Tuesday marked a break in the Doug Polk and Daniel Negreanu heads-up match but didn’t mean the day couldn’t pass without a bit of drama.
The controversy spread over a Tweet from Bill Perkins this afternoon in which he said that match had been delayed until a rule dispute is addressed. Initially, Perkins had claimed that Polk was manually entering in data for analysis, but then clarified:
Correction has frequency analysis done not manually entered onto software. Either way a dispute. I'm sorry to have gotten that wrong @DougPolkVids https://t.co/nPwj6vLoUA
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) November 17, 2020
Polk was not impressed with the objection to what he saw as a very minor deal:
I cant believe I have to defend opening up the client and looking at a 400 hand session how many times my opponent folded the button.
This is some of the most nit picky bitch shit I have ever been a part of.
— Doug "Truck Driver" Polk (@DougPolkVids) November 17, 2020
Not a question of intregity
In the weeks and months leading up to the match, there was a lot of back and forth regarding rules and guidelines in the match, including a heated debate on the use of hand charts. They were restricted for a while, but then eventually Negreanu acquiesced.
It would be understandable if there was a bit of post-traumatic stress at play from that debate, fueling some of the initial drama on Tuesday. Cooler heads seemed to prevail with the emotions easing a bit as of early Tuesday evening with Perkins clarify by admitting there was “no malice” involved.
That's funny. For the record we have a dispute not an integrity question here (No Malice) The only thing bigger than Mike Postle is how much money you're gonna lose. Aside from that there's very little drama https://t.co/apYuOiAp60
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) November 17, 2020
Mike Postle gets through into the debate!
All good. At first I thought this was gonna be a big deal but then I realized it was only bigger than the Mike Postle incident. https://t.co/4xmp2PxOJC
— Doug "Truck Driver" Polk (@DougPolkVids) November 17, 2020
Rules disputes go through process
In the grand scheme of the match, this appears to be a relatively minor issue. Fortunately, before the Negreanu/Polk heads-up match began, Daniel Negreanu said there is a process in place in the event this type of situation came up. Looks like the pair have chosen none other than Phil Galfond to settle disputes throughout the heads-up challenge.
I WON THE HEADS UP MATCH!
All jokes aside, we are just getting clarification on the rules and thankfully we have a process in place to do that.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) November 17, 2020
We agree that it’s worth going to @PhilGalfond so we can get clarity on what type of data accumulation is OK and within the rules of the https://t.co/tOa6L4yo0q TOS.
Good call on a referee!
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) November 17, 2020
Phil’s wife Farah made light of the situation in calls for Galfond to help in the case.
With all due respect, @PhilGalfond has his own challenge, that he is losing, to worry about.
— Farah Galfond (@Farah_Galfond) November 17, 2020
So rest easy, folks. You will likely be able to watch the Negreanu/Polk heads-up match when it returns to its scheduled 5:30 PM start time on Wednesday.