Doug Polk mocking Matt Berkey for supposedly refusing to play Nik Airball $500k heads up

[JeffDime]

who are these people paying thousands of dollars for poker coaching in 2023? do people really still play poker for this investment to pay off? are they just learning gay pot odds, or are we going full 2012 with full on GAME THEORY OPTIMAL rofl

what a joke, I bet they're just sitting watching random situations being played by solvers

I think the S4Y is able to charge so much is it’s almost feels like “I buying into a community”. Aspiring pros feel like this is a quick way to buy their way in to an exclusive club. Which has more allure than just buying a training course where you need to sit down and focus on it alone for hours and hours.

It’s really the same business plan as the Blackjack Apprenticeship has had for years now. Come to Vegas and you will learn how to become a card counter and be “part of the club” for 5 k. In fact, I’m willing to wager that was part of the inspiration for the S4Y academy creation. Almost the same business plan and price point. I’m guessing the success rate is similar for both endeavors.

[Dan Druff]

I like many of Doug Polk's videos and haven't really heard of this Berkey, but I don't see in what world Polk wins in this exchange.

Polk made an accusation that was, in the light most favorable to Polk, greatly exaggerated.

Berkey provided evidence that Polk's accusation was greatly exaggerated, at best.

Berkey is in the right, Polk is in the wrong; I don't see how any kind of roast as to something completely unrelated changes that.

Also, don't both of these guys make money teaching people how to be just good enough at poker to gain undeserved confidence so that they can lose to guys like Berkey and Polk, so that Berkey and Polk get their money both going in and going out? Either way, I don't see how these flame wars benefit anyone other than social media attention.

Poker has many more people who behave like thirteen year old girls than I would have guessed.

The two have never liked each other, but in the last 2 years or so, have been cordial, enough to where Doug felt comfortable texting Berkey to set up the match Airball wanted. Now, Doug was texting him with selfish motivations (he wanted it to be at The Lodge), but it's still notable that they were on good enough terms to where Doug felt he was able to text him about it.

You answered your own question, though. Polk "won" social media attention. He wants this attention right now because he is trying to promote The Lodge and its stream.

But more importantly, he won distraction from a misstep which made him look bad in this feud with Berkey. The narrative quickly switched from "Doug is a childish asshole who is making false allegations against Matt Berkey" to "Doug is fucking hilarious and posted one of the best poker roast videos ever".

Social media attention spans are very short. Doug not only distracted, but he distracted with a response video about the topic itself.

If you asked me 36 hours ago who came out looking better to the community as a whole, the answer would have been, "Berkey, no question."

If you ask me now, the answer would be, "Doug, by a small margin."


I get your point, though. In a way, both also lost here. Some still have a bad taste in their mouth regarding how Doug acted, and that final video made Berkey and his operation look foolish, even if somewhat undeservedly.

I do agree that Berkey's class is overpriced, but as JeffDime said, the whole "learn as part of a community" thing has a lot of appeal.

Interestingly, this exact subject came up on 2+2 recently -- not Berkey, but about poker coaches and whether their personal results matter. It shouldn't matter whether or not Berkey can beat high stakes. The people attending S4Y aren't looking to destroy the best players in the toughest games. They are mediocre, everyman players who want to learn a higher level of thinking of how to beat games. If they walk out with new knowledge and can apply at least some of it, they've gotten some value out of the training. Videos of Berkey himself playing individual hands badly doesn't take away from that. You can find instances of almost everyone playing certain hands badly.

I don't feel Berkey is a "scammer" with his coaching service. It's expensive and gimmicky, but not a scam. You're paying him and his fellow coaches to teach you to become a better player, in a live training setting, and that's what you get. It's not like he's lying and claiming how good you'll be after taking his course, or lying about his own credentials.

Berkey has also done a good job with the "Only Friends" show on YouTube, which has generally been well received, and he definitely puts a shitload of effort into it.

With that said, when Berkey charges $4k each for him and a team of unknowns to teach people in a group setting, he has to expect some community ribbing over it.

[nunbeater]

Caitlin cashing checks and breaking necks

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/CaitlinComeskey/status/1639346914868047873

[Dan Druff]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

Either Caitlin forgot (because so much shit has happened since then, with Garrett/Airball/Polk/Berkey/Vertucci), or she just didn't want to touch it because it had to do with a controversy about cancer.

I'm guessing the latter. Even though her videos are lampooning people, she's fairly gentle about it, and is careful in her tweets (and videos) not to make enemies.

[dwai]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

are you talking about [REDACTED]?

[nunbeater]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

Either Caitlin forgot (because so much shit has happened since then, with Garrett/Airball/Polk/Berkey/Vertucci), or she just didn't want to touch it because it had to do with a controversy about cancer.

I'm guessing the latter. Even though her videos are lampooning people, she's fairly gentle about it, and is careful in her tweets (and videos) not to make enemies.

lol who the fuck would make a comedy video on your and Jami's battle? Seriously you gotta read the room guy

[Dan Druff]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

Either Caitlin forgot (because so much shit has happened since then, with Garrett/Airball/Polk/Berkey/Vertucci), or she just didn't want to touch it because it had to do with a controversy about cancer.

I'm guessing the latter. Even though her videos are lampooning people, she's fairly gentle about it, and is careful in her tweets (and videos) not to make enemies.

lol who the fuck would make a comedy video on your and Jami's battle? Seriously you gotta read the room guy

Caitlin's videos are about poker Twitter drama. This one was supposed to be an all-encompassing video about recent such drama, but obv the Jami story was left out. As I said, likely the morbid subject matter.

[Zap_the_Fractions_Giraffe]

IM A MIDDLE AGED MAN
I WEAR A BACKWARDS BASEBALL HAT
I LIFT WEIGHTS TO MAKE MY ARMS BIG

[dwai]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

Either Caitlin forgot (because so much shit has happened since then, with Garrett/Airball/Polk/Berkey/Vertucci), or she just didn't want to touch it because it had to do with a controversy about cancer.

I'm guessing the latter. Even though her videos are lampooning people, she's fairly gentle about it, and is careful in her tweets (and videos) not to make enemies.

lol who the fuck would make a comedy video on your and Jami's battle? Seriously you gotta read the room guy

not gonna lie, I agree with you on this, seems like Druff is trying to insert his drama that he inserted himself into, into a drama youtuber's video about drama, it's all very inception and jew privilege white supremacy etc

[Mission146]

Not sure if it's good or bad that the Druff vs Jami situation didn't make the video. This was the biggest topic on poker Twitter for about 3-4 weeks, even though I wished it wasn't.

Either Caitlin forgot (because so much shit has happened since then, with Garrett/Airball/Polk/Berkey/Vertucci), or she just didn't want to touch it because it had to do with a controversy about cancer.

I'm guessing the latter. Even though her videos are lampooning people, she's fairly gentle about it, and is careful in her tweets (and videos) not to make enemies.

lol who the fuck would make a comedy video on your and Jami's battle? Seriously you gotta read the room guy

Dude, just have it be a king-sized bed with the white comforter and all that like, "I'm here in the hospital, literally right now, it's been a tough recovery."

And then, the camera pans out and you see a nightstand with a guest information placard with a Hyatt logo, or something.

Better yet, make it a Ritz-Carlton, "So, these medical care expenses are really going to eat me until I can get back on my feet."

Then, room service knocks on the door.

Also, have the camera briefly show a separate device on the desk with some poker site already loaded.

[Mission146]

The two have never liked each other, but in the last 2 years or so, have been cordial, enough to where Doug felt comfortable texting Berkey to set up the match Airball wanted. Now, Doug was texting him with selfish motivations (he wanted it to be at The Lodge), but it's still notable that they were on good enough terms to where Doug felt he was able to text him about it.

You answered your own question, though. Polk "won" social media attention. He wants this attention right now because he is trying to promote The Lodge and its stream.

But more importantly, he won distraction from a misstep which made him look bad in this feud with Berkey. The narrative quickly switched from "Doug is a childish asshole who is making false allegations against Matt Berkey" to "Doug is fucking hilarious and posted one of the best poker roast videos ever".

Social media attention spans are very short. Doug not only distracted, but he distracted with a response video about the topic itself.

If you asked me 36 hours ago who came out looking better to the community as a whole, the answer would have been, "Berkey, no question."

If you ask me now, the answer would be, "Doug, by a small margin."


I get your point, though. In a way, both also lost here. Some still have a bad taste in their mouth regarding how Doug acted, and that final video made Berkey and his operation look foolish, even if somewhat undeservedly.

I do agree that Berkey's class is overpriced, but as JeffDime said, the whole "learn as part of a community" thing has a lot of appeal.

Interestingly, this exact subject came up on 2+2 recently -- not Berkey, but about poker coaches and whether their personal results matter. It shouldn't matter whether or not Berkey can beat high stakes. The people attending S4Y aren't looking to destroy the best players in the toughest games. They are mediocre, everyman players who want to learn a higher level of thinking of how to beat games. If they walk out with new knowledge and can apply at least some of it, they've gotten some value out of the training. Videos of Berkey himself playing individual hands badly doesn't take away from that. You can find instances of almost everyone playing certain hands badly.

I don't feel Berkey is a "scammer" with his coaching service. It's expensive and gimmicky, but not a scam. You're paying him and his fellow coaches to teach you to become a better player, in a live training setting, and that's what you get. It's not like he's lying and claiming how good you'll be after taking his course, or lying about his own credentials.

Berkey has also done a good job with the "Only Friends" show on YouTube, which has generally been well received, and he definitely puts a shitload of effort into it.

With that said, when Berkey charges $4k each for him and a team of unknowns to teach people in a group setting, he has to expect some community ribbing over it.

Before I respond, I want to make it very clear that I know that you know much more about the situation and backstory than I ever would.

Personally, I just think the whole thing seems unprofessional. I'm really not a huge fan of major social media clout chasing, in general, but these guys run competing services in the category of poker training/coaching. Maybe it's necessary as times change for them to pivot this way in order to hopefully attract Millennials and early Gen-Z, who seem to love these kind of bullshit flame wars, melodrama and hyperbole.

Christ, what a disgusting culture.

In the meantime, a late Gen-X/early Gen-Z guy like me (I'm 39, but I self-identify as 43) finds himself pretty much disgusted with the whole display. If nothing else, it's unprofessional.

In terms of the services, I didn't mean to imply that the services are a scam; I am certain they very much aren't. I think some people will get more value out of it than others, but really, the same could be said for any service related to any kind of education or training. I don't think the services could ever possibly be worth the cost, especially with all of the cheap/free information already out there. I guess it might be useful to someone who doesn't really know poker, or perhaps it can improve a long time loser's game enough that they, at least, lose less than they did before and lose less in the long run by virtue of getting the service; I don't know. I also suppose it's possible that some people aren't really good at self-instruction, in general.

I agree with you about everything else. If his stated goal is he can teach people how to become more likely to beat low-moderate stakes cash games, then it really doesn't matter how he has performed in streams, major tournaments, high-limit games, heads-up or what have you.

[nunbeater]

lol who the fuck would make a comedy video on your and Jami's battle? Seriously you gotta read the room guy

not gonna lie, I agree with you on this, seems like Druff is trying to insert his drama that he inserted himself into, into a drama youtuber's video about drama, it's all very inception and jew privilege white supremacy etc

yeah this whole berkey polk drama is ripe for parody
jewman vs cancer lady? that's just sad man

[ftpjesus]

But Doug still had a weapon in his arsenal -- his ability to make entertaining troll videos, and a guy on his payroll who was good at doing them.

a guy on his payroll? oh yeah that random ass guy on his payroll that's kind of good at making videos, yah that guy

next time you put some GODDAMN respect on SiriuslySrs' name

“Fuck you and Fuck 2+2”. Still one of my fav SS videos.

[Zap_the_Fractions_Giraffe]

gayg gaylk sucks dick, i'm with Matt Berkey 1000 percent

[Dan Druff]

Well, the match is on.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1640119201074655233


There will be no way to watch this, so it will be rather boring as it takes place. Just daily updates, apparently.

[Dan Druff]

I actually volunteered to arbitrate the original terms of this, after Berkey rejected letting Lynne Ji do the arbitration, as she's Airball's friend.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/nikairball/status/1639807578757816320

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1639819740528132096

My offer got 70 likes (about 1/4 the likes of Berkey's tweet above it, despite mine getting 6k views and Berkey's getting 233k views!) but neither guy contacted me, and apparently they worked it out themselves. No big deal, but I would have been happy to do this, as it would have been interesting, and wouldn't have been a lot of effort.

[Dan Druff]

Berkey then took a final shot at Doug and Airball before "leaving Twitter to go prepare":

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1640206738396950528

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1640206741009997824

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1640206744776491008

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/berkey11/status/1640206747708329984

[Dan Druff]

I finally had enough of Nik Airball's bullshit posturing. I'm not Berkey's friend. We get along, but I'm not "Team Berkey" in any way. However, Airball has been acting like a douche the entire time, and I finally decided to point out the strangeness of the fact that a young, small stakes player from a few years ago is suddenly a huge baller with seemingly unlimited funds.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640181591736725504


Airball didn't respond, but his Hustler buddy DGAF attempted to go after me:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/DGAFPokerPlayer/status/1640201655240261632

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640212272093212682

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640224458052104193


I had a few idiots take a shot at me about "oh this guy picked on a woman with cancer", but at least I'm demonstrating here that I also pick on rich men without cancer.

Anyway, I don't really care too much about where Airball got his funds, but it's a valid question which we have a right to publicly ask. This is because he's trying so hard to be a famous poker villain, and he literally came out of nowhere with tons of funds at a very young age.

I don't ask high stakes players where they got their cash, even if they appeared out of nowhere. However, when the guy's entire gimmick is to talk trash on stream and social media, and to brag about how his big bankroll gives him an edge over established players, then yeah his source of funds are a fair discussion topic.

I was telling the truth about DGAF, by the way. The Hustler-haters were trying really hard in late 2022 to drag me into their whole "DGAF is cheating" conspiracy. However, I found that their "evidence" was extremely weak, and seemed to just be a spreadsheet about his results from one session to another. I told them that I wasn't seeing anything convincing, and didn't go down that road. That's why it's funny that DGAF went after me, as if I were some asshole who always criticizes just for the sake of starting drama.

[nunbeater]

well it's been a great year for investment bankers obv

[dwai]

I finally had enough of Nik Airball's bullshit posturing. I'm not Berkey's friend. We get along, but I'm not "Team Berkey" in any way. However, Airball has been acting like a douche the entire time, and I finally decided to point out the strangeness of the fact that a young, small stakes player from a few years ago is suddenly a huge baller with seemingly unlimited funds.

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640181591736725504


Airball didn't respond, but his Hustler buddy DGAF attempted to go after me:

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/DGAFPokerPlayer/status/1640201655240261632

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640212272093212682

Embedded Tweet

https://twitter.com/ToddWitteles/status/1640224458052104193


I had a few idiots take a shot at me about "oh this guy picked on a woman with cancer", but at least I'm demonstrating here that I also pick on rich men without cancer.

Anyway, I don't really care too much about where Airball got his funds, but it's a valid question which we have a right to publicly ask. This is because he's trying so hard to be a famous poker villain, and he literally came out of nowhere with tons of funds at a very young age.

I don't ask high stakes players where they got their cash, even if they appeared out of nowhere. However, when the guy's entire gimmick is to talk trash on stream and social media, and to brag about how his big bankroll gives him an edge over established players, then yeah his source of funds are a fair discussion topic.

I was telling the truth about DGAF, by the way. The Hustler-haters were trying really hard in late 2022 to drag me into their whole "DGAF is cheating" conspiracy. However, I found that their "evidence" was extremely weak, and seemed to just be a spreadsheet about his results from one session to another. I told them that I wasn't seeing anything convincing, and didn't go down that road. That's why it's funny that DGAF went after me, as if I were some asshole who always criticizes just for the sake of starting drama.

what are the odds Druff gets bullied into deleting another thread after getting rekt on Twitter?