Sick Bluff! Doug Polk Gets Owned by Drunk on 'Poker at the Lodge'
Being the owner of the poker room doesn't make one exempt from getting owned by an inebriated opponent. Just ask Doug Polk, who couldn't pull the trigger on a call with ace-high in an exciting hand on Poker at the Lodge.
The Upswing Poker founder is a co-owner of The Lodge Card Club in Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of Austin. He's also a regular on Poker at the Lodge, the poker room's live-streamed show, which airs five nights a week on YouTube.
Ace-high battles ace-high
During a recent stream, Polk tangled in a hand against a player who is appropriately named "Action Adam," Both players held ace-high and hoped to pair up, hit a straight, or make a hand that would win them a sizable pot. Neither hand improved, but one player did make an impressive play.
Action folded to the card room owner in the first straddle who just limped for $175 total with A♦K♥, hoping to induce a raise from the second straddle. The plan worked to perfection as Action Adam, with A♣10♠, bumped it up to $525. Polk then three-bet it to $2,500 and received a call.
With a stack of over $32,000, easily covering his opponent, Polk bet $1,400 on a flop of 3♠Q♠2♣ and his opponent came along for the ride. The turn was the 4♠, giving both players a gutter-ball and Action Adam a flush draw, but the action went check-check to the river, which was the Q♥.
Again, neither player improved, but this is where aggression in no-limit Texas hold'em pays off. Polk checked the river and then his opponent moved all in for $9,700 into a pot of about $8,000.
Action Adam hadn't played the hand like he had a queen, and with the board paired, that's a strong bet with a flush. But Polk, holding two red cards, didn't block any flush draws, so he could have been considering his opponent was simply over-betting with a flush on a paired board.
The player facing the large bet had a tough decision with just ace-high, but it was obvious by how long he took to ponder his decision — about four minutes — that his instincts were telling him that his hand was likely good.
In the end, the co-owner of The Lodge Mahal couldn't pull the trigger on a call and folded his exposed cards. Action Adam, of course, made sure to show the bluff, letting it be known that he skillfully won a heads up pot on a bluff against one of the best heads up players of all-time.
That said, when all was said and done for the five-hour stream, Polk still ended up winning over $15,000. As for Action Adam, he lost more than $40,000. Go figure.
