Douglas "WCGRider" Polk

Legendary heads up playur with a complicated personality, author of a popular Youtube channel and founder of the Upswing Poker training website.

It's hard to imagine a poker player who has never heard of Doug Polk: the American has risen from micro-limits to high-stakes, won millions of dollars and three WSOP bracelets, and runs one of the most popular poker YouTube channels. But it was the one-on-one battles that really made him famous.

The highest earner in cash games in 2012 was Ben "Sauce123" Sulsky, a GTO proponent and strongest theoretician. The following year they met in heads-up play and Sulsky didn't stand a chance - Polk won over 37 buy-ins ($750,000 + $100,000 side bet) in 15,000 hands. After such a serious one-on-one challenge to Doug, only intrepid madmen of Victor Blom's calibre would challenge him.

It is difficult to overestimate Polk's contribution into popularisation of poker - more than 300,000 people are subscribed to his Youtube-channel (only Negreanu has more), and the Upswing Poker website created by him has published hundreds of training videos and articles.

WCGRider himself admitted at one point that the game no longer gives him pleasure and even announced the end of his professional career, but things turned out differently: in 2020 he returned to play Daniel Negreanu and put an end to their long-running conflict. Doug won the duel and $1,200,000.

Famous quotes

I called myself the best in heads-up play because I play the best. My words are backed up by my results this year and my interaction with the top players in the discipline. I take responsibility for my words and can confirm them at the poker table. It's actually strange that I defeated Ben Sulsky in heads-up play, but that one didn't convince anyone.

I've played a lot of heads-up games, so I'm familiar with variance. During an upswing there's a feeling that you just can't lose. And when you finish down every session, you start to forget that you can win sometimes. The perception changes dramatically.

I have no natural talent for the game and I respect those who have it. But I have always put in more work than others. I'm great at figuring out how things work and sticking to the plan until I get a result.