Twenty-five thousand hands are in the books, and Doug Polk might still be counting all the money he won against Daniel Negreanu. After all, takes a long time to get to $1.2 million, to say nothing of the dough he won in crossbooks and side bets.
But while Polk was a clear winner in the match, there may been a less clear winner: Negreanu himself.
How could a guy who just lost seven figures, to his rival nonetheless, be a winner? Well, it requires zooming out a bit. But first, it's instructive to look back at the early portion of the match.