Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu's High-Stakes Poker Match: A Month of Preparation

In February 2021, poker players Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu played a high-stakes heads-up match. The match was initially proposed by Mori Eskandani, who suggested it would be a grand event. Doug Polk initially did not believe Daniel Negreanu would accept the challenge but was surprised when Negreanu agreed.

The match was supposed to be played on GG Poker but legal issues forced it to be moved to WSOP.com. This change significantly reduced the appeal of the match for Negreanu, who had to learn to play heads-up poker again, as he hadn't played one-on-one since his match with Ivey.

Doug Polk was concerned about the match being postponed or canceled. He proposed playing two games, with the second game chosen by Daniel Negreanu. However, Negreanu considered playing Stud Hi-Lo or Pot-Limit Omaha but ultimately decided against it, opting to focus solely on No-Limit Hold'em. Negreanu had to unlearn everything he knew about No-Limit Hold'em and start from scratch for the match, a process that took several weeks.