I think DNegs better hit the brakes here. I know he gained a ton of experience battling "HU Expert" Doug Polk who is a fundamentally terrific GTO strategist, but, that was a different kind of battle. Phil seems to rise to every challenge. I know not a lot of people like his brash style and prefer "nice, friendly" Daniel, but we are talking about actual competition here and not personality styles.
Not sure about the 'nice, friendly' description you've given for Daniel. You know... teeth getting placed with his boot, etc.
Meanwhile.. Phil is a great guy away from the tables.
Yes, Daniel gained experience and knowledge vs Polk, but he still lost badly to a guy who quit poker almost 2 years before. I think that fact is lost on a lot of people as is the fact that Polk played Hellmuth heads up and got destroyed. Antonio Esfandiari talked smack for YEARS challenging Hellmuth to a HU match, and what happened? Phil trounced him 3 times IN A ROW.
Daniel put in 25k hands vs. arguably the best NLHE HU specialist in the World & improved dramatically along the way.
I know these were all live matches and that there is a substantial difference between live and online, so I highly doubt that it would ever take place because I do not ever see or hear of Phil playing much online. But, if it were to happen, I believe that Phil gives Daniel a beat down. maybe he is at a disadvantage because Daniel has become much more proficient in GTO strategies and Phil won't have the advantage of being able to use his incredible live reads, but, even against Polk, Daniel deviated often and significantly from GTO strategies and I believe part of Phil's reading ability is that he chooses to believe his gut feelings. This may not be as scientific as GTO play, but it can be unbelievably powerful and reliable.
I really hope this match does take place, I think the hype would dwarf DNegs v Polk and bring a lot of interest to the game. I just think that the outcome may be starkly different than what most people are predicting.
