Daniel Negreanu booked a big win on Friday — which he desperately needed — in his high-stakes heads-up battle against Doug Polk. The GGPoker ambassador heads into a short break on a positive note. But he's still down by the cost of a mini-mansion.
Negreanu entered the session on Day 19 having lost three straight sessions by a total of $434,000. That brought his match deficit all the way up to $959,000.
The Poker Hall of Famer initially made a $1 million deposit into his WSOP.com account. Prior to Friday's match, he was forced to add on as he barely had enough left to cover one buy-in.
Following his trip to the Rio cashier to make a deposit, Negreanu was back in action Friday for another battle against his long-time rival Polk, his arch nemesis for years.
New day, better results for Daniel Negreanu
Day 19 started off like so many other sessions in the High Stakes Feud. Polk won a lucky cooler, flopping a set of jacks against Negreanu's flopped set of fours. That put the Upswing Poker founder up around $40,000 early, and he was just a few thousand short of finally hitting the $1 million profit mark.
Daniel Negreanu had to be fuming at that point. He's been saying for days that a heater was headed his way soon. After that sick hand, he likely wondered if he was in for yet another brutal session. After all, Polk had booked six-figure winning sessions three days in a row. Why should this one be any different?
Well, it was different. Very different. The luck had gone Polk's way time and time again for weeks. On Friday, however, following the set-over-set cooler, variance was finally on Negreanu's side.
In one pot, he flopped the nut straight. Polk turned a set of sevens and was unable to find a fold on the river when Negreanu check-raised all-in. The cooler hand was worth over $100,000 to "DNegs," who moved out in front for the day.
Negreanu's good fortune continued, and he also got some help from a bluff-happy Polk, who punted off an $80,000 pot with nothing. His opponent called off an all-in bet with top two pair (A-J) — a big hand that he certainly wouldn't ever fold.
At the end of the four-hour session, Daniel Negreanu won $143,642. It was just what the doctor ordered. The poker superstars had completed 834 hands. On a positive note for Doug Polk, he still leads the overall match by $814,290 and is a virtual lock to remain out in front at the 12,500-hand mark. At that point, the losing player has the option to quit. But it doesn't appear Negreanu wants to stop playing any time soon, so you can expect this match to go the full 25,000 hands.
Negreanu is competing in the WSOP Main Event this week. So, they're taking the week off. They'll be back at it next week with at least a few more sessions before Christmas.
Featured image source: Twitter
