On January 3, Lex Veldhuis announced on Twitter/X he had left PokerStars, ending a historic 17-year sponsorship with the company. He simultaneously announced his return to Twitch after a long period on the sidelines. The reason for his departure from PokerStars has yet to be determined.
According to a transcript from his new stream, where he played on GGPoker for the first time, he stated: “2025 is in the rear-view mirror. That’s where I want to keep it. I know you’re all curious about everything that transpired. I felt like it was time for a new chapter, a new beginning.
“I’m excited about this year. I’m excited to play a lot of poker.
“It’s been 17 years. The worst thing you can do after a long relationship is immediately enter another one.”
New software throws Lex off
While Veldhius was setting up his streaming software, he was one-tabling the $108 Bounty Hunters Special 7-Max tournament. Veldhuis noticeably, and comically, struggled with playing on GGPoker for the first time, as he had never played on any other site for the last 17 years.
He didn’t adjust his settings before the start of play, and he was taken aback by some of the unique features – most notably, squeezing the hole cards, the four-color deck, and the Snap Cam feature.
Instant success
While Lex Veldhuis is an incredible player, it still takes some massive skill and luck to bink a 120-player tournament, especially at the $108 buy-in level. Nevertheless, in some style, Veldhuis managed to win it and take down a nice $2,541.22 prize. What a way to start off the new year.
Another day, another title
Lex wasn’t done just yet as he got to experience his first Sunday grind on a different platform. The high-stakes grinder didn’t disappoint as he was able to add another title to the mantle. This time, it came against much more difficult competition, winning the $840 Sunday High Rollers Bounty Special for $20,835.79, with more than 2/3 of his prize winnings coming from bounties alone.
The Dutch pro also enjoyed another great run, where he finished in third for around $13,000.
Lex Veldhuis’ poker career
Veldhuis is one of the most successful Twitch streamers in the poker industry with over 300,000 followers. The Vlissingen, Netherlands resident also won back-to-back GPI Best Streamer awards in 2018 and 2019.
Though Veldhuis is not known for playing much live poker, he has amassed $707,775 in career live tournament earnings across just 39 career cashes, with his biggest cash coming in a seventh-place finish at the $40,000 40th Anniversary tournament at the 2009 World Series of Poker for $277,939.
2009 was also the year Lex Veldhuis became a PokerStars ambassador, having quit Erasmus University in Rotterdam to play poker professionally only a few years prior. He was one of the select few across the world of poker to earn PokerStars’ SuperNova Elite status, an honor that he earned for three consecutive years.
References
The Hendon Mob: https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=51769
