Daniel Negreanu's momentum is gone after Doug Polk dominated on Wednesday for a $119,609 win over 600 hands. The GGPoker ambassador is now deep in a hole with minimal time to make up the deficit.
Day 27 was a rough one for Negreanu, and not only because he lost a ton of money. He had all the momentum on his side coming into the day having won five straight sessions. The Poker Hall of Famer had erased half of a $950,000 deficit. So much for that.
Wednesday's session was much like the majority of this 25,000-hand heads-up grudge match. Polk dominated at the start, then dominated at the end. In the middle, however, Negreanu held the edge. But he still left the virtual felt on WSOP.com with a massive loss.
Polk jumped out to a $175,000 lead on Day 27 in just one hour. He won numerous big pots, including a $100,000 cooler hand with pocket aces against Negreanu's pocket queens. On top of that, he hit numerous flushes, which Negreanu complained about in his GGPoker YouTube post-match interview.
“He made so many f-----g hands,” Negreanu said. “He made so many f-----g flushes, he’s really good at that.”
It wasn't just flushes that Polk hit to bust out to a big lead. He won his fair share of pots pre-flop also, four and five-betting successfully on multiple occasions, which helped him bounce out to a massive early advantage.
Negreanu didn't just roll over and quit, however. He came storming back quickly and had nearly erased a four buy-in deficit in a matter of an hour. The momentum started swinging in his direction for the first time during the session.
In one hand, Negreanu took down a $90,000 pot with pocket kings against Polk's A-K (all-in pre-flop). At one point, it appeared Negreanu might end up winning the session as he had all the momentum on his side.
But Polk is one tough cookie in heads-up no-limit hold'em. He became the best heads-up NLH player in the world years ago for a reason. And he proved his abilities yet again on Wednesday.
Negreanu's run of good fortune was short lived. Polk regained control of the match and absolutely dominated the final hour or so. Sure, he hit some big hands. But he also got maximum value on his marginal and big hands, arguably the toughest skill in poker.
In one hand, he won a $53,000 pot with pocket jacks after applying pressure, and getting a call, on the river. The nine-high board was good enough for jacks. We don't know Negreanu's holding in that hand because his cards weren't exposed.
The session concluded after about three hours of play and 600 hands dealt. Polk, who had nearly blown a $175,000 lead early, finished up with a $119,609 profit. His lead is back up to $603,683 through 15,850 hands. The poker pros have 9,150 hands remaining before wrapping this grudge match up.
The massive loss was devastating for Negreanu, who will now have a difficult time erasing a 15 buy-in deficit before the match concludes. They'll be back at it at 2:30 pm PT on Friday for Day 28.
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