Because your name is Polk, and that sounds like poker, ever considered calling this series "Doug's Hands"?

I like the name Poker Hands, because you discuss poker hands so its pretty clear what the video will be about. Well done.

Folding is not GTO. But to exploit Mr. Nit Vayo there, you can find a hero fold. Would have been great.

Josephy made himself look like such an ass when he had his wife bring him the cap and dark glasses, and suddenly tried to start intimidating Qui ... but it backfired spectacularly. Should have put his ego to one side and carried on doing what he'd been doing throughout the tourney. Also, I was glad to see him get beat just because he'd behaved so unprofessionally towards Kassouf earlier - trying to get all the other players to gang up on him; even telling one of the other guys: "we're all on the same team here!" That, buddy, is called collusion...

James Obst would fold on that turn

i dont know how i clicked this gaming video or who this guy is, but he should definitely change the name to polker hands

Doug I love this series, you are very good at what you do. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. I just have one suggestion, have you ever considered calling this series "Poke Her Hands?" Thank you.

Doug, have you considered calling these Polker Hands?

I was so happy that Ngyuen won. This was one of the most unlikeable final tables ever.

Just want to say thanks for doing these. It's really great to have poker explained and analyzed at this level... I can't stop watching.

What a heartbreaker that hand was. I was there that night as one of those railing Cliff Josephy, part of “Team Bax” among the on-stage audience standing in the background at the Penn & Teller theater. With everything on the line as it were I *think* I *may* have found the strength to fold to that all-in and wait for a better spot. The idea of a 5 6, in that situation, was just too big a possibility, and sets don’t always win. Thanks for the great analysis Doug.

Polker hands with Doug Polk at the World Series of Polker :-)

Very, very tough spot on that turn after he gets reraised. It's three-handed, any set should be nuts, but when he gets reraised given the way hand was played, and especially when the reraiser is player as tight as Gordon Vayo was at that final table, he actually can't beat literally any valuebet. He could only hope Vayo has something like Ad6d, or even Ad5d, and he could win if he hits his full house on the river. I won't lie and pretend I'm James Obst, I'd probably never fold there.

Shout out to the notification squad!

Love the series Doug, ever considered naming it Polker Hands as a funny pun instead of Poker? Since your surname is Polk and stuff. Just a suggestion

Strong analysis as always. I don't think Josephy gave himself enough time to evaluate. Thanks Doug

Just found your channel Doug! Keep up the good work mate. I would say you may have started something here that we will see a lot more from pro's in the future. This channel will be massive if you keep up this content. Extremely informative and at times very funny, even for a seasoned player like myself. You can tell you know your stuff and its good to finally have someone who has played at the highest level and succeeded give there unbiased opinion. Well played

Josephy taking his time swiveling his head and those shades is absolute crack tilt

I know it's nearly impossible to fold a set but if we really put deep thought into how this hand played out, what is Vayo check, shoving all in on the turn vs 2 opponents who have shown a lot of strength (especially from Josephy) when Vayo has been playing so nitty on this final table. Josephy needs to find a fold here but only great players can find a fold here...

Doug, have you considered renaming this series to GTO Turkey Bathroom Bonanza?

Hey Doug. Recent subscriber, really liking the quality of your content. Curious, when you're at the table in similar situations to these hands you analze, what extent of this analysis you're providing would you say you're able to get through "in the moment." Is 100% of what you discuss in these analyses what you're able to figure out in the actual hand, or do you often find in retrospect there's quite a bit to take notice of that in the moment you were perhaps a bit blind to? Also, as someone that for now sticks to grinding the $1/$2 tables online, do you have any general advice, as putting people on hands and expecting such rational play like you can from most the pros you analyze isn't as sure of a thing where I am? Thanks!

It's also curious if the bet by Josephy is good in the first place? He can't really be bluffing here now can he? Maybe a hand like 45 or 55 or maybe 66 can be bluffing? What are you trying to get Vayo to fold, a KJ or KQ type hand? This whole hand has such a weird dynamic with such strong and defined ranges all around.

How sick would Qui nguyen be if he had 44 or A5 and just ended the tourney right here? woulda saved us 8 hours of our lives...

To me, with hindsight, it really looks like a clean fold. Doug nailed it: Pocket deuces is really the very bottom end of the betting range on the turn. So, Vayo`s check-raise looks insanely strong, especially on this ultra-dry board, after the preflop and flop action. Actually, already the overcall on the flop signals good top pair or better; or maaaybe 54s. - The only question to me is whether Vayo ever holds KQ here. And, one even has to consider that Vayo shipped with Nguyen still in the hand.

thanks again for the commentary, the breakdown, how you put your opponent now on actual hands, after starting with a range, why they pretty much HAVE to have what you think they have... and how you can make an argument for the hero fold.. Josephy had enough chips to get back in the game. 30+ BB ( total bet per round ).. with what he had left.. he could have gotten right back in it. instead... boom... great play by play, loved Antonio calling the flop, and how he seems to foretell whats going on as well..

The polker hands comments are getting old, what are you guys a bunch of 12 year olds?

Really awesome series Doug. Keep doing the great work! I hit the like button before even watching the video.

"I guess I lean towards maybe three-betting" ... lol, I couldn't see that coming, Doug Polk.

Hey Doug, love your channel keep it up. Can you make video about the hand from WSOP where Mark Newhouse clash with Morgenstern 22vAJs on 2AA3x .. i think this crazy of a hand with many mistakes made(imo) should make for a great video! Thx and bigups

Question for Doug/anyone else interested: If you were in Vayo's shoes, and you flat-called the turn, how would you play the river? And would this vary, depending on what the river is?

This is a small piece of the puzzle, but another thing interesting about this hand is that Cliff has the 2 of diamonds AND Vayo has the 3 of diamonds, so each of them can remove prime bluff and semibluff candidates from each others range. Cliff knows Vayo cant have A2 of diamonds, and in a tight range spot like this where every combo counts, that could in theory make it a small percentage easier to fold, if that's the route you're thinking of going. Crazy hand either way!

Doug, if you were in Vayo spot you said you lean towards calling, but then what would you do on the river? Checking and risking getting checked behind and losing value? The shove is the only good option in my opinion.

Ok, great GTO analysis and all, but you failed to mention one key element. The most important piece of info to get this hand right (from Josephy's perspective): Vayo was playing Rock Solid Poker. There's no way in hell he was shoving light there, he either has you crushed (33>22) or semi-crushed (A5s, 65s) & you got 10 outs for the beat. And considering he was playing so tight, it is very unlikely he gets to the Turn with A5s or 65s, he might´ve called pre because of pot odds. But he most definitely wouldn't ve called with the Gutshot OOP, not the way he was folding/playing hands. In a standard scenario it's a pretty tough Hero Fold, vs Mr. Vayo Rock Solid Image, it was a Crying/No Way I Am Good Fold. My 2 cents.

Were these WSOP videos taken down for a while? I’ve been looking for them. Because I LOVE them. Edit: still coming back a year later. All loosey goosey eating a sandwich. 🥪 🦢

I agree with everything. Vayo should be folding pre, because of how face-up this plays when he does flop a set being the main point of this video I think. As others have said, you're only getting better at making these videos. Keep 'em coming...

Great video bro. These hand analysis videos are GTO. keep up the great work.

James Obst would have fold it :)

22 is a correct fold more often than most people think preflop in NL, the reverse implied odds are the highest among all PP, the reverse implied odds might even be worse than a hand like 78s. And on boards like this a set of dueces is like the best bluff catching hand. It's very standard to check call this hand to the river.

Have you ever considered calling these analysis videos "Selbst's Hands?"

Doug, i subscribe very very rarely (i mean you are only the second channel i subscribe), but i really enjoy what you do here on this channel, keep going, and i hope to see you live on european live tournament one day :D

Man begging for a one outer is pathetic. Why would you lower yourself to that? "It's coming." what a joke.

Hi Doug, Loving your content here, how strong does the board have to look before you start jamming the pot to protect your set?

Vayo should fold on the turn, that way the strength of his hands is disguised. There's no way Josephy would have put him on the set.

Given that the straight came in, bottom set is probably only a bluff catcher, so I guess, you could argue for a fold. But that being said, Vayo just got extremely lucky to hit this perfect situation at a critical point of time. In a 3-handed game the chance for a player to get involved in a set over set situation on the flop (good or bad) is somewhere around 1: 10.000.

Have you considered calling these 'Poker Dougs'?

Calls Insta snap response "i knew he had it" nice call bro

was that richard nixon in the thumbnail?

so basically Vayo's strategy was to play only sets, and hope the opponent has good bluff hand and stacks of to him or has a lower set? good strat, I have to try it sometimes...with my low level of play this could be the thing that makes me winning player at penny stakes...also how about check calling and check calling river jam..letting him bluff with some hands, keeping the king in your range makes him value bet all his sets(+there's not a lot of river where Josephy is like OMG that hit him I rather check it back with 22), whereas when you raise you kick out your kings you don't have any bluffs (you have to be really high level to choose to bluff here with 55, maybe doug would do it, but 1) I don't think Vayo ever calls the flop with 55 and bluffing here is even less likely) and he might fold 22 and of course all his bluffs...

Why would vayo call the flop with 44-66? Wouldn't he just be blocking air from Josephy's range and likely to get knocked off his hand regardless being oop vs 2 players? you mentioned him having those hands a lot on the turn so I wish you spoke a bit more about it on the flop, surely it's not solely for the purpose of having weak hands that turned straight draws in your range to bluff with when you do have a set?

pre flop 22 shouldve mucked facing a 3 bet + a person to act behind

He played it like a set. They cannot fold hands, these guys

You said something about the implied odds being different due to the fact that they were all deep and this was the final table. How do implied odds change? Wouldn't they be the same regardless of stacks, ect? You either have good odds or bad ones right? Anyway thanks for the channel -- your analysis is very good and more importantly entertaining (not mired down in game theory, ect).

Maybe Vayos shove is bad too? What if he opens the window here for Josephy to fold all worse hands and only continue with better?

Hi Doug, love the show. If I could make one suggestion - call it Polker Hands! So catchy and funny

hey doug great video, ever think of changing your "polker news series" to "poker news" considering it's about poker and poker is so close to polk. be a great name

Doug how often do see two queen of clubs on the flop, like whats the %. :D Also wanted to add that it was obvious Vayo had 33's I knew it right when I saw the hole card images. Lastly can I have $5.

How do I avoid getting stacked set over set?

I just can't think of a other hand that a tight player like Vayo could have. With the folds he was making at the final table I don't think he is ever calling with fives on the flop oop.

the final day started off so hype!

Is Josephy correct in calling big reraise by Ngyuen preflop with 22 when there is another player to act behind him?

Is this a sneak peak of the "Polker hands" series that is coming soon?

He was Vayo head on the turn :)

Its the fact he plays against probably the most tight player on the final table it is probably a fold... But even when vayo has a straight you still have a 23% of winning the hand if the board pairs. Considering its Vayo he is playing against he is almost never going to call the flop with A4, A5 or 56, because hes a very tight player. So what else could he have? You cant really put him on AK given the preflop action. Obviously its easier to talk when you see the cards, but i honestly think this is worth a fold.

Ok not to hate on Vayo too much he can obviously play. I remember watching a FT he was at in an Earlier WSOp from like 2012-2014 where he was the most aggro player at the table so maybe the spot got to him?

What happened to the "DONT FOLD SETS" talk?

Josephy had a lot of well known supporters.. I was surprised by that

Shaun Deeb sitting there like "are you kidding me?!"

This is just SICK!-Daniel Negreanu

As tight as vayo been playing how can you call? Obvious vayo doesn't do this allin with anything less than 2 pair imo he only has sets in his range. Aces or kings would be 4-5 bet preflop

What was this shot with?

Hey Doug I had this wacky idea of calling this series ''Polker hands'' instead of Poker hands because your last name happens to be POLK and that is incredibly similar to POKER :-O Kappa Nice vid btw :-)

During your post flop analysis, you mention a lot of hands that you would continue through the flop with, including several off suited high card combos (K/J,Q/10, etc). Now I know that Nguyen plays into this flop with off suited high cards but you already touched on that being an iffy move because of how likely it is that he can get outclassed by a better pocket(Q/10, A/K, etc). I mean I might be reading too much into this, and I am an amateur player so I definitely defer to your judgement regarding this, hence why Im posting the comment in the first place. But aren't you contradicting yourself a bit by saying preflop that A/J off is a weak pocket, and then coming back and saying several other off suited high card combos have a lot of play-ability post flop? Now granted Nguyen isn't a traditional poker player in the way he enters a lot of hands, and plays his flops, (kinda Tom Dwan-ish from my perspective), and yes the flop drops a cowboy, but that still puts a lot of the off suited hands you mentioned in an odd place (Q/10 and such) doesn't it? I know I must be missing something, but I cant see what it is, any help here is appreciated. Cheers on the videos, I've learned a lot watching them.

i agree u can argue a fold is attainable but u never discussed the fact that vayo is a super-nit relative to the other players at this final table (not just 3 handed, the whole time). u can hear josephy on the rail saying "last night he folded that hand in sb but tonight he flatted" which verifies that cliff KNOWS vayo is super nitty. given this tight image, the turn play by vayo is either a bluff or better than 22. bluffs can be ruled out, the guy never bluffs. so when u consider this, i think the fold is more reasonable.

Hey coach, dont lie to me. You hate to fold hands. Btw I am in UpSwing Poker and even the inicial material is kind of simple, i am enjoying it! You are a great teacher. Hug Doug

Seems to me Vayo would want to shove the turn since this is a tournament situation and the pot is soooo big already. An A or 5 would be tragic and there will be 90 mill in there after he calls. Having a superior stack here is worth more than the range play of calling IMO.

With it being Vayo and how it was played, the only thing that makes sense for him to have really is a set, I think Josephy could have laid it down.

you're the man DP

I'm not into live reads too much but the jo guy was giving off multiple tells of a big hand. When people stare at you after betting they almost always have a big hand not to mention his heavy breathing I'm jamming turn with a set of threes every time. I would have a tiny tiny fear of pocket fours but I don't see him calling flop with 4s. This is a player dependent.

Your hair is actually really cool. I'm jealous.

"He played it like a set. He thought he had a set. He had a set!" Tony G

Analysing it he's only repping a slow played AA or 33. And so in hindsight it's an easy fold. However, when you have a set of deuces it's too hard to fold in the moment.

So, Doug. You know how your name is Doug Polk? Well I'm thinking "Polk" is similar phonetically to the "Pok" in "poker". Here's a novel idea, call these videos "Polker Hands"

Love me some Polker Hands!

review the last hand of the ept Malta

Been loving the hand analysis mate! this series is on point. I feel like we should be snapchat friends. DW I post rarely and am hilarious - Faynetrain

I have those same gaming chairs. Different kind of gaming thou

Doug why it can be slightly exploitable to fold set of 22 He can afford to fold 50% of his range ( Vayo ships 75 mil to win 74,5) and with possible str8s i think it can be mathematicaly corect fold.

Vayo only goes all in with 3's, straight or flush draw. He was pot committed to find out.

Who else thinks this should be called Polker hands

What did the commentator mean by the players can see and we can see what hand is folded previously? Does he mean once a player folds during the hand? surely not?

Why cant he have A5dd or 56xx there?

Where's Joe Cada at 22:30 WHAT A FISH!

Great video. Who is missing on the milk carton? It brakes my heart that they came out so small.

The real winner is that animal on Ngyuen's head. Best hat ever

vayo has only 33 there or maybe some a5s with backdoor flush draw on the flop.nothing else.if u r playing ur regular games u just have a set with 22 and get it in not being happy about it, but the guy is super nit he only has 33 or a5 and u r playing the wsop main event final table. he just never has semi bluffs at this stage of the game for his tournament life.

Why is this video 25 minutes long?

Meanwhile, Dwan and Cates played at the same table at Philippines

He should have used his one time. When else are you gonna use it?

WOW your last name is POLK and you do poker hand analysis... have you ever considered calling this series polk her poker poke her hands

Vayo is NEVER shoving the turn on a draw with his tournament on the line! He isn't a risk taker. No balls! He wants to charge the backdoor flush draw. 22s was a clear fold here, what can a set of 22s beat here. Obvious he got 33s or 44s