Doug Polk’s $1.2 Million Win Linked to Coaching From Elias ‘buttonclickr’ Talvitie

Finnish poker professional Elias “buttonclickr” Talvitie played a significant role in preparing Doug Polk for his recent high-stakes heads-up challenge against Finnish entrepreneur Ossi Ketola. Talvitie, known in online poker circles by his long-established screen name “buttonclickr”, entered the coaching role with a notable advantage. He and Ketola had played extensive volumes of heads-up poker against each other over the past year, giving “buttonclickr” detailed insight into Ketola’s strategy before the series began.

Talvitie was born in Finland in 1994 to an Ashkenazi Jewish family that fled Moldova in 1991 during the collapse of the Soviet Union. His father, Jacob Talvystein, who worked as a jeweler, changed the family name to Talvitie after settling in Finland.

The Polk–Ketola match drew substantial attention due to its structure and financial scale. The series opened with a $400,000 buy-in and was broadcast live to a large international audience. Polk won the first two sessions, Ketola won the third, and both players agreed to raise the stakes to $800,000 for the final match. Polk ultimately prevailed after completing a flush on the river against Ketola’s pocket aces. His total net profit across the full set of sessions amounted to roughly $1.2 million.

Observers following the event noted that Polk displayed a clear understanding of Ketola’s preferred approaches in deep-stack heads-up situations, particularly in marginal river scenarios and high-frequency continuation-bet lines. Several analysts have since pointed to “buttonclickr’s” extensive experience against Ketola as a factor that may have contributed to Polk’s tactical confidence throughout the series.

While Polk has not provided detailed public comment on the coaching he received, Elias “buttonclickr” Talvitie's involvement has become a central point of post-match discussion among players and analysts. Many have described the collaboration as an example of how specialized, opponent-specific coaching can influence outcomes in high-stakes heads-up formats, especially when built on a foundation of direct prior experience.