In what might be the most anticipated High Stakes Duel match of them all, Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk will rematch on the PokerGO heads-up show starting with the $200,000 pot round in August.
The official date hasn’t been determined, but it will take within weeks following the conclusion of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP). Negreanu defeated Eric Persson in Round 1 of High Stakes Duel 4 back in May, a $50,000-per-player buy-in, but his opponent declined a rematch.
“DNegs” won his first match on the heads-up poker show for the first time in four tries. He lost three consecutive games to Phil Hellmuth in 2021 before the winner cashed out. High Stakes Duel’s structure calls for the stakes to be doubled each round, starting with $100,000 and potentially all the way up to $12.8 million if the players are willing to go that far.
Since Negreanu won Round 1 against Persson, he automatically advanced to Round 2. Although the replacement player is different, Polk is a familiar opponent for the Poker Hall of Famer.
Three years ago, the then bitter rivals battled in one of the most highly publicized heads-up challenges in poker history, but all but the first session took place online. Polk would go on to win the 25,000-hand battle at $200/$400 no-limit hold’em stakes by $1.2 million.
More Competitive in Rematch?
This time around, the structure and mood will be quite different. That’s because High Stakes Duel uses a sit-n-go format, and the competitors no longer despise each other and are now friends.
Polk, who gained respect for his opponent during that highly-publicized competition, is considered one of the best heads-up poker players of all-time. Negreanu, on the other hand, had minimal heads-up cash game experience when the two faced off. But Polk admits the rising blinds structure on High Stakes Duel minimizes his edge.
For now, however, Negreanu will continue to be focused on the World Series of Poker. He’s attempting to end a 10-year drought without a bracelet. After losing $1.1 million last summer at the WSOP, he’s down more than $800,000 this year at about the two-thirds mark in the series. Polk competed in just one event — Event #8: $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship — and took second place for $313,362. He did, however, lose nearly $1 million days prior on Hustler Casino Live’s historic $1 million buy-in game.
