Following on from last night’s FU Friday Flip tournament, there was more fun to be had today at Lex Live in Namur.

Saturday afternoon saw Lex Veldhuis and his Twitch community take over the amazing Barnabeer bar in the city centre for a good old fashioned pub quiz. In this quiz, though, there was only one subject.

Lex Veldhuis.

How well did his community really know the man they’ve spent hours railing, supporting, and interacting with? This was the best way to find out, and trust us when we tell you, these guys came prepared.

When it comes to the man himself, nobody knows Veldhuis better than his mother, who was in attendance. Veldhuis’s fiancee Myrthe was also taking part.

MORE FROM LEX LIVE: DAY 2 LIVE UPDATES | FU FRIDAY FLIP | DAY 1C RECAP | CROAKS INTERVIEW | PARTY TIME VIDEO | DAY 1B RECAP | MEET THE QUALIFIERS | WATCH VIDEO FROM DAY 1A

Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, Fintan “EasyWithAces” Hand, and Felix “xflixx” Schneiders were all in the house too, testing their knowledge. But in a way, they’d already won.

You see, midway through the quiz Veldhuis announced that the four players with the highest quiz score would be taking part in a private sit and go tomorrow, streamed live on Veldhuis’s Twitch channel. The event will be a tag-team tournament, with each winner paired up with one of the PokerStars Ambassadors. They can sub in and out whenever they wish.

And who were the winners?

1st – Sanne Bombeek (Antim00n)

2nd – Milko van Winden (Milkovw)

Tied 3rd Tjenno Eskes (TjennoE)

Tied 3rd – Ben Martin (TheBenMartin98)

Those four will be paired up with either Lex, Spraggy, Fintan or Felix tomorrow in a draw tomorrow. Players five through eight received a goodie bag for their efforts.

Are you ready to take the quiz yourself? Then grab a pen and paper and get comfortable!

TAKE THE LEX LIVE PUB QUIZ!

Jot down your answers as you scroll through the quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end. Good luck!

Round 1:

1) When is Lex’s birthday?

2) What was Lex’s biggest score on Twitch and how much did he cash for?

3) Everyone knows him as Lex, but what is his real first name?

4) What was Lex’s longest stream (in hours)?

5) What date did Croaks become mod?

6) When was Lex’s first stream?

7) How many years has Lex been part of Team PokerStars?

8) How many countries has Lex streamed from, not counting IRL?

9) How many subs did Lex peak at?

10) What’s Lex’s daily sub record?

Round 2:

1) Lex is part of Team liquid, what game did he play?

2) Who was Lex’s first sub?

3) What’s Lex’s Final Table song (Artist + title)?

4) Lex doesn’t smoke weed these days. What’s the only thing he smokes?

5) How many ball fail clips are there?

6) Which member of Team PokerStars (past or present) did Lex teach poker to?

7) What did Lex do for 1,000 subs?

8) What is Lex’s biggest online score apart from Twitch?

9) How many labels does Lex have?

10) What is Lex’s favourite movie?

Round 3:

1) What’s Lex’s fiancee’s first name?

2) How old is Lex?

3) What is Lex’s favourite beer?

4) What kind of car does Lex drive (colour + brand)?

5) Which PokerStars tournament was called the “Lex Veldhuis Open”?

6) Which Dutch football player do people say Lex looks similar to?

7) Which Twitch Streamer does Lex watch the most?

8) What is Lex’s favourite Dota Hero?

9) What’s the correct amount of big blinds to raise to with A8 offsuit?

10) What game does Ruthann really want Lex to play, but secretly he’ll never finish?

Round 4:

1) Who is the fastest Mod on Twitch?

2) Who is Lex’s personal poker coach?

3) How many steps does Lex walk a day on his treadmill?

4) Who is better at Dota, Spraggy or Lex?

5) What was Eklusis’s name on Twitch before Eklusis?

6) In what city did Lex propose to Myrthe?

7) What’s the best sauce on steak?

8) What’s Lex’s favourite SNES game?

9) What’s the most kills Lex has got in a win on H1z1 on stream?

10) What’s the buy-in of the first tournament Lex ever won on stream?

Round 5:

1) Does extemp_re have an O or 0 in his name?

2) How many 6’s are in “mpadam”‘s Twitch name: 2 or 3?

3) Who edits Lex’s YouTube videos?

4) What did Lex do for reaching 500 subs the first time?

5) The faster you run from me…?

6) What Mini Game did Lex use to play on breaks?

7) What tournament did Lex call the “daily donation” when he was playing in Canada?

8) How many seconds are on the countdown in the last scene of Lex’s intro scene?

9) What’s Lex’s biggest live tournament score?

10) What hand did Lex call Doyle with on High Stakes Poker?

Round 6:

1) What’s Lex’s lowest tier donation song?

2) What’s the most Final Table’s Lex has ever got in one stream?

3) What is Lex’s gamer tag (get the spelling right!)?

4) Which three trolls from Lex’s viewers did a birthday video for him in 2017?

5) Who’s the bodybuilder in the motivation videos Lex used to watch?

6) What scares Lex the most?

7) Who is Lex’s favourite player on the triton episodes?

8) Name three players that Lex has tagged as “legend” on PokerStars?

9) What’s the first video on lex’s Youtube, that is NOT a guitar hero gameplay?

10) What was the most amount of bounties Lex has won while playing the $7.50BB all in every hand?

ANSWERS

Round 1:

1) Dec 29th

2) $1050 Thursday Thrill for $56k

3) Alexander

4) 25 hours

5) Dec 24th

6) Feb 29,2016

7) 10 years

8) 4

9) 8,007

10) 1,327

Round 2:

1) Starcraft 2

2) Delloor

3) Sway – Still Speedin’

4) FOOLS

5) 18

6) Fatima Moreira de Melo

7) Blow Up Week

8) 3rd in the Sunday Million for $77K

9) 13

10) American Beauty

Round 3:

1) Myrthe

2) 35

3) Hertog Jan

4) Matte Black BMW

5) $22 PLO Turbo

6) Robin van Persie

7) Gorgc

8) Shadow Fiend

9) Four

10) Hollow Knight

Round 4:

1) RuthAnnK

2) bencb

3) 10,000

4) Lex

5) Wheresmyelephant

6) Prague

7) Mayonnaise

8) Secret of Mana

9) 12

10) Big $16.50

Round 5:

1) It’s a 0 (zero)

2) Three

3) extemp0re

4) 24-hour stream

5) The faster you fall

6) Slither

7) $215 Bounty Builder

8) Three

9) $277K

10) 9♠2♠

Round 6:

1) Rockstar

2) Six

3) RaSZi

4) itskiwishaun, croaks, jobtrekpop

5) CT Fletcher

6) Clowns

7) Tan Xuan

8) C. Darwin2, girafganger7, etxnl01, €urop€an, Isildur1, poker@luffyD

9) The ElkY fight

10) Seven

How did you get on?

Tweet your results to us at @PokerStarsBlog, and make sure you tag @RaSZi too!

Have events at Lex Live inspired you to start playing poker? Click here to open a PokerStars account.

Watch a live-streamed sit and go featuring Lex, Spraggy, Fintan, Felix, and four members of the Twitch community. After that there will be Main Event coverage.

Yesterday we told you about the Lex Live Pub Quiz. It was a special event for everyone who attended.

One of the most fun stream-related experiences I’ve had so far. Check out the video to catch the feel of the live event. 👀.

Winners of the pub quiz play a sng for €6500 euro combined live on my channel at Noon CET https://t.co/UhGNFWBnPI

— LexVeldhuis (@RaSZi) March 30, 2019

The four winners of the quiz will now be playing a tag team sit and go (each of them paired with a PokerStars ambassador). There’s €3,000 for the winner.

The quiz winners were:

1st – Sanne Bombeek (Antim00n)

2nd – Milko van Winden (Milkovw)

Tied 3rd Tjenno Eskes (TjennoE)

Tied 3rd – Ben Martin (TheBenMartin98)

MORE FROM LEX LIVE:

TAKE THE PUB QUIZ | DAY 2 COVERAGE | FU FRIDAY FLIP | DAY 1C RECAP | CROAKS INTERVIEW | PARTY TIME VIDEO | DAY 1B RECAP | MEET THE QUALIFIERS | WATCH VIDEO FROM DAY 1A

Have events at Lex Live inspired you to start playing poker? Click here to open a PokerStars account.

With both the Main Event and High Roller down to the one or two tables, we caught up with the man of the week, Lex Veldhuis, to gauge his reaction on what’s been an incredible festival.

That’s almost it, folks. Sadly, the first ever Lex Live festival is almost over (although not quite, as we’re still yet to discover who will become our Main Event champion).

We’ve had a blast getting to meet everyone from Lex Veldhuis’s Twitch community, playing some poker (how fun was that FU Friday Flip event?), and giving you a sense of what this event has been like.

But how does Veldhuis feel about everything? Over one last beer (OK, that’s a lie!) we sat down for a chat. Here’s what he had to say.

PokerStars Blog: Hey Lex. With everything starting to wind down, what has the Lex Live experience been like for you?

Lex Veldhuis: The crazy thing is, tomorrow when it’s done, everybody is going to head home and think: ‘Whoa, what the fucking hell happened last week?’. It’s been such a storm. There are still so many people hanging out, there’s still so much social interaction going on. Right now, in my head, it’s still not even close to finishing.

It sounds like you’re happy with everything?

I couldn’t be happier with everything. All of the tournaments were massive, not just the Main Event. The High Roller had a lot of people. There were lines and lines of people for the bounty tournament. I believe there were 180 people on the waiting list. Absolutely incredible.

What do you think it’s going to be like on your streams from now on?

I’m really excited to see what it’s going to be like on the channel and in the Discord. How is this going to progress? The deep connection that people have made, how is this going to play out on the channel? I think it’s going to be even more awesome and interactive. I would have said intimate, but intimate makes it sound like a small group. But lots of people showed up and everyone has felt included. It’s been a wild ride. It hasn’t really set in yet.

Has anything surprised you?

The Main Event numbers, for sure. I thought that was pretty incredible. It’s weird because the community has been exactly the way I hoped it would be. Everyone has been so insanely social and open. I thought there would be much more ice-breaking going on, y’know? Everybody settling in, some people skirting on the edges then joining on the second day etc. But everyone showed up for a beer and a chat. I was actually surprised by how comfortable everyone was with each other immediately.

What’s the feedback been like from the community members who couldn’t be here?

I think the way PokerStars Blog has been covering the event, people have really been able to get a feel for the way Lex Live has been. I think a lot of people in the Discord who couldn’t come will definitely be there next time. It’s just a massive stepping stone. It’s crazy to think that this was the first one when you look at the stuff we’ve done and how many people were here.

Is it safe to assume that this is going to be the first of many Lex Live festivals?

Yeah, it’s always dangerous to say, but I think I can say it’s almost 100 per cent sure that we’re going to do it again.

As for destinations, I have no clue. I usually like long-lasting working relationships, and to me, it’s going to come down to the same things: what’s the infrastructure like in the casino? How easy is it for people to get to travel-wise? etc. I’m going to listen to a lot of feedback from community members over the next few weeks, put that all in a document, and see what kind of improvements we can make.

What I’ve really loved about hosting it at the Grand Casino de Namur is the hang-out area right next to the poker area. We have a bar, a lounge, and a big poker area. It’s pretty cheap too! Everybody is coming here on a budget and putting money aside to get here, so all of that stuff will be taken into account. I think this venue provides some really good stuff for us, and they’ve done a really great job.

Are you looking forward to getting back on stream?

Yeah for sure. Thursday and Friday I’ll be back on stream. I’ll be doing some commentary on a high stakes cash game also for the first time. And then after that, it’ll be Sunday streaming. I can’t wait for the Sunday stream. It’s going to be Sunday tournaments all day, I’ll get to catch up with everybody, and from there it’s going to be the road towards the Spring Championship of Online Poker.

Do you know anyone still in the Main Event or the High Roller?

I don’t think so. Spraggy just busted the High Roller in 10th, which is nice, y’know? He’s had a few big cashes lately and we don’t want him to…he’s just the most annoying winner ever! He always needs to let everyone know!

Have events at Lex Live inspired you to start playing poker? Click here to open a PokerStars account.

April Fools’ Day is a special kind of holiday, a day when it’s okay for you play jokes on your friends. You’re allowed — encouraged, even — to be deceitful, to lie, and as a result to profit at others’ expense.

If you think about it, April Fools’ Day is a little like being at a poker table. In both situations it’s fine for you to try to trick others. In both you are also constantly on the lookout for others trying to trick you. And it’s all okay, permitted by the “rules” of the game (or day).

In a way, April Fools’ Day is all about bluffing — and bluff catching.

There are a few ways such joke-making could be said to resemble the different kinds of deception that inform poker strategy.

1. Jokes and Bluffs: Having Permission to Lie

Our friend Joe Stapleton of PokerStars TV has been known to crack wise now and then while commenting on poker. I thought I’d ask him about how telling a joke can be like making a bluff.

“What I like best about both bluffs and jokes is that in both cases, it’s actually acceptable to lie,” Stapleton says. “Nobody is going to get mad at you afterward for lying. Well, not usually.”

He’s right. If you can pull off a bluff, well, that’s part of the game. Similarly, when you say “knock-knock” and someone answers “who’s there?” no one expects you to respond truthfully. It’s make-believe time.

As Stapleton points out: “No one ever says WHAT? You mean a priest, a rabbi, and a minister WEREN’T all in lifeboat altogether? F*** YOU!”

Joe “Stapes” Stapleton: Professional liar

2. Jokes and Bluffs: Telling a Believable Story

Knowing how to tell a joke isn’t that far removed from knowing how to play poker. In fact, the April Fools’ prank actually evokes a common formula for joke-telling.

As you surf the web on April 1, you might well come across a headline or three purporting to be real that is in fact a complete fiction. More than you usually do, anyway.

One of my favorite examples of this sort of thing was George Plimpton’s article for the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated about an up-and-coming pitching prospect for the New York Mets named Hayden Siddhartha “Sidd” Finch who could reportedly throw a fastball 168 miles per hour.

Some readers, missing the date, believed the story. After all, there were photos of the guy (or a guy) in uniform with current Mets players. And even though a lot of the details of Finch’s story seemed outrageous, there was no disclaimer suggesting any of it might be fake. Heck, baseball season was just starting, a time when baseball fans are more willing than usual to dream.

Mets fans in particular were thrilled.

Lots of jokes work in a similar way. If you buy the set-up, the joke has a better chance to land. Same goes for bluffing. If your opponent thinks your big bet is “truthful,” you’re more likely to earn the fold you desire.

“The more believable each one is, the more likely they are to have the desired effect,” Stapleton says. “This is why you laugh much harder at a ‘guy does into a doctor’s office’ joke than a ‘two dinosaurs were waiting in line at the DMV’ joke.”

“If not, I’d really like to play poker with you,” he adds.

3. Jokes and Bluffs: Seeking a Payoff

So two dinosaurs were playing poker, and one of them check-raised all in. Problem was, he clearly had a drawing hand and no straights or flushes were possible. The story wasn’t believable, the other dino called, and the bluffer’s stack was suddenly extinct.

Bad bluff. Bad joke, too.

“If your joke or bluff isn’t believable, you don’t get paid off,” Stapleton says. “‘This is not a credible line’ could be used to describe both a bad bluff and a bad joke.”

Players who are consistently successful in online or live tournaments and cash games know the importance of building credibility before bluffing, be it over the course of previous hands or on earlier betting rounds.

The same goes for joke teller. If the audience doesn’t buy it — or (more often) isn’t willing to suspend disbelief — there ain’t gonna be any payoff.

So keep all that in mind, jokesters, when you slip on your poker face and try to bluff your friends and co-workers today. Lie proudly, make it believable, and get paid.

All eyes in the poker world will be on the PokerStars tables this month as we celebrate the 13th anniversary of the most revered online tournament of them all: the PokerStars Sunday Million. As you may have read, there’s a $10 million guarantee and a guaranteed $1 million first prize. But who’s going to win it?

Predicting a winner in a tournament with many thousands of entrants is nigh-on impossible. So let’s say this right from the start: the eventual champion almost certainly isn’t going to get a mention in this article series. But it’s still worth taking a look at some of the most likely contenders. If we were drawing up a betting market, here are a few folks who would at least attract a specified price.

We have had some help from PokerStars’ data analysts, who have been able to provide us some charts of top performers in tournaments similar in structure to the Sunday Million. Their input is crucial in the second part of this series that will appear later this week. But we’ve also spent some time looking at the PocketFives rankings, which gives the best idea of who is currently hot in the tournament world, as well as looking more broadly across the poker world for some other big hitters.

PocketFives’ top three

For more than a decade, PocketFives has tracked the great and the good of online tournament poker, and players still consider elevation to the highest echelons of the rankings to be the clearest indication that they’re doing something right. We’ll begin our hunt for the Sunday Million 13th Anniversary tournament winner at the top of the PocketFives chart:

Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky
At time of writing, Ukraine’s “RomeOpro” is ranked No. 1 on PocketFives’ tournament poker rankings, with 337 outright tournament wins (across all sites) and close to 500 other top-three results. On PokerStars alone, RomeOpro — a.k.a. Roman Romanovsky — has more than $6 million in online winnings. More importantly, he is a high-volume player in good form, which explains his current ranking. Barely a day passes without a significant online tournament cash by Romanovsky, often several of them, and the $215 Sunday Million buy-in is precisely his ballpark.

Niklas “Lena900” Åstedt
No discussion of online tournament poker can take place without a mention of “Lena900”, the online moniker of Sweden’s Niklas Åstedt. Swedes have been dominant at the online tables since the inception of the game (“aggro Scandis” have tormented the tables for more than a decade), and Lena900 is among the very best of them all. He first hit the No. 1 spot in March 2016 and has been in the top three pretty much ever since. He has Super Tuesday and SCOOP titles to his name, and has been to the Sunday Million final table at least twice.

Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson

Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson
Where Lena900 goes, “C. Darwin2” has likely been before. Though not necessarily the origin of the species, C. Darwin2 is very much the epitome of the formidable Swedish tournament grinder, who spent huge portions of 2016 as the world No. 1 and also scaled the summit in both of the following years. He has more than $7.3 million in tournament scores on PokerStars alone, including COOP accolades and a Sunday Warm-Up win. He also has around $1.3 million in live tournament results, where he tends to go by his “other” name: Simon Mattsson.

The rest of the PocketFives top 10 is similarly stacked with heroes. If all/any of the following fire in the Sunday Million, they are going to stand a high chance of making a deep run: “girafganger7” (UK), Patrick “pads1161” Leonard (UK), Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar (Sweden), Ramiro “ramastar88” Petrone (Argentina), Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford (UK), Andras “probirs” Nemeth (Hungary), and Robin “robinho” Ylitalo (Sweden).

All-time superstars

If you’ve watched any online tournament poker over the past 10 years, you’ll have seen sensations come and go. But at the same time, you’ll have seen some sensations come and stay, seemingly immune to the enormous variance inherent in the game.

It’s a fair bet that all of the following players will be playing the Sunday Million Anniversary tournament this month, and for them it will be just another tournament in a career spanning years. But despite their status as veterans, their skills are as sharp as ever.

Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro: Finnish boss, with great success at tournaments as well as cash games, both live and online. Lrslzk still sits 12th in the global rankings, and is No. 1 in Finland.

Anatoly “nl_profit” Filatov: Has live and online tournament scores of more than $3.5 million, and has SCOOP and WCOOP titles, five years apart.

Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen: Former online No. 1, with victories in Super Tuesday, Sunday Warm-Up, Sunday 500 and WCOOP. First recorded online cash came in 2006, so has been doing this a loooong time, both from his native United States and adopted home of Costa Rica post-Black Friday.

Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen

Connor “blanconegro” Drinan: Has retreated from the live scene a little in recent years (despite $11 million in tournament cashes) but is still crushing online, where he’s putting in more volume than ever. Has a second and fourth place in previous Sunday Millions.

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman: It’s kind of a mystery how Chris “Moorman1” Moorman hasn’t won the Sunday Million. He has won nearly 400 major online tournaments and amassed online tournament cashes of more than $15 million, more than anyone else in the world. Although he has been based in the USA for a couple of months, the Sunday Million Anniversary may be able to tempt him back to an online poker-friendly country.

Calvin “cal42688” Anderson: When you’ve won the Sunday Warm-Up and the Sunday Second Chance, surely it’s only a matter of time until you scoop the big one? Well, that’s not necessarily true, but Calvin “cal42688” Anderson has been at the top of the online game for 12 years and is still recording major cashes across all sites. This time?

All format crushers

If you’re good at online poker, chances are you’ll be all right in the live environment, too. The same broadly applies vice-versa, although many of the top-ranking live tournament players tend now to focus on high roller events around the world and play online increasingly infrequently. However while these five players might be best known for their live results, they continue to put the volume in online. And a $10M guarantee is still a $10M guarantee, no matter how big your average buy-in.

Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer: Despite sitting 11th on the all-time live tournament poker money list, and being a regular on the super high roller scene, Steve O’Dwyer has been in a rich vein of online form over the past six months. Playing from his adopted home of Amsterdam under the screen-name “MrTimCaum”, O’Dwyer hit a new high of seventh on the global online tournament rankings after he won his first WCOOP title last autumn. He has been a regular across the sites in 2019, too, and when O’Dwyer is playing, O’Dwyer is winning.

Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell: Canada’s Kristen Bicknell still puts in a huge amount of online play despite migrating with great success recently to the live environment. “krissyb24” plays, and wins, on the PokerStars High Roller series, and has numerous tournament scores at all buy-in levels.

Ole “wizowizo” Schemion: Ole Schemion does his best to avoid the spotlight whether you encounter him at the online or the live tables. But for such a publicity-shy player, he has what must be a frustrating habit of continually winning things. If Schemion decides to sit down for this Sunday Million, that habit could easily continue.

Ole Schemion: An equal opportunities crusher

Shawn “buck21” Buchanan: With eight COOP titles to his name, and $7 million in live tournament earnings, it’s worth listening to Shawn “buck21” Buchanan. “The key is to be one of the ones staying ahead and working hard, which for me includes playing lots of hours and seeing the trends of the game at the moment and then thinking of ideas that can work well against them,” he told PokerStars last month. No one would be surprised to see us tapping him up for a winner’s interview again in a few weeks.

Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche: An indefatigable presence both at the online and live tables, Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche has the kind of appetite that marks out the very elite. Barely a week passes without a major score, and with the live tournament schedule all but clear on the weekend of April 13-14, Nitsche is all but certain to play the Anniversary event.

A recap of the major results from this weekend on PokerStars…

• Sweden’s “42ayay” wins the Knockout Sunday Milly for $91K
• Another weekend, another big win for “€urop€an”
• “elmerixx” wins $2,100 Sunday HR, finishes 3rd in Sunday 500
• Two big scores for “Tomatee”

SWEDEN’S “42ayay” WINS THE MILLY FOR $91K

This weekend saw a big batch of Sunday Majors, including the Sunday Million, converted to a Progressive KO format for what we called “Knockout Sunday.” The biggest prize (as usual) was in the Sunday Million, where an enormous field of 12,790 players combined for a $1.279 million prize pool.

After a touch over 15 hours of play, Sweden’s “42ayay” locked up the $63,416 top prize plus another $28,055 in bounties. Romania’s The39player, the only other player to grab five figures’ worth of KO prizes, finished in second for $46,015 with another $10,652 in bounties.

ANOTHER WEEKEND, ANOTHER BOUNTY BUILDER WIN FOR “€urop€an”

Last weekend was big for Finland’s Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden as he made four final table appearances and took down two titles. This week he only appeared at one final table, but he made it count.

Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden

“€urop€an” had to fire two bullets to get there but he took down the title in the Sunday $530 Bounty Builder HR. (One of his two wins last weekend was a daily High Roller Club Bounty Builder tourney.) Between the top prize and bounties, “€urop€an” bagged a total of $88,679.

“elmerixx” WINS $2,100 SUNDAY HR TITLE, 3RD IN SUNDAY 500

While “€urop€an” was dominating the Bounty Builder on Sunday, another player from Finland grabbed the biggest freezeout prize of the weekend in the $2,100 Sunday HR.

Past Super Tuesday champ Tomi “elmerixx” Brouk topped the 1,142-player field and earned $63,707 for the win. And then for good measure, “elmerixx” went on to take third in the Sunday 500, winning another $18,810.

TWO BIG SCORES FOR “Tomatee”

Also of note this weekend was a strong pair of runs by SCOOP 2018 champ Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez — who, interestingly enough, was the runner-up to “elmerixx” when the latter won his Super Tuesday title in 2017.

Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez and friends.

For finishing in third place, “Tomatee” earned $24,959 plus $3,240 in bounties in the $2,100 Sunday HR. “Tomatee” then followed that up by winning the High Roller Club $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up for another $56,499.

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE HIGH ROLLER CLUB

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE WEEKEND MAJORS

You can always find the best resources for learning poker at PokerStars School. Here’s a look what’s in store for you this week.

Play the Sunday Million 13th Anniversary special — for free

With its $10 million guaranteed prize pool and $1 million guaranteed prize for the winner, the Sunday Million 13th Anniversary Edition on April 14th is going to be a very big deal.

PokerStars School wants to put you in the $10M Guaranteed 13th Anniversary Sunday Million

Here’s an even bigger deal: there are two different ways you can play this tourney for free through PokerStars School.

Question of the Week

Your first path to free Sunday Million glory is the Question of the Week.

This week one lucky PS School member will win a $215 ticket to enter the tournament. All you have to do is answer this simple question in at least 50 words:

Consider the following scenario…

You’ve made it to the final three of the $10M Sunday Million 13th Anniversary. $1 Million is guaranteed for 1st place, and your two opponents want to make a deal:

Would you be interested in making a deal or prefer to play?
What strategy would you use to ensure you get the best possible deal?

You have until this coming Sunday evening to post your answers here. The PS School forum moderators will select a winner on Monday morning.

Free Spin & Go tickets

PS School is also giving away free Spin & Go tickets that could win you a seat in the Milly.

Leading up to the 13th Anniversary Sunday Million, PokerStars is running special $5 Spin & Go tournaments. Not only can you can win up to $1 million, but you could also score an entry into the big tournament itself.

PS School is giving away 25 tickets for these special $5 Spin & Go tournaments. All you have to do is visit this page and leave a comment below before April 11 explaining what would you do with a million dollars. The best 25 answers as selected by PS School staff will receive a $5 Spin & Go ticket.

Winners Wall: Learning poker on Twitch

Twitch is a fantastic resource for poker fans, especially those who are looking to improve their game. In this week’s Winners Wall interview, PS School member Mike “merseymike5” Heaps talks about how much the school’s Twitch streams with Pete “Carroters” Clarke have helped his game.

Pete “Carroters” Clarke spreads his poker knowledge via Twitch

“I saw Pete stream for the first time last year and ever since I always try not to miss one of his streams,” says Mike. “To get that level of teaching for free is amazing. As a result of PokerStars School and Pete’s training, I can proudly say that I’ve won 20+ MTT’s this year at micro stakes and increased my bankroll by 400%!!!”

Other new PokerStars School content you might enjoy

• Strategy: Short Stacking in Cash Games
• Twitch: Carroters plays the Community Tournament
• Video: Playing the Bubble
• Video: Short Stack Post Flop Play

Open a PokerStars account today and start learning from PokerStars School. Click here to get started, and then click here to register for PokerStars School.

All eyes in the poker world will be on the PokerStars tables this month as we celebrate the 13th anniversary of the most revered online tournament of them all: the PokerStars Sunday Million. As you may have read, there’s a $10 million guarantee and a guaranteed $1 million first prize. But who’s going to win it?

Predicting a winner in a tournament with many thousands of entrants is nigh-on impossible. So let’s say this right from the start: the eventual champion almost certainly isn’t going to get a mention in this article series. But it’s still worth taking a look at some of the most likely contenders. If we were drawing up a betting market, here are a few folks who would at least attract a specified price.

Last time, we glanced at some of the established megastars of poker, both online and in the live environment, all of whom should be strong contenders in the anniversary event. But with the help of the PokerStars card-room staff, we’ve also been able to look at some of the top performers in tournaments just like the Sunday Million, and from that group have been able to select another few names worth watching.

MORE ON THE ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY MILLION:
WHO’LL WIN: PART 1 | STRATEGY ADVICE | QUALIFY FOR FREE | ANNOUNCEMENT

The poker data specialists ran a search for tournaments with a $215 buy-in, the same as the Sunday Million, which had a guarantee of at least $1 million. From this, we’ve been able to determine which players have won the most money from these events; who has the most outright victories; who plays the most; and who has the best ROI. Our future champion may be lurking among them.

We’ve been here before

As we saw in Part 1 of this series, some of the greatest names in online poker have never won the Sunday Million. But there are some players who have done so more than once.

Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov: Three wins in Sunday Million-like tournaments

According to our data analysts, seven players have won a $215 buy-in $1M guaranteed tournament twice over the past five years. And one of them, Russia’s Artem “veeea” Vezhenkov, has done so three times. His total haul through 297 tournaments played at this level is $646,609, and when you also factor in that veeea has multiple Super Tuesday victories, plus a WCOOP title, he emerges as a clear frontrunner.

According to PocketFives, veeea’s lifetime cashes across all sites online total $8.4 million. He also popped up at the recent EPT Sochi Main Event, cashing in 61st, shortly after making the final table of the EPT Open. Vezhenkov is a real talent.

The other six multiple winners are:

“Internett93o” (Brazil), “thx4urm0n3y” (Canada), “VinceVegaMFR” (Brazil), Rob “robtinnion” Tinnion (UK), Mantas “bagoch” Bagočius (Lithuania), and Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson (UK). Of those, Aggro Santos is best known to followers of live poker as Margereson makes regular appearances on the European tournament circuit. All of these six can all claim to have been here before, and thus all will rightly be considered ones to watch.

Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson: Another two-time Sunday Million winner

Show them the money

Over the past five years, three players have won more than $1 million from tournaments at this level: “Xavi666” (Panama), “DrUPSWING” (Denmark/Germany) and “Daenarys T” (Netherlands). To the surprise of perhaps nobody, they owe their seven-figure totals primarily to previous anniversary Sunday Million events.

Xavi666 won the 11th Anniversary event in April 2017. DrUPSWING won the 8th Anniversary event three years before that. And Daenarys T won the “Take 2” version of the 2018 tournament, telling PokerStars Blog shortly afterwards that he slept for one hour and then bought a Rolex.

None of these three play what might be called high volume at PokerStars anymore, at least not at the $215 buy-in level. They have each registered for fewer than 100 tournaments of this size in the past five years, and a return to the winner’s circle for the 13th Anniversary tournament would represent a lightning striking twice occurrence. It’s not impossible, but it’s not particularly likely.

Richard “ThEcLaiMEer” Trigg: Serious contender

However, if we look a little further down the table topped by these three previous anniversary winners, we do find some more serious contenders. The British duo of “hdjgkfkgsdl” and Richard “ThEcLaiMEer” Trigg have each played close to 300 tournaments of this size in the past five years, registering cashes of $935,615 and $752,159, respectively. Similarly Sweden’s “Sasuke234” has $730,902 tournament cashes at this level, from a career resume that shows a lifetime total of more than $10.5 million across all sites.

It could be you! Click to get a PokerStars account. and play the Sunday Million.

ThEcLaiMEer and Sasuke234 in particular need to be considered very seriously as contenders to win any online tournament they enter. Both are consistently in the global top 10 of tournament players (Sasuke234 has been as high as second; ThEcLaiMEer was as high as fourth in 2014). Sasuke234 has won 126 online tournaments outright; ThEcLaiMEer has won nearly 300. And, most importantly, their big $215 buy-in tournament totals represent only a fraction of their overall hauls.

Neither has won the Sunday Million, at least not in the past five years, but these two undoubtedly have the pedigree to put that right this month.

Volume, volume, volume

You’ve got to be in it to win it, and over the past five years there is no one in world poker who has been in it more than Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar.

Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar: Been there, done that

Records show he has played more than 300 tournaments on PokerStars at the $215 buy-in level — and has booked a decent profit, too. In a 12-year professional career, Korsar has $12.3 million in online tournament cashes. He’s never won the Sunday Million, but he at least has had the practice.

On the subject of high volume players, we find Greece’s “Velouxiotis” with more than 390 buy-ins (and a $50,000+ profit) at this level, and also Russell “rdcrsn” Carson. From the 78 players who are in the 300+ club, it’s probably worth also picking out Johan “busto_soon” Van Til. His username has been promising something it hasn’t delivered for more than 12 years. He’s a former Sunday Million champion as well.

All about the ROI

Looking more closely at our list of tournament results, it’s probably worth dwelling for a moment on the column labelled ROI (or “return on investment”). Arguably this is the way we really figure out the consistent performers.

At the top of the ROI list, we of course find players who have essentially hit and run on the Sunday Million. Bulgaria’s “kapchin”, for example, finished second in the 12th Anniversary Sunday Million this time last year and won $707,574. That was kapchin’s first and last tournament at this buy-in, securing the kind of ROI it might be tempting not to ruin by actually playing again. Greece’s “moutsoun75” is in a similar boat. He finished fourth in the same tournament last year and was similarly playing at that level for the only time.

Kyle Julius: A regular, and a regular winner

(According to our records, the two players who have actually won Sunday Million-level tournaments the first and only time they played it are Hungary’s “mrw8419” and “EVERFR0ST” from Finland.)

However, if we restrict our searches to players who have played at this level more than 100 times, we find Lithuania’s “benislovas” whose 109 appearances have earned him an average $7,828 each time, with one outright win.

“a.urli” of Canada is not far behind — he won the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million — while there’s another familiar name in the top five of this list: Kyle “KJulius10” Julius, whose 103 tournaments at this level have netted him $381,100, including one win.

When we restrict this search further, to players who have a minimum 200 or 300 appearances at this level, we begin to see some established bosses rising to the top. Just take a look at the following lists:

Average win, more than 200 tournaments played:

Average win, more than 300 tournaments played:

Again, it is worth reiterating that the attempt to pick a winner from this event — which will have tens of thousands of runners — is essentially impossible. However, everyone mentioned above has reason to consider themselves well positioned for a crack at the title… and a first prize guaranteed to be at least $1 million.

NB: All stats correct at time of writing.

You can win tickets into one of five Spin of the Day freerolls every day on PokerStars. You might even find yourself with a story to tell.

Like “LoCoSi”, a married father of three college-aged kids, from Ontario Canada.

A graduate of the Mike Sexton/Vince van Patten era, he found himself turning that daily spin into a few hundred dollars last month. Not bad for a $0.01/$0.02 player.

His is not the story of high stakes poker you might usually find here. His is more ground level. Proudly so. He’s no gambler, he’s a poker player. It’s about fun, not the fame (or fortune).

Still. A win worth a couple of hundred dollars. What’s not to love about that?

“I’m probably the epitome of your casual recreational player.

“I’m not here to support a family. I just enjoy the game and it’s a great way to clear my head when I need a break.

“Multi-tabling takes some focus and I’ll often do that as stress relief. For me, that means playing $0.01/$0.02 full ring.

“I’ve had more money on the site and I’ve played for bigger stakes, but bad sessions with high losses would affect my mood, and I wanted this to be fun.

Play one hand every day on PokerStars to earn a free Spin of the Day. You could win Spin & Go tickets, or entry into one of five daily freerolls

“$0.02 blinds sounds low, but the average player is actually pretty good… versus free play, which tends to be the exact opposite of low stress fun.

“I actually started out on PokerPages and converted free points into real money… which allowed me to transfer $20 over to Poker Stars (eons ago).

“So, what does $457.25 mean to me?

“From an entertainment perspective, it was absolutely amazing.  My son and I were having a hoot watching it play it out.

“From a GTO perspective… I certainly didn’t deserve second place.  I simply folded my way into some cash.

“From a life perspective… Honestly, it would take a jackpot for me to consider withdrawing funds, so it’s still just part of the game.

“I’ll most likely evaluate the new bank roll, sharpen my skills with a few podcasts, then push into bigger levels with a massive over-estimation of my actual abilities… and then I’ll comfortably settle back into playing $0.01/$0.02 to kill some time.

“That, along with maybe a 1% chance that I’ll just buy into the Sunday Million and turn a freeroll into a real party story to keep in my back pocket.”

The inaugural Lex Live Festival played out in Namur last week. Here’s what went down.

ALL OUR CONTENT FROM LEX LIVE:

LEX VELDHUIS INTERVIEW

DANNY DE VOS WINS MAIN EVENT FOR €29,300

TAKE THE PUB QUIZ

DAY 2 COVERAGE

FU FRIDAY FLIP

DAY 1C RECAP

CROAKS INTERVIEW

PARTY TIME VIDEO

DAY 1B RECAP

MEET THE QUALIFIERS

VIDEO FROM DAY 1A

Have events at Lex Live inspired you to start playing poker? Click here to open a PokerStars account.

James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton are ready to fill your head with another episode of Poker In The Ears. This week the guys welcome Finland’s all-time leading money winner, Patrik Antonius, to the podcast.

Antonius is kicking off his new poker tour in Estonia this week and he has some ideas on how to change things up. He doesn’t like the way poker has evolved, where players are getting better all the time and looking for every advantage they can take.

“All we’re trying to do is make poker better again,” the Finnish legend tells Hartigan and Stapes. “I think we’ve gotta go back and play more social, entertaining poker.”

“Hurry up, this is going to look awful on TV!”

“I personally don’t like to watch when people cover themselves with scarves and hoodies completely, it doesn’t look nice. It’s a little bit ridiculous. If you’ve never watched poker before, imagine you start watching and you’re asking, ‘What’s this guy doing? Like, what the f*ck is he doing pulling his shirt over his face?’ What we are wearing is on another level in the high rollers right now. ”

Antonius is no fan of stalling, either — it’s one thing to balance your time ranges, he says, but it’s another to slow the game down. “We all know the guy is going to bet or check but he always takes his 30 seconds. The game flow should get better.”

Check out Episode 148 of Poker In The Ears on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Spotify.The interview with Antonius starts around 37:30. And if your ears feel good, be sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast.

New features include Sit & Gos, the option to buy chips and compete in weekly leader boards

If you’re a PokerStars VR player, there are some new features to look forward to this week.

From today you’ll be able to:

• Play new PokerStars VR Sit & Gos
• Buy chips to top up your bankroll*
• And take part in weekly leader boards

It means there’s a new competitive edge to VR poker.

Jeff Lande is the CEO of Lucky VR, PokerStars VR’s virtual reality developer. He goes through the new updates in the video below.

Play new VR Sit & Gos

The VR Sit & Gos will be familiar to regular PokerStars players. But if you’re new to the game, here’s a rundown of how they work.

• They begin when all the seats are filled, or when players decide to start. There’s no waiting around – you can play when you want to play.
• They’re played using regular, turbo, or hyper turbo structures. That means ten, five and two minute levels. You pick the VR format you prefer, to play in the time you have.
• Buy-ins start at 5,000 chips and go all the way to 1 million. So there are games for you whether you’re new to PokerStars VR, or count yourself as a virtual high roller.

And remember, if you prefer to play for free, you still can. You’ll still enjoy weekly bankroll resets when you drop below 10,000 chips, and up to three wheel spins a day.

Play new PokerStars VR Spin & Gos, or even host your own

You’ll also be able to host your own Sit & Gos. Set up a table and invite friends. Or just open it up and see who stops by.

You get to choose the structure, the buy-in, as well as the number of players.

Buy chips to fast track your bankroll

The option to buy more chips gives you more options on how to play.

Buy chips to fast track your PokerStars VR bankroll

You can grind your way into the bigger games, or you can boost your bankroll and jump straight into Wyatt’s game, with its $1 million buy-in.

And to help with that, you can take advantage of a 100% bonus on any chips you buy. It’s like a double up before you’ve even played a hand.

Here’s how it works.

Remember, it’s only available for a limited time. So start building your bankroll now.

Earn rings by topping weekly leader boards

There’s more to it than winning chips.

Each week the leader board winners for both Sit & Gos and cash games will receive exclusive winners’ rings. It’s the kind of virtual bling that marks you out as a champion in the VR world.

Weekly leader board winners could find themselves in possession of some virtual bling

Each tier of leader board awards a different type of ring.

$5k – Bronze Tier Ring
$20k – Silver Tier Ring
$100k – Gold Tier Ring
$1M – Iridescent Tier Ring

How to find out more

It’s all part of the new features on PokerStars VR and you can read more about them on the VR homepage.

There you’ll find details of how to start playing VR Sit & Gos as well as how to set up your own game.

You’ll also find details of the “no props” option, and “privacy bubble”. And of current leader boards, and what it takes to win one of those champions rings.

Don’t forget to take advantage of those bonus chips. And look out for more features on the way soon.

*Unfortunately in-game purchases are not available everywhere, so check your country before attempting to buy.

Those countries/States include Belgium Italy, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Switzerland and India.

That’s on top of the countries and states where we currently do not distribute PokerStars VR: China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Myanmar (Burma), North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Washington State (USA), Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

This summer readers are getting a chance to look at tournament strategy through a pair of poker’s most famous sunglasses with the publication of 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Raymer’s Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies.

Already a longtime contributor to poker forums at the time of his big Main Event win, over the years since Raymer has continued to build upon his tournament strategies while adding another $2.7 million worth of tournament cashes to the $5M he won in 2004. Due out this July, Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies finds Raymer drawing upon his experience as a player and coach to share a comprehensive guide to “practical tournament play.”

After starting with chapters sharing his “poker philosophy,” tournament vs. cash game strategy, ICM, game theory, pot odds, bet sizing, and other fundamentals, Raymer then covers numerous other tournament-specific concepts and issues with chapters covering playing the short stack, playing the big stack, special situations and plays, avoiding mistakes, image, tells, deal-making, and more.

Raymer also includes advice about satellite strategy, how to approach re-entry and re-buy tournaments, heads-up tournaments, strategy when playing with the big blind ante, as well as advice about playing the WSOP Main Event.

The following excerpt comes from the chapter “Tournament Equity and Goals” and highlights a specific issue that often comes up in discussions of tournament strategy. Is it okay to turn down a profitable spot now in order to wait for a potentially better one later? There are a few factors to consider when answering that question, explains Raymer.

from “Tournament Equity and Goals”

What about the idea, which you will hear often from tournament players, of passing up on a given spot that is profitable, because you believe that an even better spot will present itself later? Early in a tournament this is just silly. Let’s presume that you are a great player, with a significant edge on the field. You know from the history of tournaments you have played, that you will double your stack in a tournament before you go broke about 80% of the time. Notice we’re not talking about making the money, or winning, just the concept that if the tournament started with T20,000, that you will, with about 80% certainty, reach T40,000 or more at some point before you are eliminated. Now, you are faced with an all-in situation, where you believe you are 70% likely to win. If you call, you will double up when you win, and be eliminated when you lose. But if you fold, you know that by continuing with your normal game you will double up at some point with about 80% certainty. Does this mean you should fold this hand where you’re a 70:30 favorite?

Sorry, but if you said yes, you need to think about it some more. The real question isn’t which decision gives you the greatest chance of doubling up. If this were a $100 buy-in tournament, and you had made a bet with a friend for $10,000 that you would double up at some point in this event, then yes, you should probably fold in this spot. But ignoring such silliness, the real question isn’t which decision is most likely to double you up, but which decision, on average, makes you the most money. If you call now and lose, it is true, you will miss out on those future opportunities in this tournament where you would have gotten your chips in good, and frequently (80% of the time) doubled up to T40,000. But when you call now and win, you will have doubled up right now, AND you will still be there (70% of the time) to enjoy all of those future opportunities. You might say that if you call now and win, you have become something like an 80% favorite to triple up at some point in this tournament, because those opportunities wherein you would have won those other chips will still be there for you.

Only at very end, when you are down to the last few players, should you consider passing on a profitable but risky spot, in order to wait for a better spot that you are confident is going to come along. Here is a common example. You are down to three players in the tournament, and your two opponents are both very passive and relatively tight players. It is obvious they are not used to playing short-handed, and do not understand that they need to play a wider range of starting hands than when the table was full. As a result, you have been able to raise preflop, and steal the blinds and antes frequently, and you believe that you will be able to continue doing so, even when it gets down to heads-up play. Now, you raise again, and one of the opponents moves all-in. You actually have a very strong hand this time, and even when carefully doing the ICM/tournament math, you know it is profitable to call. But should you? Maybe not. If these opponents are going to let you slowly grind them down, one blind at a time, with a very high certainty, then why play a huge pot, even when you are a significant favorite to win? This is a time where you can go beyond the math, and realize that the more profitable play might be to fold. In essence, what you are doing here is giving up on a call that is clearly correct as a Game Theory Optimal play, and pursuing your Game Theory Exploitative strategy of grinding the players down instead.

However, when it is still early in the tournament, it simply won’t be more profitable to pass on risky hands where you have the advantage. With so many players still left in the field, you can’t know that you will be able to win using conservative strategies. Even if the opponents you’re facing now would permit this as a reasonable possibility, you will be facing many other opponents as you proceed in the tournament, and it is highly unlikely they are all going to let you grind them down slowly and surely. Early in an event there is so far to go, and so many chips yet to be won, that there is always a lot of risk awaiting you. As such, it simply won’t be profitable to avoid risk early simply for the sake of avoiding risk. If the situation you find yourself in involves a lot of risk, but also gives you a significant edge, then it is a risk you should take if you want to maximize your long-term profits.

Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies is available for pre-order in paperback and as an e-book at D&B Poker.

D&B Publishing (using the imprint D&B Poker) was created by Dan Addelman and Byron Jacobs 15 years ago. Since then it has become one of the leading publishers of poker books with titles by Phil Hellmuth, Jonathan Little, Mike Sexton, Chris Moorman, Dr. Patricia Cardner, Lance Bradley, Martin Harris and more, all of which are available at D&B Poker.

Catch up on all of this week’s PokerStars Blog content…

• Lex Live highlights
• Brand new features for PokerStars VR
• Book Excerpt: From the forthcoming “Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies” by Greg Raymer

Plus:

• Patrik Antonius wants you to hurry up already…

LEX LIVE HIGHLIGHTS

Last week we brought you all the action from Namur in Belgium where the inaugural Lex Live festival played out. Danny de Vos took down the Main Event for just under €30K, but there were countless highlights away from the felt too, as Lex Veldhuis’s Twitch community came together (in real life) for the first time.

Check out the video below, then take a look through our content from Lex Live.

ALL OUR CONTENT FROM LEX LIVE:

LEX VELDHUIS INTERVIEW | DANNY DE VOS WINS MAIN EVENT FOR €29,300 | TAKE THE PUB QUIZ

DAY 2 COVERAGE | FU FRIDAY FLIP | DAY 1C RECAP | CROAKS INTERVIEW | PARTY TIME VIDEO

DAY 1B RECAP | MEET THE QUALIFIERS | VIDEO FROM DAY 1A

BRAND NEW FEATURES FOR POKERSTARS VR

Some brand spanking features have been added to PokerStars VR today, allowing you to:

• Play new PokerStars VR Sit & Gos
• Buy chips to top up your bankroll*
• And take part in weekly leader boards

Click here for more info on PokerStars VR.

*Unfortunately in-game purchases are not available everywhere, so check your country before attempting to buy.

LEARN FROM THE FOSSILMAN

This summer readers are getting a chance to look at tournament strategy through a pair of poker’s most famous sunglasses with the publication of 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Raymer’s Fossilman’s Winning Tournament Strategies.

This week we bring you an excerpt from that forthcoming release, in which Raymer highlights a specific issue that often comes up in discussions of tournament strategy: is it okay to turn down a profitable spot now in order to wait for a potentially better one later?

Read that excerpt here.

POKER IN THE EARS W/ PATRIK ANTONIUS

With his inaugural Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge (PAPC) running all week, James and Joe caught up the Finnish poker legend to talk about the evolution of poker, stalling, and more.

Have a great weekend!

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

There was a point five years ago at which people couldn’t even figure out exactly what it meant to be a poker streamer, and then once folks figured it out, they had a hard time deciding if such thing was even worthy of recognition.

That time is long past, and now the level of competition in the streaming community is as tough as it’s ever been. So, while it may be no surprise who won the Global Poker Index’s Global Poker Award for Streamer of the Year, it was no easy road either.

Up against the toughest possible nominees, Jeff Gross, Jaime Staples, and Jason Somerville, PokerStars’ own Lex Veldhuis came out on top.

Awesome news to wake up to! Thanks to everyone who gave me the nod. Thanks to my community and everyone that plays a role in it. Shoutout to the @gpi for hosting this and providing me and others with an Incredible milestone <3. https://t.co/5JWUkvsIOu

— LexVeldhuis (@RaSZi) April 6, 2019

Veldhuis was not in Vegas for his victory, so he counted on Daniel Negreanu to give his acceptance speech. You can watch that in the video above.

Congratulations, Lex. You earned this one.

A recap of the major results from this weekend on PokerStars…

• Austria’s “Matze 90451” wins the Sunday Million for $107K

• High Roller Club victories for Roman “Romeopro” Romanovsky and Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson

• Top 5 High Roller Club scores

• Top 5 results from the weekend majors

“Matze 90451” WINS THE SUNDAY MILLION ($107K)

The biggest multi-table tournament winner of the weekend once again came from the $109 Sunday Million, which yesterday attracted 10,316 entries to create a $1,031,600 prize pool.

After 14 hours and 23 minutes of action it was Austria’s “Matze 90451” who came out on top to bank $107,737 after no deal was made. Canada’s “Boss BL” was the runner-up for $77,457.

WORLD #1 “RomeOpro” WINS SUNDAY HR

Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky

Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky is currently ranked as the no.1 online tournament player in the world, according to PocketFives. That position should be safe for at least another week after Romanovsky took down one of online poker’s most prestigious tournaments: the $2,100 Sunday HR.

This week the tournament got 129 entries made up of many of the world’s best players. The final table was stacked, featuring Rui “RuinF” Ferreira, Bartlomiej “bartek901” Machon, Adrian “Amadi_017” Mateos, and Team PokerStars Pro Igor Kurganov.

Romanovsky added $56,549 to his bankroll after his victory against runner-up finisher Ferreira.

HRC TITLE FOR SCOTT “AGGRO SANTOS” MARGERESON

Another familiar face on the High Roller Club winner’s sheet was Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson, who took down the $530 Sunday 500 for $31,323.

Scott “Aggro Santos” Margereson

Margereson is a fixture in the high roller live scene but has been playing (and crushing) online for years. He’s actually one of the only multiple-time Sunday Million winners, and because of that we recently featured him in our “Who’ll win the Anniversary Sunday Million?” piece.

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE HIGH ROLLER CLUB

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE WEEKEND MAJORS

Everybody remembers their first big win. For Eric, a 58-year-old husband and father of two from Rotterdam, Netherlands, the memory is just a few days old.

When he isn’t working as a process operator or spending time with his family, Eric plays about a half-hour each day as “RR idecky” on PokerStars. Eric considers himself a recreational player, but at the same time he takes the game seriously. Last week he was playing a small cash game when a message popped up on his screen: his Spin of the Day had earned him a ticket to a freeroll.

“I usually play small money sit and go’s, from 25 cents to $1.50, and $.01/$.02 cash games,” Eric told PokerStars Blog. “I was happy to win a ticket for a $5,000 multi-table tournament. I do not often get the opportunity to play big MTT’s because they last too long, but this one began within a few minutes so I was able to play.”

Eric’s game plan was the classic tight-aggressive approach: play few hands, but play them hard. “At first I tried to last at least an hour,” he said. “After that I wanted to end in the money. With a lot of patience some good calls and luck I made it to the final table. There I tried to survive as long as possible.”

One by one the rest of the players at the table were eliminated until Eric found himself heads-up. “It gave me a very good feeling about the way I played. In the heads up I really did not care if I would win or lose, I came a long way and was really happy about it.”

The game went back and forth from there and eventually Eric finished in second place, winning several hundred dollars — easily the biggest score of his days playing poker.

Studying with PokerStars School prepared Eric to run deep in the Spin of the Day freeroll.

Just as valuable is how his experience in the Spin Of The Day freeroll helped to solidify some concepts that previously had only been theoretical for him.

“During the tournament I saw a lot of things that were explained in poker courses at PokerStars School,” said Eric. “This gives me the confidence that I was doing the right thing. PokerStars School already taught me a lot about the way poker is played and now I only need time to play.”

Eric now has a bankroll that will let him explore other games outside of his comfort zone, and to play in the occasional MTT as well. And it’s all because he logged to play for a just a few minutes.

There’s still time to win with our Spin of the Day promotion. Check out all the details here and get in on the action before April 14th!

If you’re a UFC fan, this is going to be of interest to you.

Double that if you also love poker.

Today PokerStars is launching new UFC-branded Spin & Go’s.

They’re part of the exclusive global poker partnership between PokerStars and the UFC, the world’s premier mixed martial arts organisation.

There’s a lot to say about it, and you can read on to learn more of that below.

But here’s what you can look forward to.

• You can play new UFC-themed Spin & Go’s with top prizes in the millions
• You can win branded merchandise and exclusive UFC experiences
• You’ll get to meet and greet your poker and UFC heroes 

It makes today the start of an action-filled 2019.

What are new UFC Spin & Go’s?

Spin & Go’s are three player poker tournaments.

They have a hyper-turbo structure which means levels are short and action filled. They’re quick. Whether that’s Henry Cejudo quick or Amanda Nunes quick is up to you.

The best part?

The spin at the start of the game. That’s what determines the prize pool.

New UFC Spin & Go’s are now available on PokerStars

It can be double the buy-in (remember, UFC Spin & Go’s are winner-take-all). Or you could watch it spin up by the thousands, cranking up the drama in the process. Again, whether that’s Junior dos Santos drama or Nate Diaz drama, is down to you.

And that goes for any game, whatever the buy-in.

You might be a first timer making your debut in a $0.25 UFC Spin & Go, with a top prize in the thousands.

Or you might be playing $5 and $25 games, with first prizes tapping out at $2 million and $3 million.

Either way you get action, excitement, and a potential big payday. And like a round in a UFC fight, all in the space of a few minutes.

First stop UFC 236 in Atlanta, then on to Rio

Off the tables, you’ll also spot PokerStars on the canvas of the Octagon™ at UFC 236 in Atlanta on April 13, 2019 and again at UFC 237 in Rio on May 11, 2019.

And from there, all major UFC Pay-Per-View events throughout the year.

It’s an exciting time for UFC and poker fans.

“UFC is the perfect pick for PokerStars,” said Christopher Coyne, Chief Marketing Officer, Stars Interactive.

“Our plan is to thrill as far and wide as possible with games, promotions, content and competitions that trigger passions and enhance the overall experience at PokerStars. We’ve so much in store. This is just the beginning.”

But don’t just take our word for it.

“It’s been great to work on exciting, new and innovative ideas alongside PokerStars since our exclusive partnership went live,” said Paul Asencio, UFC Senior Vice President, Global Partnerships. “UFC Spin & Go is a great example of how PokerStars are integrating our brand into their world and bringing exciting new products to our fans.”

Exclusive prizes and UFC experiences to be won

We’ll have more details of giveaways and competitions in the coming weeks.

But what we can say is you’ll have the chance to experience the UFC close-up. That goes for whether you’re a long-time fight fan, or getting your first glimpse at the Octagon™.

And it all starts soon.

PokerStars is launching a major UFC ticket and VIP experience giveaway for Brazilian fans ahead of UFC 237, one of the MMA world’s biggest cards, which takes place in Rio next month.

We plan to be there to celebrate.

Want to join us?

The keep an eye out for special promotions across social media, and here on the PokerStars Blog.

Start playing UFC Spin & Go’s in minutes

For now, you can start playing UFC Spin & Go’s within minutes on PokerStars. And for as little as $0.25 (call it our equivalent of Strawweight).

You’ll need a PokerStars account, which you can open in just a few clicks. Get started here.

Follow the prompts and find these new games in the UFC Spin & Go Tab. From there you can select games, and take a seat.

And if you need a little help, a few words of encouragement from your own corner (think John Kavanagh or Greg Jackson), then PokerStars School will teach you how to play, and win, as you start your UFC Spin & Go career.

So, that’s fast-paced action, with all the drama and excitement you expect in poker and UFC.

And this is just the start.

Click here for full Terms & Conditions.