In the over-saturated world of poker content creation, it can be difficult for fledgling creators to carve out a niche for themselves. While notable figures in the community – Brad Owen, Andrew Neeme, and Mariano Grandoli, to name just a few – have laid out a pathway to success, building a community of loyal fans is no easy feat. It's already tough to compete with the established channels and as big names from the high roller scene like Mario Mosbock and Jeremy Ausmus jump into the content game, the battle to claim a lane has become even more challenging.
Thankfully, Doug Polk – another name synonymous with top-tier poker content, a Mount Rushmore candidate of the scene without a doubt – took to X for an Ask Me Anything Q&A session, with a specific focus on "questions related to aspiring poker content creators."
In the thread, Polk offers up some of his top tips for creating a name for yourself in the space. It's a goldmine for anyone hoping to make a splash in the poker content game. And it's not the first time Polk has offered up his wisdom for others to benefit from. Back in November of last year, Polk outlined his 10 steps to making $1,000,000 as a poker newbie.
If you've been looking for someone to show you the way, here it is.
Five great Qs, five better As
Polk's entire thread is worth a read through, but to make things easy we've pulled a few of his standout responses – check them out below.
1. What do you think is the most underserved demographic for that type of content (meaning one that would be a good target audience for someone to target, to stand out)?
It's a good question. There are tons of people doing different areas of poker now. Generally speaking I think there are a lot of vlogs out there at this point. Id say news based channels are probably underrepresented. I wish I had a better answer for you, but if I did I'd probably be making more of that content myself!
2. Any advice for new pros splitting their time with content? Playing/studying often takes up most of the time I wanna spend on poker.
You aren't going to be great at poker and great at content at the same time. Pick one and go all in.
3. If your audience requests something from you how long do you wait before giving in and making that change?
It depends on the request. Usually you should trust data more than opinions, because the data reflects the entire audience and not just the loudest detractors. For example, people have long said not to put spoilers in the thumbnail. But if you do that people won't watch the video because they won't know the story. When you "spoil" it the click rate is higher so it's a necessary evil. But if people request things in the content they dislike and the watch time drops there, you should probably seriously consider their input.
4. Did you study/do research on Youtube and other algos when starting your channel and if so what adjustments did you make?
I had more of a trial and error approach. We made so many videos for so many years we had good data on which videos perform well vs perform poorly. As we saw which things did well we prioritized them more often and dropped the formats that didn't have legs.
5. Where do you think the biggest opportunity lies for an aspiring content creator within the poker space in 2026?
I think at this point, you need to find something you can do really well rather than just try to find a hole in the market. Very funny people have the ability to make a lot of different content types compelling. High stakes cash/tournament players have room to have authority others don't have. People with interesting lifestyles/journeys have a chance to tell a unique story.
I would try to figure out what you think you can make really given your strengths and focus there over trying to make something you think has a gap.
