Doug Polk has delivered a tirade on Twitter over the Global Poker Index not nominating him for the annual Global Poker Awards. The former high-stakes regular is absolutely fuming.
The GPI poker awards finalists came out yesterday, and this time, im not even nominated for any category
Last year I made 74 poker videos for 35m views. I covered hands, news, and all kinds of poker topics. I didnt play poker but it was my most successful year ever for content.
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) January 21, 2020
Doug Polk Bitter – Justified?
Doug Polk is one of the most visible poker players on the scene. His rise to the top of the heads up cash world ended with him defeating Ben “Sauce” Sulsky in their match.
Now, the self-proclaimed best heads up player in the world decided to diversify his skill set and move onto new challenges. Amongst playing a number of high roller tournaments against the world’s best, Polk also sought to become a media personality.
His outgoing personality, coupled with always having an opinion on something, and wanting to share that, made him an ideal candidate for YouTube.
His already not insignificant following certainly gave him a leg up, but even Polk would probably have been surprised by just how popular he became.
All of this eventually led to Polk becoming the most popular poker YouTube video producer by far. It really wasn’t even close, if you check the stats.
No Recognition
The Global Poker Awards are split into two categories. Vlogger of the Year and Media Content of the Year. Let’s assess Polk’s omission from each in turn.
Polk has never been what people term a diary style vlogger. He produces informative videos covering areas such as news to interesting hands. This alone seems to be reason enough for his exclusion.
The GPI poker awards finalists came out yesterday, and this time, im not even nominated for any category
Last year I made 74 poker videos for 35m views. I covered hands, news, and all kinds of poker topics. I didnt play poker but it was my most successful year ever for content.
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) January 21, 2020
Following Polk’s public complaint, Eric Danis, President of the Global Poker Index, said,
“We took in a lot of feedback and specified that those who created video diary-style vlogs would be eligible,”
This sounds perfectly reasonable and would be the end of the matter were it not for the inclusion of Jonathan Little. Little produces almost exclusively strategy content with a focus on specific hand reviews.
Polk points out, quite correctly, that ignoring second place in the viewership rankings he has pretty much the same total views as everybody else put together. This is some achievement and goes some way towards explaining why he feels so angry.
This is the ranking of for specifically poker viewership for 2019 YouTube
Me – 34m
Owen – 21m
Dnegs – 14m
Neeme – 8.5m
Depaulo – 4.5m
Boski – 4m
Little – 3m
Burton – 1.5m
Vibes – 1.5m
Mariano – 1.5m
Marle – 800k
Savage – 500k— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) January 21, 2020
Media Content – The Real Snub
The Media Content of the Year Polk snub is the real insult here. For this omission there really isn’t a satisfactory explanation.
Ok so im not nominated for video of the year, what about media moment of the year? Lets take a look at the list pic.twitter.com/7CNqO2pDk6
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) January 21, 2020
During 2019, Polk produced content covering the Mike Postle scandal as well as a feature on Jean-Robert Bellande. These videos were amongst the most popular we saw in 2019, therefore very difficult to ignore.
Yet, ignored he was.
Eric Danis tried to explain away the reason for this as Polk simply slipping through the net. A large team was put together to collect examples of people’s content and Polk’s work just never showed up. Not really a believable excuse.
Doug Polk ended his tirade with a clear accusation that the Global Poker Awards are rigged. From the evidence above many will agree with him.
“It does matter to point out these awards are rigged for people who support the industry insiders. The most important thing to me has always been fighting for the truth.”
In typical style, Polk also couldn’t resist a final swipe at the man who has become his online nemesis over the last few years – Daniel Negreanu.
“What really matters, is if Captain More Rake is Better and his sidekick Deputy #EntrepreneurLife think you like them.”
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