It’s all over. The referee has stopped it. We have a champion.
Lex Veldhuis — also known as the people’s champ, the Van Damme of Rotterdam, and now the KO King — has defeated both Fintan “easywithaces” Hand and Ben “Spraggy” Spragg to win the UFC KO Poker Series Team Pro KOntest.
For his victory Veldhuis claims the UFC belt (yep, a real UFC belt), and a $1,000 freeroll for his Twitch community (read on for more details on that).
Having secured the most knockouts throughout the UFC KO Poker Series (87 to Hand’s 79 and Spragg’s 64), Veldhuis came into today’s Spin & Go with a 10,000-chip starting stack, while Hand began with 7,500, and Spragg trailed with 5,000.
But as anyone who has played a Spin & Go knows, this was anyone’s game. Even Spraggy had a puncher’s chance.
Here’s how it went down.
IT’S TIIIIIIIIIME!
In the build-up to the big three-way fight, we got to witness some virtual violence as Veldhuis and Spraggy battled through a series of matches of UFC 3 on the PS4. It was Veldhuis who held an early advantage, taking down the first two duels to go 2-0 up.
But when Spraggy discovered how to take down, he battled back to win the next four in a row.
“From 2-0 down to 4-2 up,” Hand said from the sidelines. “I think that sets the tone for what’s about to happen in the Spin & Go.”
Before the title fight commenced, there was an intro video from legendary UFC announcer Bruce Buffer.
Ladies and gentlemen… It's (almost) time for a UFC KO Poker Series triple threat for the ages: @LexVeldhuis v @EasyWithAces v erm… 🤔 oh, @spraggy.
The bell rings at 12:00 CEST on https://t.co/zyANRbhmnT
Not pumped up enough? Let @brucebuffer fix that ⬇👊 #UFCPokerStars pic.twitter.com/1Tqsd9MOuM— PokerStars (@PokerStars) July 3, 2019
“Ladies and gentleman watching around the poker world on the PokerStars Twitch channel, this is the UFC KO Poker event you’ve been waiting for.
“It’s time! Two poker professionals…AND Spraggy, in a battle for the championship belt to see who will be the UFC Poker Series champion!”
IT’S TIIIIIIME: Bruce Buffer speaks to Lex, Fintan and Spraggy
Spraggy was not pleased with Buffer’s needle.
“Why is it at every turn, at every level, this is how I get treated?’ Spraggy groaned. “I am a poker professional, and I’ll prove it right now!”
“Enough talk mate,” said Hand. “It’s time to walk the walk.”
With that the Spin & Go began, and with not much movement in the chip stacks, the first major grapple was a big one.
Spraggy opened to 132 on the button with the A♥4♣, only for Hand to three-bet to 510 from the small blind. Veldhuis then four-bet to 1,440 out of the big blind, enough to get Spraggy to lay his hand down.
“I’m not going to click it back Lex, but there’s another bet coming in,’ Hand warned, before shoving for 7,524.
Veldhuis snap-called.
“Oh my days!” shouted Spraggy, as he saw Hand’s Q♥Q♣ was in bad shape against Veldhuis’ K♣K♦. Hand couldn’t find a third queen on the runout, and his fight was over.
“I’ll be the hero and come back from 4K, but you’ve really set him up [for the win] here,” Spraggy said, while Hand was shell-shocked. “I feel sick,” Hand admitted.
Spraggy’s heads-up got off to a good start, finding a double with a flopped two pair versus Veldhuis’ flush draw. Despite that, Veldhuis managed to maintain a decent chip lead.
Ultimately it would all come down to one hand.
“I’m so mad,” Spraggy sighed. “That belt should be mine. All joking aside, that river was painful.”
“This is the worst I’ve felt playing poker,” Hand said. “This will take a while to get over.”
Veldhuis now plans to bring his belt to Lex Live 2, where he’ll be able to flaunt it in front of his fellow PokerStars Ambassadors in person.
As for you guys, you now have a shot to win a share of $1,000 in a freeroll for Veldhuis’ Twitch community. The event will take place on PokerStars this Sunday (7th July) at 2pm ET (8pm WET). Stay tuned to both PokerStars and Veldhuis on Twitter for all the details.
You can watch the whole stream right here.
WHO WON THE TRIP TO UFC 241?
While we’ve got you here, we’re pleased to announce the winner of the UFC KO Poker Series overall leaderboard, who not only earns bragging rights but wins a package to UFC 241 in California.
Congratulations to Brazil’s dans170′ who 148 KOs and cashed for $18,962 throughout the series.
Here’s a look at the top five.
| Player | Country | Entries | KOs | Cashed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dans170′ | BR | 105 | 148 | $18,962.26 |
| motreanu90 | RO | 124 | 137 | $30,584.95 |
| Rebel FishAK | RO | 71 | 128 | $18,035.93 |
| DSmunichlife | DE | 86 | 127 | $90,550.32 |
| BAJO7799 | AM | 54 | 124 | $6,153.37 |
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