Break out the champagne. Two years ago, Doug Polk set out to turn $100 into $10,000 on WSOP.com and, on Wednesday, live on Twitch, he finally completed the bankroll challenge — and then promptly announced he’s bored of poker and done with the game … at least for now.
Just a few weeks ago, as Polk began showing a renewed commitment to making sure his bankroll challenge didn’t become the next Durrrr Challenge, mockable for his inability to complete it, it looked like he had a long way to go and all he might be able to prove was that micro-stakes poker wasn’t beatable. But with a little luck and a little gamble, all that changed.
Path to $10,000
Polk began the session with his bankroll at $3,318 and it seemed he was weeks, if not months, away from sniffing $10k. But he upped the ante on this evening by competing in $2/$5 no-limit hold’em cash games, admittedly above what’s responsible for his bankroll size, and went on quite a heater.
As the evening progressed, he started hitting some monster hands and a won few sick suckouts. In one hand, he hit running 7’s to crack his opponent’s flopped full house. In another, he hit a one-outer (jack of diamonds) for a straight flush to snap off a king-high flush.
By 2:30 pm PT, nearly three hours after the session began, Polk had finally surpassed the $4,000 mark after two years. Just four hours later, thanks to winning some massive pots, he topped $6,000, and could now see light at the end of the tunnel.
At that point, he decided to go for it all and complete the challenge that night. A push to get to $9,100 three hours later happened thanks to another sick heater. He was avoiding bad beats, pulling off some impressive bluffs, and seemingly hitting every other flop.
It was no longer a matter of if Polk could complete the challenge but what time Wednesday night would he finish it off. The answer is just before 10 pm.
After two years of grinding micro-stakes cash games and tournaments and then recently moving up to the low-stakes games ($1/$2 and $2/$5), Polk silenced the haters who said he’d never beat the lowest stakes games and won his bankroll challenge.
“We did it, guys,” a jubilant Polk said on the Twitch livestream. “We won the challenge. Holy sh*t. We won the challenge. I don’t have to play any more poker on WSOP.”
‘Boring’ Poker?
Polk has many fans who love watching him play poker, but after completing the bankroll challenge, the 30-year-old high stakes pro made something of a surprise announcement, saying he’s ready to put his poker days behind him.
“I love poker. I really do. But playing poker is boring to me now,” he said. “You only live once. I don’t want to spend my time doing things that don’t make me happy. I feel like I’ve done everything (in poker).”
For the time being, Polk’s poker career has come to an end. But he did leave himself a few outs, saying he might compete in a PokerStars SCOOP series or “play in moderation” in the future. But he also said he has no plans to play again any time soon after playing only two tournaments this past summer.
Polk isn’t heading off into the sunset never to be heard from again, however. He plans on continuing to produce content on his poker and cryptocurrency YouTube channels along with running his Upswing Poker training website and will remain active on social media.
But it could be a while before his fans get to see him in action again at the poker table. Good game, Doug.
