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Virtual Christmas Games

The Christmas holiday is just around the corner. Friends and family will gather and need virtual Christmas games to keep the spirit going. We have picked our favourite games to play during Christmas. Here are our top five of virtual christmas games to play at home.

Virtual Christmas Games ideas

There are certain benefits to virtual games. They are easy to access, always with you and also germ-free. Virtual games can give us new ways to play old and beloved games. We have chosen five games that do just that. Virtual Christmas games that focus on being together with friends and family – without the restrains of a physical game. The virtual games are meant to be played at the same location, but most of them, can also function as online games. It is plan A and B – all in one package.

5. Virtual christmas quiz

A good way to have fun is by making a christmas quiz. It can be about whatever you want. You can either do it by making the questions yourself or by making all your friends/ or family answer a couple of questions. For example: What is your favorite/ least favorite christmas song; How do you celebrate christmas; When did you last believe in santa.

The goal of making a quiz is to make it relevant and fun for everybody. It does not have to be long, but long enough to make it a social activity.

You can use kahoot to make a free quiz (The first 25 questions are free). It is super fun and easy to make. Everyone can join in on their phone. You can either play it at the christmas dinner or online. You can share your screen if everybody is far from each other. This way everyone can see the results and have a jolly good time – even apart.

Tip: You can even upload pictures. This is a cool way to make the quiz more personal for the player. Message your friends and family in advance, so you have time to make a great quiz.

4. Virtual charades

You can play charades in many forms, you can even do it virtual. Make a virtual chat room, so that everyone can see each other. Take turns to make the charades. You can each make up some different words/ characters that the other players have to guess. If you want to spice it up, then you do it via. Snapchat and use snapchat- filters while maintaining your charade.

You can also play draw and guess

The main point of this game, is to draw the word/ character instead. Facebook, as well as other services, have the opportunity to draw a virtual picture, so if you are not in the same room, you can still maintain the fun activity of playing draw and guess.

If you mix both virtual charades with draw and guess, you have an evening full of fun and surprises. When it comes to virtual christmas games, charades is a match made in heaven.

3. Virtual poker

Poker is a great game at gatherings with friends and family. You can easily talk while playing and feel connected with the other players. It is not always about winning, but more the feeling of playing a game with your friends. You can play virtual poker by getting the EasyPoker app. It is free and you can play it at the christmas party, but also on the way there. It facilitates poker, so you can focus on calling someones bluff.

If you want to, you can use christmas candy/ or gifted presents as ‘chips’ and play a poker tournament with a christmas theme. You could also have a present ready for the winner of the tournament. Easypoker is made for players by players, so you can easily make it your ‘own’ by introducing your own elements into the game.

If you dress as Santa or santas helper, it might even help your bluffing. Nevertheless, poker is a great way to maintain social and active while on a digital device.

2. Virtual Sing Along

Okay song birds. Your time is up. Virtual Sing Along is a great way to perform “Last Christmas” by Wham, “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey or the depressingly funny “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues. You can do it virtually by someone choosing an instrumental version of a track. It is free, fun and will bring out the christmas spirit in everyone – no talent needed.

You can play it at the party or share a screen and Sing Along from home.

1. The play with presents (requires gifted presents)

The ‘play with presents’ is a fun and thrilling game that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It is the FIFA equivalent of christmas games that will ignite any christmas dinner.

The main purpose of the game is to steal as many presents as possible, before the clock runs out.

Before you begin, you will need the following:

1. An app that facilitates a virtual dice (or two depending on how many are playing).

2. 1-2 gifted presents per player. The presents do not have to be expensive. Sometimes cheap presents are more fun.

This is how you play:
The game consists of two rounds. In the first round every gifted present is placed in the middle of the table. All players are seated around the table. To get a present you need to ‘roll’ six with the dice. You can grab whatever present you want as long as it is not already taken. The dice rotates clockwise until all presents are gone. Consider introducing more ‘dices’ if you are more than 4 players. When all presents are gone, you move on to the second and final round.

In the second round a game master starts by starting a clock. They are the only ones to know for how long the round takes(estimate a time frame between 5 – 15 minutes max.). In this round you are able to steal from the other players. To steal a present for yourself, you still have to roll six. BUT if you roll one, you have to steal a present and give it to someone else. When the time runs out, you get to keep your presents. If you got any. Let the game begin and have fun with it.

Want to share your favourite ACTIVITY?

Please tell us if you have any virtual christmas games. We would be more than happy to add them to our list. The more the merrier. Write in the comments below and help keep us updated on the best virtual games to play at home.

Until then, take a game of virtual poker. It’s free, it’s fun and you can get it here.

Merry Christmas.

WANT MORE POKER CONTENT?

We’re constantly adding new blogs about all things poker. You can find them all on our blog.

If you have a suggestion for a story you would like to read, or something to add to this one, let us know in the comments below. Thank you.

Top Danish Poker Players

There is a lovely country. It is called Denmark. It is small, but it has had an historical impact of size and matter. Once the danes ruled the seas as vikings and in the year of 92, they won the European Championship in football. The danes have also proved themselves in something else. Poker. In this article we celebrate some of the four most influential danish players and the achievements.

Peter Nicolas Eastgate

Fortune favors the bold – and young. Peter was only 22 years old when he won the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion. It made him the youngest poker player to have ever won the World Series. He beat Pro Phil Hellmuth’s 19 year old record. Phil won at the age of 24.
Peter learned to play the game with his friends and had only played professional 2 years, prior to his major win. He took home an astounding amount of $9.152.415. Peter held the record one year until 21 year old Joe Cada won the very next year.

Peter used his winning as any other 22 year old would. On having a good old jolly time with his girlfriend in Las Vegas. He admits that he did not do much to promote the game following his major win. Nevertheless. His win made history and threw Phil of the mantle. A new and young generation had arrived and it started with Peter.

Jan Vang Sørensen

As a former professional football player, this guy craves to win. Jan spent his early career as a footballer in the best football league in Denmark. A knee injury ended his career. He transferred his competitive ability to poker and stands tall as the dane with most won bracelets.

Jan won The World Series of Poker with PL Omaha in 2002 and 7 Card Stud in 2005. He began playing poker in the mid 70’s, so he has a long standing history with different iterations of the game. His favourite is 7 Cards. Jan is a fighter and a true testament to hard work, ability and dedication.

When reaching the final table, Jan never relied on mathematics. He always went with playing what he could see. The stakes, the cards, the players. He had at an interview in 2007 played roughly 50 final tables. Needless to say. He knows what he is talking about. His best live earnings is at an $800,972.He seems not to have been active in poker since 2013 when he attended The No Limit Hold’em – Main Event in Copenhagen and finished 12th.

Mads Mikkelsen “Le Chiffre”

There are benefits of playing the part of the most despicable poker player in the world. Renowned danish actor took on the role of “Le Chiffre” opposite Daniel Craig’s depiction of “James Bond”. Mads Mikkelsen contributed to unfold the intensity of high stakes poker on the big screen. Sure, he might have had to break some balls (literally) getting there. There is no denying that the movie “Casino Royale” succeeded in using poker as the primary drive of the story. Each hand made it all more hard to watch.

Casino-royale_mads-mikkelsen_danish-poker-player

The movie was released in 2006 and made $606,1 million in box office earnings. Sadly, 2006 was also when the poker boom was near its end. If it had to finish on a high note, Casino Royale and Le Chiffre did it justice. Just not enough to keep the boom booming.

Mads Mikkelsen was because of the storyline coached in playing the game. He took home his newfound knowledge and used it to win money from his friends. They were not so happy. He was.

A fun fact. Mads Mikkelsen appeared in a danish mockumentary called “Pokerface”(Danish: Pokerfjæs) playing ‘himself’ in a tour de force of five friends’ failure of trying to make it big with poker in the U.S.

If you are interested and want to read about other great poker movies, please check out our blog about: Poker movies you need to watch.

Gus Hansen “The Great Dane”

He is known as “The Great Dane”, but feared as “The Madman”. Gus is furious at the poker table. His way of playing is aggressive and sometimes bonkers. Nevertheless, Gus’ fearless personality has made him a force to be reckoned with. In the slipstream of televised poker tournaments and the poker boom, Gus became a great character and ambassador for the intensity of the game. Suddenly poker players became celebrities.

Whether Gus Hansen was cherished, loved, hated or feared, he was most of all respected. His influence was widespread. In Denmark he was a national hero and equal to Denmark’s celebrities. On the international scene of poker Gus was a superstar. Everybody knew him. A great ambassador for the mainstream perception of poker and further development of the popular game.

Just like Ikaros, Gus Hansen flew too high and got burned. His aggressive style of poker came with certain downsides. Gus has ended up losing more than he could afford. Millions of dollars in loosings have temporarily ended his once winning spree. At least he has a bracelet to show for it. In 2010 he won his first and only WSOP by winning the High-Roller No-Limit Hold’em Heads up Championship at WSOP Europe in london. He ended up bringing home $451,880.

Even if he is not as he once was, he is still remembered as dane who has had the most influence in promoting poker in Denmark. A true gambler and aficionado of our beloved game of poker.

If you want to know more about Gus Hansen, then check out our Poker Player Story about Gus Hansen here.

WANT TO KICKSTART YOUR POKER CAREER?

Test your skills against your friends in a free game of private digital poker? The EasyPoker app provides both chips, cards and an unlimited amount of games – for free. It’s a digital version of a physical poker set that takes care of everything. And so all you have to do is just play your cards. Get the poker app for Android and iPhone.

WANT MORE POKER CONTENT?

We’re constantly adding new blogs about all things poker. You can find them all on our blog.

If you have a suggestion for a story you would like to read, or something to add to this one, let us know in the comments below. Thank you.

Dan Bilzerian Poker Player Story

Dan Bilzerian is perhaps the richest and most famous person associated with poker – but not for his poker.
Often referred to as ‘The King of Instagram’, Bilzerian is most famous for flaunting his luxurious playboy lifestyle of girls, guns and money.

His life exists somewhere between ‘well documented’ and ‘infamous secrecy’ – and what you’re about to read is a summary of the different versions out there. This is the crazy story of poker’s biggest playboy.

We’ve also made this blog post as a video, if you’d rather watch than read.

Early life

Daniel Brandon Bilzerian was born on December 7 of 1980 in Tampa, Florida.
He is the son of Paul Bilzerian, an Armenian American businessman who amassed an immense fortune as a corporate takeover specialist. Dan and his brother Adam was born into wealth but didn’t see their father much, as he was often on business trips or stuck working late at the office.

Their life drastically changed however, when Paul was convicted of security and tax fraud. On top of serving 13 months in prison, Paul was ordered to disgorge his earnings and later declared bankruptcy. What exactly happened to Pauls Bilzerian’s enormous wealth is still unclear, but both Dan and Adam had trust funds, and many believe this to be the source of Dan Bilzerian’s fortune.

This all seemed to spill into Dan Bilzerian’s life, as he became somewhat of a problem child, often getting into fist fights and later being expelled from his school. He had a new start at a different school but was ordered to finish his senior year at home for bringing a machine gun to school.

After finishing High School, Dan joined the navy in pursuit of becoming a Navy SEAL.
He performed really well but was once again stopped right before the finish line as he was discharged for fighting with one of his officers and had to leave the program.

Dan Bilzerian then enrolled at the University of Florida where he spent 4 years studying Business and Criminology. Whether he graduated or not is still center of speculation, but it seems this is where Dan first picked up an interest in poker. He no longer had access to his trust fund, and after selling his collection of guns he turned to poker in order to finance his time at school.

Poker life and winnings

Although Dan Bilzerian is a famous poker player, he hasn’t appeared in a lot of public tournaments.
His first major appearance was back in 2009 where he took part in the World Series of Poker Main Event, playing against professional poker players like Phil Ivey. Bilzerian finished 180th and collected a prize of $36,000.

His performance at the 2009 WSOP led to him signing a sponsorship with Victory Poker. An online card room that is no longer in operation. Dan Bilzerian allegedly received $1,000,000 from the company for wearing their name on a t-shirt for all the tournaments he competed in that year. He was also featured in the company’s numerous online videos

But Dan Bilzerian reportedly dedicates most of his time and focus to private, high stakes, cash games with billionaires and is alleged to have turned a $750 investment into more than $187,000 in a single game. Not a bad turnaround. He has also once claimed to have put all of his net worth into one game – and won big.

Back in 2013 he once again got people’s attention when posting a tweet saying he had just won 10.8 million in a private cash game.
This win still has not been verified and continues to be debated by many online.

In the year 2015, Dan hosted a poker tournament to raise money for brain research. The tournament took place in his Las Vegas home and had a buy-in of $1000. The tournament drew in a lot of famous people like Vin Diesel and raised over $100,000 for brain research.

According to Dan himself, the most he has ever lost in a single game of poker is 3,6 million dollars. There’s also stories about Bilzerian betting 2,3 million dollars worth of chips on a single coin toss – and losing.

Dan Bilzerian’s total net worth is reported to be a staggering 200 million dollars and according to himself, 50 million of that is from playing poker.

Crazy lifestyle of Dan Bilzerian

Although Dan claims to be killing it at the private cash games, he is most known for everything outside the game of poker. Cars, guns, girls and parties – the crazy stories just keep coming. The man is still in his 30’s but has already had 3 heart attacks. This should be an indication of the crazy lifestyle of the multi millionaire poker playboy.

Bilzerian owns multiple real estate, but his price jewel is his 65 million dollar home in Bel Air, Los Angeles.
This 31,000 square feet party pad is no doubt the party pad of the 21st century (Sorry Playboy Mansion). The house was named ‘The Most Expensive House in the US’ back in 2017. For more details on Dan Bilzerian’s home, take a look at this video.

No doubt Bilzerian owns some impressive real estate, but he also needs a lot of space to store his massive collection of cars and guns.
And then there’s the girls. Dan Bilzerian’s life seems to be an endless sea of beautiful, half naked, women – dusins at the time. His instagram has more models than Playboy and Victoria’s Secret put together and this seems to be the biggest factor of his fame.

There’s no doubt this aspect of the modern day Hugh Hefner raises controversy, and Dan has addressed it openly numerous times – like in this interview from 2019.

The many controversies

With a guy as controversial and famous as Dan Bilzerian, you would expect some controversy as well. And Dan’s life definitely isn’t lacking in this department either.
It’s pretty much an endless string of controversy, but let’s focus on just three of them.

Most people with an internet connection have probably heard the story (and seen the video) of Dan Bilzerian throwing a young porn actress off the roof of his house.
Back in 2014 Dan was a part of a photoshoot for the Hustler Magazine which also included the then 18 year old porn actress Janice Griffith. As part of the photoshoot, Dan picked up Janice Griffth and threw her off the roof, aiming for the pool beneath. But Dan’s throw was just a bit too short, so the young porn actress hit the edge of the pool before falling in the water. Griffith broke her foot and the whole thing ended in a lawsuit.

Dan Bilzerian was also involved in quite a massive story back in 2011 alongside other celebrities like Toby Maguire, Ben Aflleck and Matt Damon. A series of private, high stakes poker games between the stars led to wins and loses of millions of dollars. The problem is that one of the losers of the games, Bradley Ruderman paid his loses with stolen money and was later convicted. This led to a pile of lawsuits as everyone attending these games tried to get their money.

In October of 2017, Dan was present at the horrific Las Vegas shooting. In true fashion, he posted numerous videos to his instagram account – like the video where he’s seen searching a police car and asking the officers for a gun. Dan Bilzerian was widely criticised for his actions and the way he handled himself during this terrifying night.

Ignite

Dan Bilzian moved away from poker and into business by creating ‘Ignite’ – a company which sells electronic cigarettes, CBD related products, water bottles and vodka, among other things. It began trading back in January of 2019 and has it’s official headquarters in Toronto, Canada. The company is probably best known for it’s over the top launch parties that obviously seek to give the attendees a glimpse into the lifestyle they see on Dan’s instagram. DJs, models, celebrities and enough alcohol to intoxicate a small country.

Perhaps for this reason, the company reportedly lost $50 million in 2019, mostly on marketing and office rental.

But by the beginning of 2020 Ignite had a 52M dollar valuation.
This was because CBD products were on the rise, and investors thought the current pandemic would lead to a substantial increase in sales. And it did – but not for Ignite.
And to make matters worse, mid 2020 saw the release of a company report showing numbers from Ignite, that some claim proves that the company paid 67M dollars to ‘fund Dan Bilzerian’s lifestyle. Expenses such as $200.000 a month for his house, $15.000 on a ping pong table, $26.000k worth of Instagram promotions and a whopping $130.000 for a Bahamas photoshoot. Ignite’s money seems to come from issuing/selling stocks and from raising debt which had a lot of people saying it’s internal finances made little sense. The company’s promotion budget alone was $22M, while revenue was less than half of that.

Dan Bilzerian himself has famously downplayed this by comparing Ignite to the ride sharing service, Uber, which has operated under financial losses since day one.
But in October of 2020 CannMart, one of Ignite’s main partners and leading distributor in Canada, ended their partnership. This led to Ignite’s stock falling from $1.44 to $0.36 in no time and many analysts believe it’s just a matter of months before the company will go bankrupt – unless they find a way to turn things around.

Disputed wealth claims

Although Dan Bilzerian claims to have won his massive fortune in private poker games against billionaires, many believe the money is from his fathers business.
Paul Bilzerian was ordered to pay over 30 million dollars of his illegal profits to the SEC back in the 90s, but some say he never did. He did, however, set up a trust fund for both his sons. Many speculate that this to be the source of Dan’s fortune and that constant investigation is being conducted by the SEC and FBI.

Dan Bilzerian for President

Back in 2015 Dan Bilzerian announced his intention to run for President in the 2016 election. In classic Bilzerian fashion his “presidential campaign” featured five appearances at nightclubs. In december of 2015 Dan officially canceled his candidacy and instead endorsed Donal Trump who, as we all know, went on to become president.

However, the ‘King of Instagram’ has already said he’s considering running again for the 2024 election and hopes to utilize his massive following. From the looks of it though, the White House looks like a massive step down from his current housing situation.

What’s in store for Dan Bilzerian?

Well, according to Dan Bilzerian himself, he’s pretty much done playing professional poker.
He expects Ignite to gross billions of dollars and hope to donate a large portion of it to charity. It’s of course also going to be interesting to see if he actually runs for president in 2024, and whether his recent allegations of fraud and continuing controversy will put a stop to the ‘King of Instagram’.
Dan has an autobiography coming out soon and perhaps that will give us some answers.

On December 3rd 2020, Dan Bilzerian was announced as the newest brand ambassador for GGPoker, representing the brand both live and online. According to the brands own website, Blizerian will be working with GG to make cash games better for the average poker player out there.

Are you the next Bilzerian?

Want to test your skills against your friends in a free game of private digital poker? The EasyPoker app provides both chips, cards and an unlimited amount of games – for free.
It’s a digital version of a physical poker set that takes care of everything. And so all you have to do is just play your cards.

Want more Poker Player Stories?

We’re constantly adding new stories of interesting poker players. Like the one of Daniel Negreanu who went from high school dropout to becoming Kid Poker, one of the best and most famous players of all times.

Or the one about ‘the Great Dane’, Gus Hansen, who went from the top of the poker world to loosing a record breaking $20.000.000 and having to get a regular job as an accountant.

If you have a suggestion for a story you’d like to read, or something to add to this one, let us know in the comments below or by reaching out to us.
Thank you.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk – How the Poker Feud Started

It’s no secret that there has been a public feud between the two professional poker players Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu. Lately the Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk poker feud has reached a high point, as the two players finally agreed to play heads up – something the entire poker community is going crazy over.

25.000 hands, both live and online, will determine the ultimate winner of one of the biggest feuds in poker history. But how did it all start? Settle in and let me explain it.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk – The Beginning

The year is 2014 and Daniel Negreanu a.k.a. KidPoker has cemented his place as one of the biggest stars in the history of poker. With his charismatic person and dominance at the live poker tables, Daniel Negreanu can pretty much walk on water at this point.
In August of that year, Negreanu took part in the “One Drop” event and finished second. Not a bad result, but Negreanu is criticized for a key play. No stranger to online criticism, Kid Poker pretty much ignored the comments.

But one guy, cash game pro Daniel Merrilees, went on twitter and wrote “OK fair enough – I applaud your confidence. Do you think you could jump right in now and play a starts 25/50 6max game and win?”

In his usual style of likeable cockiness, Negreanu answered ‘@danielmerrilees haven’t played in ages so would say NO. However I believe it would take two weeks of work and I would be a winner.” And so it began.

A lot of people jumped on this – including Doug Polk, perhaps the biggest star of online cash games at the time, who wrote “I respect what you have done in your career, but it’s naive to think that you can log onto PokerStarts and beat $25/$50.”

This led to a long twitter fight between the two poker giants, and the seed for feud was planted.

More Rake is Better

Negreanu’s over the top confidence and character has often landed him in discussions, but Doug Polk’s massive following on social media made this feud a perfect storm. The two went back and forth at numerous occasions after the twitter incident, but the next big episode happened in early 2016.

For a long time, Negreanu has been sponsored by PokerStarts as the poster child of their brand – always promising to represent player interests. But when the massive poker site got in trouble for rolling back benefits from some of its most loyal players, Negreanu surprised everyone by siding with PokerStars. He went on twitter and argued that the new setup of higher rake would be an overall benefit to the game since it kept pros away.

And he had a point. The world of online poker had certainly become very top-heavy and something needed to be done about it. But even though PokerStars had acted within their legal rights, the entire thing let to a massive shitstorm and Negreanu was caught in the middle, siding against the poker community. And even though he never actually said it, Negreanu’s views were condensed by the poker community to the catchy slogan of ‘More Rake is Better’.

Who is Doug Polk?

Doug Polk was born December 16, 1988 (31 years old). Polk mostly play under the alias WCGRider and specializes in Heads-up No Limit Hold’em.

Doug Polk officially retired from professional poker in September 2018 but kept running his popular YouTube channel with a poker focus.

Tap to read Doug Polk’s full poker story

Two years later, at the time of a big poker tournament in Las Vegas, the long lasting feud between Negreanu and Polk took another turn, when Doug Pol bought a huge billboard outside the event that stated ‘MoreRakeIsBetter.com’. An obvious attack on Negreanu, which caught the attention of the poker community.
Polk also showed up to numerous tournaments wearing t-shirts that said ‘More Rake is Better’ – something that clearly provoked Negreanu and didn’t help their relationship.

Head to head – Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk

No doubt 2020 is a crazy year – and this is also true for Daniek Negreanu. During a live stream, an online troll attacked Negreanu and made some very rude comments about his wife. Negreanu was quick and harsh in this answer, and his stream was swiftly suspended by Twitch. While one certainly understands Negreanu’s reaction, this was probably not a smart move by a guy representing numerous sponsors and the game as a whole.

Amidst all this controversy, Doug Polk saw his opportunity to once again poke the bear.
As he’d done many times before, he went on Twitter and challenged Negreanu to a heads-up. But this time, Kid Poker surprised everyone by accepting.
And so finally, the long lasting feud between two absolute giants of poker seem to be coming to a climax.

The Setup for the Heads-up Poker Game

Negreanu and Polk have agreed to play a total of 25.000 hands – with an option to quit after 12.500 hands. Stakes are $200 and $400. First 200 hands are played live, in-person. All remaining hands are played online on two tables at the same time.

All hands are streamed live either from the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas or on the GGPoker YouTube channel.

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk live game

The first heads up game was played live in Las Vegas in the PokerGo studio. Here Daniel Negreanu and Doug Polk were face to face against each other. Doug Polk is registered for $9,4 million in total live earnings – placing him as the 101st highest earning player at official live games.

Doug Polk is known as the ultimate heads-up wizard in online poker games – so how will he perform against Daniel Negreanu who is notoriously known for his live games? See how it all went down in the video below.

SPOILER WARNING: The result of round 1 was a pretty significant win for Daniel Negreanu. He came out on top with +$116,500 after the forst 200 hands.

Who is Daniel Negreanu?

Negreanu is one of the most well known and successful poker players in modern time. The Canadian was born July 26, 1974 (46 years old) and is known as KidPoker. Daniel is most known for his live games performance where he has won six World Series of Poker Bracelets and two World Poker Tour titles.

Tap to read Daniel Negreanu’s poker story.

Best Friends?

After the first live heads-up event in Las Vegas most viewers and experts were shocked – and not about the tension. The big time feud just all seemed to disappear as the players were face to face. It actually seemed like they really enjoyed each other’s company like two best friends having a good time around the poker table.

via GIPHY

Some viewers have called this an embarrassment as they had expected an aggressive feud – just as we have seen online. But as Daniel Negreanu said about Doug Polk: “He (Polk) has been very tough online like, I’m gonna kill this guy and calling me names – but when you see him in person he is much softer. That’s very typical for most online trolls“. It really seems like it played out exactly as Negreanu had predicted.

Online heads-up – Who will bring home the gold?

The majority of the heads-up game will be played online. Here Doug Polk has the advantage over Daniel, as this is his speciality. First online game was played on 6th of November 2020. Here Negreanu started out great but ended with short stack as Doug Polk made a strong come-back and played well all through the game. See how it all went down following all rounds.

Round 2

SPOILER WARNING
Round 2 was pretty rough on Daniel Negreanu. Luckely for him he did have a big win from round 1. Watch the whole game below.

Hands played: 424
Overall hands: 624
Result: Polk +$218,292

Overall: Doug Polk +$101,792

Round 3

SPOILER WARNING
Round 3 played out well for the online heads-up expert Doug Polk. He continued to win and gain an even bigger lead.

Hands played: 382
Overall hands: 1006
Result: Doug +$166,239

Overall: Doug Polk +$268,031

Round 4

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu had his first online win after an intense game with some big hands.

Hands played: 366
Overall hands: 1372
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$87,166

Overall: Doug Polk +$180,865

Round 5

SPOILER WARNING
Another big win for Daniel Negreanu. Daniel now takes the overall lead.

Hands played: 365
Overall hands: 1737
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$206,994

Overall: Negreanu +$25,916

Round 6

SPOILER WARNING
Doug Polk fired back and got back his overall lead again.

Hands played: 637
Overall hands: 2374
Result: Polk +$93,542

Overall: Doug Polk +$67,625

Round 7

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu is back in the lead with biggest win of the feud yet.

Hands played: 591
Overall hands: 2965
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$222,832

Overall: Daniel Negreanu +$155,206

Round 8

SPOILER WARNING
Another session that ends up with Mr. Negreanu in the lead. A lot of big pots in this game.

Hands played: 457
Overall hands: 3422
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$24,156

Overall: Daniel Negreanu +$179,363

Round 9

SPOILER WARNING
Doug Polk gets back in the lead. But just barely by less than one 40k buy-in.

Hands played: 377
Overall hands: 3799
Result: Doug Polk +$205,521

Overall: Doug Polk +$26,158

Round 10

SPOILER WARNING
The longest Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk settion yet with over 4 hours of poker logged.

Hands played: 852
Overall hands: 4651
Result: Doug Polk +$117,624

Overall: Doug Polk +$143,996

Round 11

SPOILER WARNING
Pre-Thanksgiving session that again goes in the favor of Doug Polk.

Hands played: 386
Overall hands: 5067
Result: Doug Polk +$120,023

Overall: Doug Polk +$264,019

Round 12

SPOILER WARNING
This was a big round for Doug Polk that more than double his lead. The game had a lot of bad beats for Negreanu.

Hands played: 684
Overall hands: 5751
Result: Doug Polk +$332,178

Overall: Doug Polk +$596,197

Round 13

SPOILER WARNING
Daniel Negreanu is fighting back and ends up in plus for the day. Still a long way to go for the come back.

Hands played: 476
Overall hands: 6227
Result: Negreanu +$17,780

Overall: Doug Polk +$578,417

Round 14

SPOILER WARNING
Biggest pot yet. 180.000 dollars ending in a flush vs. Flush. Negreanu took it home.

Hands played: 600
Overall hands: 6800
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$10,000

Overall: Doug Polk +$568,417

Round 15

SPOILER WARNING
Negreanu takes another step closer to Polk by winning with a single buy in.

Hands played: 450
Overall hands: 7250
Result: Daniel Negreanu +$40,000

Overall: Doug Polk +$518,417

Final Results

Check back here to see the final results and who will be the final winner of the Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk feud.

Have a Poker Feud of your own?

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Want more poker player stories?

The world of poker has many legends with interesting stories. We’ve gathered some of the best, and are constantly adding more. You should check them out.

Like the story of poker’s biggest playboy, the nutorious Dan Bilzerian.
This modern day Hugh Hefner claims to have won more than 50M dollars playing poker – although critics doubt this story. And now he and his company Ignite risk bankruptcy.

Or maybe the story of ‘the Great Dane’, Gus Hansen, who built a fortune playing poker but ended up losing more than 20M dollars. Read the crazy story here.

Daniel Negreanu – Poker Player Story

Daniel Negreanu AKA Kid Poker, is one of the most well known and liked poker players in the world.
He is famous for his incredible ability to read players and his may wins and major titles.
His place in the official Poker Hall of Fame is a true testament to his poker-skills and achievements.

But how did a colorful, loudmouthed Canadian become perhaps the greatest poker player of all time?
This is the story of Daniel Negreanu.

We’ve also made this blog post into a video, if you prefer watching instead of reading.

Who is Daniel Negreanu?

Daniel Negreanu is a talkative professional Canadian Texas Hold‘em poker player.

His aggressive style of playing, and flair for reading opponents, has earned him 2 World Poker Tour titles and 6 World Series of Poker bracelets (among numerous other wins). Negreanu has also been named The World Series of Poker – Player of the year, twice.

Daniel is currently placed third in all time poker earnings. His total live earnings are currently at a whopping $ 42.053,305.

Early life of Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu’s parents immigrated to Toronto, Canada from Romania, seven years prior to Daniels birth on july 26, 1974. They wished for a better future for their children.

By the age of four, Negreanu was hooked on The American Dream. He wanted to be rich. He is described as ‘bad-mannered’ in school and as the years went on and Daniel went to college, he was several credits short of graduating. He was failing.
But at the age of 15, he learned to play poker.

Daniel Negreanu is synonymous with ‘poker’. His funny wit, charismatic persona and unrivaled skill of reading players, has influenced the poker-scene like few other. Negreanu has appeared on numerous live transmitted poker-events and speaks freely about all things within the range of poker. He has even appeared in movies and made series and books about how to play and win poker.

By age 16, he was already ‘a regular’ at the local pool tables, and at one point he actually thought about becoming a professional snooker player. In the end though, his love of poker won, and Negreanu eventually dropped out of high school and began pursuing a career in poker.
He started off as a rounder – An expert player who travels to seek out high-stakes games – appearing at Casino Country and Fundtime. He’s even been rumored to sniff out illegal games.

Daniel began working on his reputation and his bankroll throughout his early twenties and headed to Las Vegas when he was 21. Things didn’t go as planned and he ended up losing more than he could afford.

He moved back to Toronto, and began rebuilding his bankroll.

In 1998, 24 year old Daniel won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em at the World Series of Poker. The win added an astounding prize of $169,460 to his growing bankroll and his first bracelet – which is kind of a big deal within the poker community. He became the youngest to ever win a bracelet. Hence, Kid Poker.

From this point on, there was np turning back for young Negreanue.

Daniel Negreanu biggest win

Negreanu’s biggest win was in 2014, when he placed second in the Big One For One Drop $1 million buy-in event. Kid Poker battled 41 other poker players for the prize pool of $37,333,338.

Daniel Negreanu came in second only beated by Dan Colman. But Negreanu’s pity prize of $8,288,001 still remains his biggest earning. Negreanu later said that all he could think about after that was how much money he could have won, had he beat Colman.

Bracelets and titles

Daniel Negreanu began his impressive collection of bracelets in 1998, when he won the $2,000 Pot Limit Hold’em($169,460). In 2003 he went on to win the $2,000 S.H.O.E ($100,440) and followed that up in 2004 by winning the $2,000 Limit Hold’em ($169,100) again.
Four years later, in 2008, he took another bracelet from a $2,000 Limit Hold’em($204,874). In 2013 he won both a $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event ($1,038,825) and a €25,600 High Roller No Limit Hold’em (€725,000).

Negreanu won both his World Poker Tour Titles in 2004. One for his win in the $10,000 Borgata Poker Open ($1,117,400) and the second in $15,000 Five Diamond World Poker Classic ($1,795,218).

He has several more merits to his name, amongst these, Foxwoods’ World Poker finals in 1997 and British Columbia Poker Championships’ main event, which made him $299,951 richer.

Private life

On the home front, Daniel Negreanu has been married two times. In 2005 he got married to Lori Lin Weber. Lori is a known and accomplished professional poker player. They later separated in 2007 and got divorced later on.

Daniel remarried in 2019 to long-time girlfriend Amanda Leatherman. He had acually bought the rings 10 years prior to that, when they decided to get engaged. But he thought she was not ready to settle down at that point of time. They separated, but eventually got together again, when she returned to Las Vegas.

Newer controversy

Kid Poker was banned from Twitch in July of this year, when he got caught in a bad mannered outburst at a viewer in the chat. The reason? The viewer had made rude remarks about Negreanu’s wife, Amanda Leatherman.

His wife defended the actions of her husband, stating that she was happy that her husband stood up for her. A month later Daniel / @realkidpoker was back on Twitch.

In 2019 Daniel Negreanu came into new controversy for writing a blog about the worst kind of poker players. He later had to apologize, as many thought he had lost touch with the poker-scene, as he does not grind as much anymore.

Daniel Negreanu vs. Doug Polk

For years, Daniel Negreanu has had an ongoing feud with Californian poker player Doug Polk.
Like Negreanu, Doug Polk is a colorful and loudmouthed character of the poker scene – and we’ve actually also written a complete post about his story which you can find here.

The relationship between the two poker legends have been bad blooded for years, and reached it’s unavoidable peak in 2020 when Negreau surprised everyone by actually accepting a challenge from Doug Polk.

Negreanu and Polk agreed to play a total of 25000 hands – with the option to stop after just 12500 hands.
The game is Texas Hold’em HUNL and stakes are $200 and $400. The first 200 hands were played live, face to face. Later hands are played online on two simultanious tables.

This poker feud is really something, with a ton of small jabs going back and forth between the two.
If you’d like to dig deeper we’ve gathered everything in this one post. Truely a clash of poker titants.

Are you the Next Negreanu?

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Daniel Negreanu – Poker Player Story

What do you think – is Negreanu the best poker player of his era? Let us know in the comments below 👇

If you liked this post, maybe check out one of our other poker player stories – like the rise and fall of the ‘Great Dane’, Gus Hansen, who went from being one of the best poker players of all time to loosing more that $20,000,000, quitting poker and getting a job as an accoountant.

Or how about the story of Dan Bilzerian, the poker playboy who claims to have won more than $50M playing high stakes poker against international billionaires. But is he really a legit poker player?

Gus Hansen – Poker Player Story

Gus Hansen has one of the craziest poker careers of all times.
This child prodigy went from the top of the world to losing over 20 million dollars and having to get a regular job as an accountant. A meteoric rise and an unreal fall.
This is the crazy story of an absolute legend, Gus Hansen.

We’ve also made this blog post into a video, if you’d rather watch than read.
The text version continues beneath the video.

Early Life

Gustav B. Hansen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, on the 13th of February, 1974.
He was born an only child and showed great potential from an early age. For the majority of his time in elementary school, Gus was homeschooled by his mom and aunt.

But Gus wasn’t just a bright mind, he also dominated the national youth ranks of tennis.
In fact he was well on his way to becoming a pro, when a serious injury put a stop to his plans.

Frustrated and eager to find a new outlet for his competitive spirit, Gus started playing backgammon. Something his dad had taught him.

He spent an entire summer perfecting his skills and learning various strategies.
Gus, once again, proved a natural and would beat every opponent that played him. And so he started organizing bigger and bigger tournaments that took place on school grounds and would bring in the best players from around the country.
But even they didn’t stand a chance against Gus who was playing at a World Champion level.

When Gus wasn’t playing backgammon, he could be found studying. His mom had instilled a hard working mentality in him, and he was especially skilled in mathematics. Since backgammon wasn’t a very lucrative profession Gus leveraged his mathematical skills to secure an academic scholarship – thinking a degree in accounting would suit him well.

Always eager to find new challenges, and having beaten every backgammon player in Denmark, Gus chose to enroll in the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Introduction to Poker

Alright, so, Gus was now in the US, enjoying the sun and life of California. One day, he was invited to a friend’s weekly poker tournament. The game was Texas Hold’em – something Gus had never played before. Perhaps for this reason, Gus’ friends thought we would be an easy win. But he quickly understood the game and began playing around with different strategies. By the end of the night, Gus was the last player standing, and was forever hooked.

Gus began playing more often, at the local Ocean View Card Room. Although he clearly had a talent for the game, he found that he still had a long way to go. Rather than discourage him though, this only added to his passion.

Two years into college, Gus had to go back to Denmark to serve in the military. Back then, most young men in Denmark had to complete at least 9 months of basic military training.

During his downtime, Gus would play poker against the other recruits. He kept experimenting with different strategies and even tried other forms of poker like Omaha, Razz and Seven-card stud. Hansen kept improving his skills and after finishing his military training, he was on the next flight back to the US.

Developing the “Gus Hansen Poker style”

After serving his time in the Danish military, Gus flew to New York to live out his dreams and follow his passion for gambling. But, the first couple of years would be hard on the young Dane. He would primarily play cash games but had his first appearance at the World Series of Poker in 1996. Gus was eliminated in the very beginning of the tournament, and although he is often described as an overnight success, people often forget his hard times during this period in New York.

But Gus didn’t stop.
He was determined to get better and decided on a bold new strategy.
He was going to switch it up and play his hands with a variety so crazy – it would make him impossible to read. He would see a lot of flops, with a variety of odd starting poker hands.Not afraid of big bluffs, this style would focus on confident, aggressive post flop play.

This was the birth of the Gus we know and love.
“I’ve raised with cards less attractive than what’s in my toilet after I took a dump in it”, Gus famously said.

He would often fly to Las Vegas, to play bigger games and finally started getting some traction. Although he of course lost a lot of hands, he would more than make up for it on the hands he actually won. And the poker community took notice.

In 2002, Gus decided to test his loose, aggressive style of play, when he returned to tournament poker by attending the World Poker Tour’s Five-Diamond World Poker Classic. Gus absolutely cleaned up, beating all 146 opponents and taking home a cash prize of 550 thousand dollars!
Gus, and his new style of play was definitely on to something.

Gus Hansen’s Poker Career

After his big win at the World Poker Tour, Gus was eager to prove that it wasn’t just beginners luck. He wanted to solidify his place amongst the greatest. And in 2003 he did just that. Gus won the WPT LA Poker Classics, collecting a cash prize of half a million dollars, and the respect of the poker world.

Gus Hansen was really making a name for himself, and he was looking to diversify his brand and business. That same year, he started an online poker room called pokerchamps.com. The site quickly got a couple of thousand users, but Gus had a hard time balancing his time between running the site and traveling the world to play poker.

He ended up selling the site to Betfair for around 15 million dollars.
Not bad, for a 2 year business venture.

But Gus wasn’t about to slow down.
In December of 2003 he finished 3rd in the Five Diamonds World Poker Classics, and just a month later he took his 3rd WPT title after winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. His crazy style of play, impressive winnings and good looks had made him one of the world’s most famous poker players.
In 2004 he was even voted one of the Sexiest Men Alive, by People Magazine.

In 2005, Gus was invited to play in the Poker SuperStarts Invitational Tournament. This tournament was a big deal, with a buy-in of 400 thousand dollars. On top of that, Gus would be up against other poker legends like Doyle Brunson and Phil Ivey. But Hansen was hungry, confident and eager to show off his style, and so he entered the tournament.

This proved to be a great decision, as Gus took the tournament by storm and landed 1st place, taking home the grand prize of one million dollars. Watch this video to see how it happened.

Gus continued playing in all the biggest tournaments, and in 2007 he flew to Australia, to attend the Aussie Millions Event. He placed in the top ten for most of their smaller tournaments, but ended up winning the main event collecting a massive cash prize of 1.5 million dollars. That’s not a bad payday, and Gus wrote a book about the experience titled ‘Every Hand Revealed’. The book also did really well, and sold thousands of copies in both Denmark and the US.

At this point, it seemed like everything Gus touched turned to gold. And he was about to take home the biggest cash prize of his career. In April of 2008 he played in the $25.000 WPT Championship Event, and despite finishing in second place he picked up a hefty prize of 1.7 million dollars on his way out.

Despiste having won more than 7 million dollars in live tournaments at this point, Gus still considered cash games his speciality. Most poker fans will remember his legendary showdown against Daniel Negreanu in the second season of the High Stakes Poker TV show. Both players had great hands, but Gus turned Quad 5’s against Negreanu’s full house and won the record breaking pot of 575 thousand dollars.

Shortly after appearing on that show, Gus signed a sponsorship with Full Tilt Poker. He appeared in numerous videos for the brand and sported their logo on his shirts for every game he competed in. Full Tilt also agreed to provide his financial backing in exchange for him playing exclusively on their site.

2010 would prove to be a big year for Gus Hansen. He finally won his first World Series of Poker Bracelet after finishing first in the No Limit Hold’em High Roller Heads-Up event. He received a cash prize of more than 450 thousand dollars to go with his golden bracelet. And, as if that wasn’t enough, he topped the year off by winning 1 million dollars for finishing first at the Poker Million IX tournament.

The Downfall of Gus Hansen

Gus Hansen’s last major performance was at the 2012 Aussie Millions $250,000 No Limit Hold’em Challenge. He made it to the final table, but placed third after Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey. Gus of course wanted to win, but wasn’t too disappointed as the cash prize for third place was 820 thousand dollars.

But this still seemed to mark a turning point in his career.
After that, Gus seemed to struggle. He would still win a couple of thousand dollars here and there, but was no longer making enough money to support himself financially.

“I think every competitive player has to question himself at some point and ask ‘has the game surpassed me? Am I rusty? Am I not good enough in this game anymore?’
I’m asking myself questions and that keeps me up at night.” he told Poker News.

And to make matters worse, Gus was losing a lot of money playing online poker. Without the financial backing of Full Tilt, Gus was quickly squandering his fortune away, reportedly losing more than 21 millions dollars on online poker. The most anyone has ever lost.

“It’s the same game and the same opponents. But when you sit in front of a screen you cannot see your opponent, you just have to push some buttons. And apparently I’m not as great at that”, he told a Danish newspaper.

No longer able to financially support himself through poker, Gus had to go and get a regular job as an accountant. Quite a massive change of pace.

Where is Gus Hansen now?

Working as an accountant has allowed Gus Hansen to stabilize his finances, and given him some much needed clarity and perspective. But the 9 to 5 lifestyle is very different from being a legendary poker player.

Perhaps for this reason, Gus stepped out of retirement a couple of years later.
He started playing small tournaments and is now, once again, able to finance his life by playing poker.
He currently lives in Monaco in the south of Europe and travels around the world playing poker.
But he is looking for a new home in Denmark.

In October of 2020, Gus and his girlfriend Malan had a child. And it’s of course going to be interesting to see if the Great Dane can juggle both a massive poker comeback and his new life as a father.

But what a cool dad Gus must be.

Want to Test your Poker Skills?

Before losing everything, Gus Hansen built a massive brand and fortune playing poker.
No doubt the guy has a talent for the game.
If you and your friends are looking to test your skills in a social game of poker with friends, you should check out our free app, EasyPoker.

It’s a digital version of a physical poker set, and by far the easiest way to play poker with friends – no chips or playing cards needed.

You create a table with just a single tap on your screen, and friends join in by typing the four digit game code on their phone.
Whether you’re playing live or online, the EasyPoker app is perfect for poker with friends.

Virtual Christmas Games ideas

5. Virtual christmas quiz

4. Virtual charades

You can also play draw and guess

3. Virtual poker

2. Virtual Sing Along

1. The play with presents (requires gifted presents)

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Peter Nicolas Eastgate

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Mads Mikkelsen “Le Chiffre”

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Early life

Poker life and winnings

Crazy lifestyle of Dan Bilzerian

The many controversies

Ignite

Disputed wealth claims

Dan Bilzerian for President

What’s in store for Dan Bilzerian?

Are you the next Bilzerian?

Want more Poker Player Stories?

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk – The Beginning

More Rake is Better

Head to head – Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk

The Setup for the Heads-up Poker Game

Daniel Negreanu vs Doug Polk live game

Best Friends?

Online heads-up – Who will bring home the gold?

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Round 15

Final Results

Have a Poker Feud of your own?

Want more poker player stories?

Who is Daniel Negreanu?

Early life of Daniel Negreanu

Daniel Negreanu biggest win

Bracelets and titles

Private life

Newer controversy

Daniel Negreanu vs. Doug Polk

Are you the Next Negreanu?

Daniel Negreanu – Poker Player Story

Early Life

Introduction to Poker

Developing the “Gus Hansen Poker style”

Gus Hansen’s Poker Career

The Downfall of Gus Hansen

Where is Gus Hansen now?

Want to Test your Poker Skills?

More Poker Player Stories?