Poker professionals come and go. Some leave a mark, others step out of the competitive scene bringing home a solid sum and are neve heard of again. However, Doug Polk is too big a name to just slip out in the shadows without the community noticing. And yes, Polk is officially retiring from the game. So what other pursuits does he have in mind then?
Time for a Time-Out
And so, the three-time WSOP wonderkid has taken his adieux from the beautiful game. And we don’t mean soccer, but poker! Doug Polk has thought that it’s time to move onto new pastures and leave his mark there. He took to his YouTube podcast and spoke about his decision to call it a day on poker.
We did it pic.twitter.com/jNq3xy9EtQ
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkPoker) August 23, 2018
Definitely a loss to the community, we cannot be entirely surprised by Doug’s decision as he managed to complete his $100-to-$100,000 challenge, which took him two years to accomplish. As he has, he has reiterated on multiple occasions his rather sceptical view of the game, saying that he is now bored with it. Of course, Polk didn’t mean to say that the game itself had lost its fun element in general. It just didn’t work for him anymore.
His disappearance from the competitive segment is not abrupt either. He pulled out of felt action over time and hasn’t been seen recently. So, this should have been our first clue in the very least.
But if you are hopeful to see Doug come back and dominate the world of poker again, there is some hoping still. A number of players, including the legendary Vanessa Selbst, a poker professional through and through, has returned shortly after she had announced her retirement.
From the Felt to the Cameras
Doug has been allocating a lot of time on his podcast in recent times. Even then, he has been quite the threat at the felt. You definitely won’t remember him for being particularly boisterous at the felt. No, his style is cool, calculating complexity, which enables him to pursue one victory after the other quite happy with the results, and more often than not – completely right.
The news that he’s stepping down from the game could be actually glad tidings to some, albeit the competition has grown so much in recent years that there must be dozens of Polk-like players lurking on the fringes right now.
Is he quite so likely to stay away from the felt? Nobody can truly say. Polk has poker in his blood. It’s part of his very essence. His casts have been particularly helpful to rookies and pros alike, not to mention their amusement value. Polk has also made headlines by conditionally agreeing to box Fernando Habegger over unsettled wager.
It was poker beef taken to the next level quite frankly. In any event, Polk is now beyond duelling over his poker honor. However, given his history with the game, it’s quite likely that he will be returning – sooner or later. And let’s face it – this is what we are all hoping for, more or less.
