Doug Polk Pushes for Lower Rake on ClubWPT Gold High-Stakes Tables

Polk Calls Out the Rake, ClubWPT Gold Responds

It all kicked off when Polk took to X (formerly Twitter) to voice his frustration over what he saw as an unreasonably high rake cap on the site’s biggest games. Specifically, he called out the $30 rake cap at the $10/$20 heads-up no-limit tables, which he deemed unfair. While he acknowledged that rake at lower stakes was competitive, the high-stakes structure needed fixing.

I am going to be boycotting $10/$20 on @ClubWPTGold until the rake situation gets fixed

The rake at lower stakes is actually just good compared to the market, but the $30 cap at $10/$20 HUNL is unfairly high and I can't support that

— Doug Polk (Code Doug) (@DougPolkVids) March 10, 2025

True to his word, Polk refused to play the highest-stakes games available, even though it would have helped him reach his $100,000 profit goal faster. Given that he’s running a well-publicized challenge on the platform, pledging to give away his winnings to those who sign up with his code, it was a bold move. But it worked.

ClubWPT Gold quickly responded by adjusting its rake structure, significantly lowering the cap across the board. Heads-up tables from SC 1/2 and higher now have a rake cap of SC 3, down from the previous SC 10 or SC 30 at the biggest games. The changes also extended to full-ring tables, where the cap was dropped from SC 20 to SC 15 at SC 5/10/20 tables.

After some discussions with @ClubWPTGold I have managed to convince them to significantly reduce the rake at higher stakes. Almost all games are cheaper and it should make them far more profitable to play in.

Our boycott has endeded! Glad to see improvements for players. pic.twitter.com/b5ZUXpFMuQ

— Doug Polk (Code Doug) (@DougPolkVids) March 13, 2025

A Win for Players and Polk’s Challenge

Sure, this is an individual win for Polk but it also marks a big win for players who frequent ClubWPT Gold’s high-stakes games, as a lower rake cap makes the already soft games even more beatable. The move (and win) also reinforces Polk’s reputation as one of poker’s most vocal advocates for fair play and reasonable game conditions.

With the rake issue resolved, Polk is back to grinding the highest-stakes tables on the site. His graph has been trending upward, and despite some early struggles — including a rough $10,000 downswing — he’s now sitting over $15,000 in profit. With more days left in the challenge, there’s still time to hit that six-figure goal, though he’ll likely need a heater to get there.

One thing is clear: Polk’s influence in the poker world remains as strong as ever. Whether he reaches his $100,000 target or not, his challenge has already had a lasting impact on ClubWPT Gold, making the games fairer and more attractive for high-stakes players.