Can Doug Polk Get Unstuck Lifetime on Poker Livestreams in Epic Sunday Session?
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Last week, Doug Polk revealed that he's been a losing player lifetime in livestreamed ring games by around $400,000. On Sunday, the Upswing Poker founder won big in a marathon session at The Lodge Card Club. But was it big enough to get unstuck?
Not only did Polk book a sizable profit, Nikhil "Nik Airball" Arcot redeemed himself after a 20-minute tank on The Lodge stream Saturday night by winning over $380,000 the following day. "Taras," who rarely misses a big game stream at the Texas poker room, was the biggest winner of the night, ending the session up $387,800, thanks in large part to a $607,000 pot he won against "Tesla," another popular player on the show.
Tesla may have overplayed top pair, perhaps due to being tilted from an already rough session. After Taras three-bet to $60,000 with K?K? on a flop of 8?Q?6?, Tesla moved all in for $292,600 with K?Q?, and received a call, creating a 1,500 big blind pot with the blinds at $200/$400. Both players agreed to run the turn and river twice, and the kings held up on each runout. Tesla left the game down $615,000.
Polk Looks to Even the Score
Polk, a co-owner of The Lodge, has always been up and down when playing livestreamed ring games. In a recent tweet, the heads-up poker legend explained that he struggles most with "having to think about what my opponent has," a contrast to heads-up no-limit hold'em, which he said "you don't really have to think so much about what someone has nearly as often."
On Sunday, he burst out to an early sizable profit, scooping a number of pots in the high stakes cash game. A few hours into the session he was up nearly $350,000. Part of Polk's rise to nearly getting unstuck lifetime on livestreams was due to a fortunate river card (and a wise value raise) against, who else, Tesla.
On a board of 8?K?9?4?, Polk called an $11,000 bet with 3?2?. The 5? on the river completed his flush. Tesla, holding K?6?, bet $25,000. hoping to get value from his top pair and weak kicker. His opponent, however, raised him all in for $118,200, and he couldn't find a fold. In fact, he barely took any time to think through the hand, making the call just a few seconds after the raise.
The rest of the session was mostly downhill for Polk, but he still secured a $185,000 profit, trimming off about half of his estimated lifetime ring game livestream losses.
Hustler Casino Live Crew Represents in Texas
There was a strong Hustler Casino Live contingent on The Lodge stream Sunday night, with co-owner Ryan Feldman and Nik Airball both in action.
Feldman, who lost over $200,000 in a recent Hustler Casino Live stream, came out firing on all cylinders. At one point, he'd built up a profit of around $250,000. It seemed at the time as if flying out to Texas to compete was going to be quite a profitable decision. But then it all came crumbling down.
With $51,000 in the middle on a board of A?J?10?2?8?, Airball put him all in with A?7?, the nut flush, for $185,300 effective. Feldman, who rivered a straight with Q?9?, tanked for a minute before throwing in the call only to find out the bad news. On a positive note, he'd finish the session up $12,750, but a far cry from his position earlier in the game.
"Terrible call," Feldman admitted on X.
Airball, on the other hand, booked one of his largest livestream wins in months. Beyond the big pot he took against Feldman, he made a brilliant play against Polk in another entertaining hand.
The hand begun with Polk straddling with K?K? before "Bulldog," in the cutoff, made it $2,000 with K?9?. Feldman called on the button with 6?3?, as did Airball in the big blind with 5?5?. Polk then went for a three-bet to $14,000, receiving a call only from the small pocket pair.
The flop came out 2?9?Q?, no improvement for either player. After Airball checked, he'd call a bet of $11,000 to see the 8? on the turn, to which both players checked. When the 7? appeared on the river, action checked to Polk, who bet $38,000 looking for maximum value. But his opponent decided to turn pocket fives into a bluff and check-raised all in for $139,800.
"Nik, I feel like you're bluffing me," Polk told Airball as he pondered his decision.
Despite his instincts being correct, Polk eventually folded the best hand, surrendering the $232,000 pot. The stream was one of the most entertaining in The Lodge history. Each month, the Texas card room hosts one or two high stakes livestreams, which always attracts a large audience on YouTube.
