Late $500k Pot Bails Doug Polk Out From Massive Loss During Epic Poker Stream
One monster pot turned around a brutal session for Doug Polk during a marathon Sunday live-stream at the poker room he co-owns, The Lodge Card Club near Austin, Texas.
The Upswing Poker founder found himself deep in the hole, down nearly $200,000, about eight hours into the $100/$200 ($200 big blind ante) game, desperately in search of a bail-out hand. Luck arrived and he went from the biggest loser in the game to the biggest winner in a matter of seconds.
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One of the Biggest Poker Hands Ever at The Lodge
Late in the nearly nine-hour stream, Polk was all in with Q♣10♣ for over $100,000 on a flop of 9♥8♦Q♦ against the 8♠8♥ the bigger stacked Tesla held. Both players agreed to run it twice, and the first board came 10♠ on the turn and then 5♣ on the river, nice and clean for the flopped set.
But the J♠ river on the second board gave Polk a straight to chop the $307,000 pot, avoiding complete disaster in what had already been a rough session. The luck didn't stop there for the three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner against the same opponent. This time around, however, the pot was even bigger, and he'd win it all.
From the cutoff, Tesla raised to $3,000 with A♥5♥, only receiving a call from Polk, who had 3♥3♦ in the small blind. The flop came 3♣J♠4♦, and the preflop raiser continued for $5,000 with a gut-shot straight draw before facing a check-raise to $15,000 from bottom set.
Tesla, with over $250,000 when the hand began, made the call to see an unhelpful 10♣ on the turn. Polk didn't check this time, and instead went for a $47,000 bet, larger than the size of the pot. Feeling ambitious with a straight draw, Tesla moved all in for $236,625 effective. Polk snap-called, creating a pot of $509,550.
Both players decided to run the river twice, but the 10♥ on the first river followed by the K♦ shipped Polk the second largest pot in The Lodge live-stream history. Coincidentally, he lost the first one in a failed bluff attempt during a massive losing session last month. That pot went for $707,800, quite a bit more than the one he won on Sunday.
The monster pot Polk scooped changed everything for the card room's co-owner. He'd gone from being down at one point nearly $200,000 and finished the session up $182,625, the biggest winner in the game. As for Tesla, he went from being down a bunch to being down a whole lot more — $451,150.
Prior to the $500k pot, Polk had lost quite a few big pots, some with failed bluff attempts. But in one hand, he flopped trip kings with AxKx and lost to runner-runner straight. It just wasn't his night, until the end, and the end result is all that matters in poker.
The Lodge, Texas' largest poker room (82 card tables), has built one of the most popular live-streams in poker with 166,000 YouTube subscribers. Once a month, the show hosts a super high stakes game that features some prominent players. This week, Polk was joined by high-stakes players such as Xuan Liu (-$25,350) and poker vlogger Mariano Grandoli (+$119,950). You can watch the entire Sunday night stream below.
