It started with Negreanu’s tirade
Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu and retired poker pro Doug Polk appear to be on their way to a heads-up grudge match. The two have been going back and forth on Twitter for a couple days, egged on by Joey Ingram, and seem to be close to an agreement on terms.
The contest was born out of Negreanu’s recent blowup on his live stream during the 2020 World Series of Poker online. During Event #24: $400 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed, a viewer apparently typed something offensive about Negreanu’s wife in chat, prompting Negreanu to verbally lay into him live on camera:
Hey, Tom Estrada, go f**k yourself, you piece of s**t,” he began.” “Block that c**k motherf*****g piece of s**t. F**k you, f**k you, f**k you in your ass. How about that? Okay, Tom Estrada, f**k you in your ass. Eat some of that, you piece of s**t. Come f*****g step to me and say that and I will knock you the f**k out. How about that?
He added, “I will break your f*****g teeth if you come step to me and I will feed ‘em to you anally.”
Twitch, one of the platforms on which Negreanu broadcasts his poker play, has suspended his account.
On Monday, Negreanu issued a “non-apology apology” during his live stream, reading a sarcastic prepared statement about his threats of violence.
Ingram was the catalyst
Polk, who was considered one of the best poker players in the world during his professional playing days, has had a beef with Negreanu for a few years. Polk criticized Negreanu for his Friday tirade and fanned the flames by creating a short video in which he edited Negreanu’s Masterclass commercial with parts of his expletive-laced rant. The video has since been taken down by YouTube.
Ingram told the two men that they should settle their differences on the felt. Polk said he was willing, wanting to play four simultaneous tables of No-Limit Hold’em up to 25,000 hands. Negreanu seemed interested, but wanted to negotiate the terms. He did not like that it was only NLH, as that is Polk’s specialty, and having it online also might have put Negreanu at a disadvantage.
Polk conceded some ground, saying he would do two tables, one No-Limit Hold’em and one a game of Negreanu’s choice. Negreanu came back and seemed to accept $200/$400 NLH on both tables, between 10,000 and 25,000 hands.
Polk also wants both players to livestream their play with cards showing on a delay, but Negreanu said that he needs to think about that and consult his coach, Phil Hellmuth.
In addition to his surprising display of hostility on Friday that led to his Twitch ban, Negreanu also lost his head earlier in the 2020 WSOP Online when he repeatedly lost his connection to WSOP.com. Both blowups have overshadowed a successful WSOP so far for the Hall of Famer. Through 28 events on WSOP.com, he has cashed 15 times for almost $37,000.