Doug Polk Has One Firummynal Opponent in Online Poker Challenge

Table Of Contents

• Loudmouth Poker Player Wants a Piece of Heads-Up Legend
• Code Doug Challenge Daily Results

Doug Polk's chances of winning his $100,000-in-a-month online poker challenge comes down to one final match on Saturday against the trash-talking Eric Persson.

The YouTube and Twitch livestream will begin at 11 a.m. CT on ClubWPT Gold, and it is the last battle in what has been an up-and-down 30-day "Code Doug" challenge. Persson will step into the pseudo-"End Boss" role for Polk, who appeared to have a slim to none shot at achieving his goal just a few days ago. But the near-$50,000 deficit transformed into a five-figure profit last week, leaving open the possibility for victory.

Loudmouth Poker Player Wants a Piece of Heads-Up Legend

Polk lost $5,700 on Thursday, the 26th session of the challenge, bringing his cumulative profits down to $18,652. He won't stream on Friday, and must win exactly $81,348 on Saturday to hit the $100k mark before time expires.

The Lodge Card Club co-owner's odds of winning the challenge have grown recently, but there are a couple of obstacles in his way, namely a motivated opponent who likely will only play for a couple of hours. Polk will need to win just over four $20,000 buy-ins at $100/$200 no-limit hold'em stakes in a short period of time.

The good news for Polk is that his opponent is heavily bankrolled and plays fast, loose, and aggressive. But variance will come into play in what is expected to be a relatively quick match. One brutal bad beat or two could end his chances of not only failing to win the "Code Doug" challenge, but also finishing the challenge in the red.

Persson, owner of Maverick Gaming, has been a regular for years in some of the highest stakes cash games in the world. He's considered a recreational player by top pros, but he does have some heads-up experience, most notably the 2022 PokerGO Tour Heads-Up Showdown where he infamously taunted, beat, and flipped the bird to Phil Hellmuth.

Persson introduced himself to the mainstream poker world during that heads-up tournament. He's since appeared on shows such as Hustler Casino Liveand High Stakes Poker, and he's never been one to shy away from confrontation at the table or opportunities to talk trash with his opponents. Prior to Saturday's match, Persson was in regular form popping off to his upcoming opponent.

https://twitter.com/IAmMaverick888/status/1908185751373898046

"I promise you one thing, there is no scenario where Doug Polk is going to win the $100k challenge. I am going to beat his a**, or I'm going to get my a** beat trying," Persson said in a brief video on X.

The loser of the heads-up match will face a punishment in the form of being forced to drive a beater car for a month this summer. Polk, the newest ClubWPT Gold ambassador, has even more at stake as he's vowed to shave his head or dye it blond if he doesn't finish the challenge in the black. He's also giving away $100,000 to those who sign-up on the sweepstakes poker site using "Code Doug," $90,000 disbursed evenly and $10,000 to one winner.

Polk will spend Friday afternoon playing some live heads-up poker instead of online at ClubWPT Gold. He'll compete in a $50/$100 match at the Texas poker club he co-owns, The Lodge Card Club, against Taras, a regular in the big games on Poker at the Lodge. The match begins at 3 p.m. CT.

Should Polk win the $100k challenge, it would go down as one of the largest comebacks in publicly viewed online poker bankroll challenge history, but not even close to the biggest. That title goes to Phil Galfond, who trailed "Venividi1993" by nearly $1 million at one point in a 25,000-hand pot-limit Omaha contest in 2019-2020 dubbed the "Galfond Challenge," before rallying to win.

Code Doug Challenge Daily Results