Daniel Negreanu lost some more money to Doug Polk on Friday afternoon during one of the most up and down sessions played to date. Day 28 was full of big pots, but neither player could pull very far ahead.
Polk came into the day fresh off a commanding $119,000 win two days earlier. That winning session was his first out of the past six. On Day 27, he not only won big, but also killed his opponent’s momentum and made it difficult for Negreanu to eventually mount a comeback.
As the total hands played continue to rack up, Negreanu’s chances of winning become slimmer. He did nothing on Friday to improve his odds of pulling off a miraculous comeback and improbable upset. But he also didn’t lose much — less than a full buy-in.
Some Things Rarely Change
Viewers on YouTube were treated to quite a wild roller coaster ride in the heads-up match between Polk and Negreanu. After the match in which he won $26,198 over 650 hands, Polk summed up the three hours of play perfectly.
Session: +$26,198.6 over 650 hands
Total: +$629,882.37 over 16500 hands
Just about even today. Caught Daniel running some bluffs in some big spots. Also caught Daniel betting some boats in some big spots. Basically this session was Daniel betting the river and me calling.
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) January 16, 2021
“Caught Daniel running some bluffs in some big spots. Also caught Daniel betting some boats in some big spots. Basically, this session was Daniel betting the river and me calling,” Polk wrote.
We couldn’t have said it any better. In one of the first hands of the day, Polk caught Negreanu bluffing with ace-high for an $82,000 pot. The board read 10-6-K-2 on the turn with two spades (Polk had A-10 with two spades). Negreanu, with A-Q, moved all-in for a pot-sized bet, drawing to a non-spade queen on the river. The Upswing Poker founder snap-called and took down the massive pot when another king landed on the river.
The failed bluff put Negreanu in an early hole that he would quickly climb out of. The GGPoker ambassador then took his turn winning big pots, including a $30,000 hand with king-high on a missed flush draw against a queen-high missed flush draw when neither player opted to bluff the river.
He then won a cooler with pocket 4’s on a K-4-9-K-5 board against Polk’s K-7. He and got maximum value for a $106,000 pot. But every time Negreanu busted out in front, Polk came right back and won some big pots of his own. Negreanu was bluff-happy on Friday, twice losing massive pots on failed bluff attempts.
On a board of 6-7-2-K-6, Polk called a $39,000 bet with nothing but a pair of sevens, and was correct (Negreanu was bluffing with 10-high). Polk had some failed bluffs as well, including one hand in which he fired $16,000 into a pot of $11,000 on the river with queen-high and ran into trip 5’s.
The match went back and forth for three hours before Polk eventually booked a small win. He now leads the overall match by $629,882 in 16,500 hands. Negreanu has exactly 8,500 hands to make up just under 16 buy-ins. That certainly won’t be easy.
