Lex Veldhuis Leaves PokerStars & Returns to Poker Streaming
Lex Veldhuis has officially returned to poker streaming following a period of relative inactivity throughout 2025.
Along with his return to the Twitch airwaves, the veteran pro confirmed his departure from PokerStars, ending a sponsorship that spanned over 15 years.
While Veldhuis did not disclose specific reasons for the split, he noted that he is focused on a "new chapter" for 2026, entering the year as one of the most prominent free agents in the poker industry.
"2025 is in the rear-view mirror," he told his chat. "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."
The question on everyone's lips is: now he's left PokerStars — will any other poker room snap him up as an ambassador?
"It's been 17 years," he explained to his chat, refusing to be drawn on any future sponsorships. "The worst thing you can do after a long relationship is immediately enter another one."
Where Has Veldhuis Been?
After winning a maiden World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title in September 2024, Veldhuis was excited to continue streaming in a custom studio and told PokerNews he had some "crazy new things planned."
However, after being beaten Best Streamer at the 2024 Global Poker Awards by fellow PokerStars Ambassador Benjamin "Spraggy "Spragg, Veldhuis was conspicuous by his absence throughout the rest of 2025.
There was no space for Veldhuis as a captain in the 2025 SCOOP League, and his Twitch streams didn't feature poker — restricted instead to chess, League of Legends and Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Lex Live in Bratislava was a rare opportunity for Veldhuis to interact with his community once again, and his last appearance within poker was on the latest series of The Big Game on Tour where he regularly battled with Alan Keating.
Nevertheless, the new year has clearly brought Veldhuis a new opportunity to stream again. Named Best Streamer at the 2018 and 2019 Global Poker Awards, Veldhuis was straight back into it, exploring the action on GGPoker.
An automated notice in his chat reads: "Lex is currently playing from Netherlands and can only grind GGPoker, he is not a sponsored pro for anyone."
Instant Success for Veldhuis
After a brief struggle with the settings, including how to adjust the peel cards setting and turn on four-color deck, Veldhuis wasted no time getting to grips with the tournament offering on GGPoker.
He eventually settled on a $108 buy-in Bounty Hunters Special [7-Max], single-tabling this tournament while setting up his streaming setup. Veldhuis would crack pocket tens with ace-queen on the bubble, and settled in for the latter stages, eventually coming out on top to take down the tournament and win $2,541.22. Just over half of that win ($1,240.32) would come from his five eliminations in the tournament.
Lex Veldhuis Poker Background
Veldhuis first started playing poker in 2004 and quit his criminology studies at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam to pursue poker professionally.
In 2009, Veldhuis joined PokerStars as an ambassador and regularly appeared on early episodes of High Stakes Poker and The Big Game. During his time as ambassador and a member of Team PokerStars Online, Veldhuis played millions of online hands and obtained Supernova Elite three years in a row.
As one of the best-known poker streamers, Veldhuis has over 300,000 followers on Twitch.
