Dan Bilzerian: "I'm much better than Doug Polk"

Posted on: July 7, 2021 10:55 PDT

Bilzerian estimates that he's made more money playing poker than longtime critic Polk

Doug Polk isn’t shy about putting his opinions of other poker players out into the world. One player who's often been on the lower end of the skill spectrum, according to Polk, is Dan Bilzerian.

Bilzerian, the controversial social media star and GGPoker Ambassador, falls into the category of recreational poker player in the eyes of many in the poker community. Bilzerian’s appearances in televised tournaments and cash games are rare, and his presence in such programs is generally portrayed as a celebrity appearance.

What we don’t know about Bilzerian, however, is his tally at the underground high-stakes cash games of the world. By Bilzerian’s estimation, he’s won more money at poker than Polk, with those unknown cash game profits taken into account.

The GGPoker YouTube channel dropped part 2 of a three-part interview series with Bilzerian on Wednesday. The piece sees Veronica Brill interviewing Bilzerian at one of his luxury homes, and gets right into Polk’s longtime view that Bilzerian isn’t good at poker.

Bilzerian: “I built my poker career on idiots like (Polk)

Polk put out a video on his own YouTube channel in 2018 that questions Bilzerian’s ability at the poker table. Bilzerian has claimed that he’s made upward of $50 million in private high-stakes cash games, a number which Polk questioned in the YouTube analysis.

Part 2 of the GGPoker interview with Bilzerian begins with Brill bringing up the 2018 YouTube piece from Polk.

“I didn’t care about his review then, and I don’t care about it now,” Bilzerian said. “It was always to my benefit for people to think I was a stupid guy. That I was a rich trust fund idiot.”

“So I kind of leaned into that, and it made me tons of money. I never wanted people to think I was good.”

Bilzerian commented that his reputation as a “bad” player granted him entry into the high-stakes games in which he claims to have won $50 million.

“I built my poker career on idiots like him thinking that I was bad,” Bilzerian said. “At the end of the day, the scoreboard in poker is your bank account.

“So I’m much better than Doug Polk. I’ve won way more money than he has. He can jerk off with solvers, and maybe he’s the best f***ing onlne guru, or whatever. But I’ve won more money.”

Bilzerian says he’s not trying to compete with today’s top pros

Brill asks Bilzerian what he thinks of the current era of poker, where top-tier players heavily rely on solver-based strategy and game-theory-optimal approaches to the game. When asked if he can compete with today’s top players, Bilzerian bluntly admits that the answer is no.

“Define “compete,” answers Bilzerian. “Can I play against the top pros today and win? No. But that’s not what I’m trying to do.”

“Sure, I’m as smart as most of those guys, I could probably do it if I wanted to. But I don’t think there’s a big edge in eking out a small win online.”

Polk’s online and live cash game winnings really can’t be estimated across all poker sites. He’s certainly made plenty of money over the course of his career, including $1.2 million off Daniel Negreanu in a heads-up challenge earlier this year.

Has Dan Bilzerian won more money at the poker table than Doug Polk? The world will never truly know, but we do know each player’s answer to that question.

Featured image source: YouTube