Doug Polk Secures $26,000 Lead ahead of Daniel Negreanu

Polk is back at the top with a small $26,000 lead over Daniel Negreanu after the Friday, November 20 game.

Doug Polk Back in the Lead in Feud against Negreanu

Doug Polk has had quite a bit of success as part of the ‘High Stakes Feud’ against Daniel Negreanu. Friday’s game saw more of the same played on WSOP.com’s online platform with Polk, feared as one of the most accomplished head-to-head players, propelling himself back to the top, inflicting a smarting $200,000 loss over just two hours of play.

Negreanu’s winning streak, it seems, has come to an end in what is a wild high-stakes game with poker fans constantly on their toes. Polk did have some reasons for concern there. Negreanu pulled ahead in the very first game with a six-figure advantage, but then Polk followed up with $387,000 advantage in just two days, before the scales tipped in the way of Daniel once again.

His winning streak, though, was cut short on Friday, November 20, when Polk rallied magnificently, to secure himself a small, but comfortable lead and make us once again ask the question who the better player is. Yet, as the game progresses, not even the players seem to know any more.

Negreanu and Polk’s Respect for Each Other Grows

Having a beef over the Internet is one thing, but playing face to face is another matter, and Polk and Negreanu seem to understand this. While many expected that the players would come into the series all quippy, they remained respectable.

In fact, both players spoke fondly of each other – to a professional degree – and paid their respects for the opponent. As it turns out, when you play poker on the same level they do, you sooner or later realize that there is at least one person who is just as good as you are.

As a result of the Friday’s game, Polk is now ahead with $26,000 to his name, a good lead but one that is hardly going to last when the players are playing $200/$400 poker. The series is far from over, too, which is good news for poker aficionados.

Both players will play at least 12,500 hands out of 25,000 planned ones, with 4,000 hands already clocked. Negreanu has seemed confident about his chances to win, not because Polk is not a worthy opponent, but rather because Daniel’s own ability to play the game allows him to deliver great plays.

Speaking to Jeff Platt and Brent Hanks, Polk was quite happy with his opponent and said that he had found a new respect for the man he exchanged so many stern words with in the past.

While some players were miffed at the fact that Polk and Negreanu would not have an all-out verbal conflict on camera, many rejoiced at the opportunity to see two of poker’s most iconic players mend fences.

Sure, there have been a few interesting incidents, but nothing has been able to quite upset the game. ‘High Stakes Feud’ continues, and as Polk put it on Friday after the match, it’s anyone’s game at the moment.

The event will be starting back up on Monday, so you better ready yourself for another action-packed session of heads-up no-limit hold’em poker.