematch offer from Daniel Negreanu. But would he consider taking on another opponent?
"Additionally Im not going to take on other challengers. As tempting as it is to have to lay 20 million vs Dan Bilzerian or pay Bill 22 bb/100 (Great offers guys), I'm not interested in playing either of them. I dont think id play either of them at even money much less pay vig," he said.
So, now that we know he won't face anyone in poker going forward, it's clear he's done playing poker yet again. For how long, no one knows. But he made sure to once again let the poker community know he doesn't enjoy playing cards.
With that said, he still runs Upswing Poker and said he would be willing to coach Negreanu's next opponent, if there is one. So, he will still remain a part of the poker community in some capacity. Additionally, he informed his Upswing Poker customers that they will get to see many of the hands he played against Negreanu.
"Finally I have been thinking about what I am going to do with the material from this challenge. At bare minimum I am going to turn it into some content in the @UpswingPoker Lab at the conclusion of this," he wrote.
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