Lex Velduis Leaves PokerStars After 17 Years
It looks like Lex and PokerStars are parting ways, and players speculated that he moved to GGPoker.
After 17 years I have left Pokerstars.
I'm excited about the future and 2026 is going to be a big year!
New chapter begins on stream today. <3
After his X/Twitter announcement, he did play a session on GG, but didn’t confirm if they were his new sponsor during the stream. He started strong anyway, winning a $108 Bounty Hunters Special for over $2,500. It was the first MTT he registered for.
“I don’t want to talk too much about last year. It’s all good, relationships end."
"The worst thing you can do after a long relationship is immediately enter a new one.”
— “Crazy,” said Chris Moneymaker. “I made it exactly 17 years too.”
— “Why do you keep posting shit that makes us seem like we're the same person. STOP,” Lex replied, unhappy with the comparison.
— Arlie Shaban: “I’ll miss working on the same team with ya big man, enjoyed every second of it! Can’t wait to see the stream back in action 🫡”
— Robin Poker: “All the best for the future man, thanks for leading the way all these years and buzzing to see you back 🙏”
— Sam Grafton: “The online GOAT returns to our screens! We deserved some good news!!!!”
Fintan Hand (easywithaces) also left PokerStars in November of 2025, and has now announced he’s signed with WPT Global.
New Year, New Matt Berkey
Despite a few risks at quite a bit of cost, Matt Berkey is experimenting with peptides. He just posted the results after 90 days, and he’s “thrilled” to be down 24 pounds and at 3% less body fat.
“I've been dabbling with peptides for + years, but only recently decided to better understand the science. Just finished 90 day experiment with a few new peptides I've been interested in exploring, including retatrutide (GLP-1/GIP/GLUCAGON).
I started at 218 lbs, 18.7% body fat.
Ended at 194 lbs, ~15% body fat (have dexa scheduled next week to confirm)
Thrilled with the results. I'll include my stack in the following tweets as well as my thoughts on the cost & effectiveness of each of the different peptides. As with everything there are risks, and this includes doing nothing & letting your body breakdown. Do your own research & be sure to consult a doctor who can source properly tested peptides.”
Berkey breaks down his cost per month, which seems to be $1,200 to $2,000.
- Tadalaphil (vasodialator): ~$40/month
- NAD+ (energy production/cellular repair): ~$500-1,000/month
- Epithalon (anti aging): ~$150 twice a year
- MOT-C (regulates energy/metabolism/stress response: ~$80/month
- Retatrutide (elps regulate blood sugar and suppress appetite): ~$20/milligram
- Tesamorlin/Ipamorlin/CJC (growth hormone signal boosters): ~$480/month
— “What are the risks," asked a reader. "Correct me if I'm wrong but they can potentially cause cancer? Saw some other possible side effects but I'm not sure if they're relating to what you're taking?”
— “Not cause cancer,” Berkey replied, ”but rather, promote cancer risk factors. Anything that promotes cellular growth runs the risk of increasing growth of cancer cells as well... regular screenings can minimize the downside risk. Additionally, doing nothing at all doesn't guarantee lowered cancer risk.”
— “Do you feel like you're in better shape now in your 40s compared to 30s?”
— “Yes and it's not close,” Matt confirmed. “I move better, have more sustainable energy and sleep substantially better.”
Jesse Lonis Reflects on Folds & Progress
Despite being on top of the 2025 Money List for live tournament earnings, Jesse pointed out the number could have been much larger… if only he hadn’t folded that top set.
Read Read“If I didn’t fold that set of Kings it could’ve been 23.3 million..
In all honesty, life feels like a dream. 5 years ago I had $6,000 to my name and a whole lot of belief.
My advice – believe in yourself and invest in yourself. No one else is going to get you where you want to be. Block out the noise, trust your instincts and most importantly the only opinions that matter are the ones of people you love and respect.”
— Norman Chad: “You speak the truth, succinctly and eloquently. You also owe me $6,000 from five years ago. 😆”
— Alec Torelli: “Well said Jesse and congrats on the amazing year. You nailed it. I think the real game is that belief you have in your mind has to speak louder than the noise of what others say around you. That's really the only way to go all-in and bet on yourself.”
— Kayhan Mokri: “💪💪”
Wise Words About Unlikely Power Hands
CoinPoker leveled up the poker world’s skill with a single meme.
Doug Polk’s Strategy Hits Peak Levels
Blind all-ins, live poker multi-tabling (once thought to be impossible), what could go wrong for Doug?
He lost the blind all in, but won his straddle hand on the next door table. “We’re going to play real poker after this,” he said.
Paisting Posts 2025 Results (Nothing’s Changed)
Online poker’s self proclaimed biggest loser (at micro-stakes) put up his 2025 graph for all to see.
- 2025 Winnings on 888poker: -$5,814
- 2025 Winnings on GGPoker: -$1,253
- Total Winnings in 2025: -$7,067
It might seem bad, but this actually makes 2025 one of his better years!
- In 2024, he lost $8,099.93, plus about -$320 from tournaments.
- In 2023, he lost $8,149.02, plus about -$355 from tournaments.
- In 2022, he lost $10,594.15, plus about -$674 from tournaments.
- In 2021, he lost $6,866.98, plus about -$420 from tournaments.
- In 2020, he lost $13,310.80, and won about $10 from tournaments.
We broke down every month of 2025, if Paisting fans are interested.
Read ReadBencb Starts 2026 With Wisdom and Earnings Recap
Never stopping, Bencb started the year by telling fans what made the difference for him on his poker journey.
He also recapped his 2025 earnings, which we already covered in a previous post. 2025 was definitely a fantastic year for Bencb.
Read ReadDaniel Cates Speaks on Maurice Hawkins Controversy
Jungleman took to Twitter to expose some of Maurice Hawkin’s track record in staking, confidentiality agreements, and other integrity concerns like concealing tournament chips and removing other players’ chips during a break.
In light of multiple documented disputes and widely reported incidents involving Maurice Hawkins, it has become necessary to provide the poker community with a clear, factual, and comprehensive statement outlining the concerns that have emerged over several years.
Recently, Hawkins was in the spotlight for a hand he played against Divyam Satyarthi. In the hand, both players went all-in and Divyam made a flush on the river. The pot was wrongly awarded to Hawkins, who apparently didn’t notice the flush, or just pretended not to. He ended up winning the event.
Daniel Cate's tweet is a long one, but a worthy read if you care about the integrity of poker.
— Ranman: I am the guy who has a judgment against him. He is without a doubt the biggest scumbag on earth…. I was there for him personally and professionally when he needed money to pay his bills and he screwed me over. He deserves to be banned from any and all things poker related.
Rampage Talks 2025 Cash Game Results
Rampage posted his 2025 results, and ended up around $130,000 down, despite an incredible August and September.
“With a horrific start, followed by picking up some momentum in the middle of the year, I thought I was finally back. But I didn’t finish out the year as strong as I hoped to, giving back all my profits and then some.”
- January: -$98,995
- February: -$117,890
- March: +$46,050
- April: +$23,305
- May: +$31,094
- June: No results
- July: No results
- August:+$289,750
- September: +$117,075
- October: -$306,925
- November: -$22,926
- December: -$92,245
- Total Results for 2025: -$131,707
Plenty of commentators were quick to point out that Rampage is not necessarily a pro, but is a poker content creator. Other money is coming in from his social media sources, so perhaps it isn’t all bad. Then again, with travel expenses and cost of living, $130K in losses is probably the tip of the iceberg.
It does make Paisting’s 2025 results look a bit better though.
Kevin Martin Turns 33 (We Thought He Was Older)
Poker Players Chime in on Maduro & Venezuela
With Maduro on US soil and everyone discussing the operation, poker pros had to have their say as well. Condemnation and confusion were both present.
— Daniel Negreanu: At the end of the day, I’m seeing tears of joy, Venezuelans celebrating in the streets, relief, and hope after 26 years of hell. The people of Venezuela are happy about this opportunity for freedom. And I’m happy for them.
— Tony Dunst: Wish I could only play poker against people who think we attacked Venezuela cause of drugs.
— Max Silver: Disavowing Maduro while vaguely complaining about a coup is the new condemning Hamas while vaguely objecting to a genocide, the emperor finally has no clothes and we can see that system of power we choose only selects ghouls to lead
— Rob Kuhn: My timeline is full of Venezuelans happy and some Americans mad. Make it make sense.
— Steve O’Dwyer: I pray I live to see a day where new Nuremberg trials are convened to seek justice for American war crimes. Presidents, cabinet members & their staff, Generals & Admirals, Wall Street financiers, tech executives and weapons manufacturers.They are complicit in the murder of millions of people and the immiseration of many millions more during my lifetime. Now they are spilling more blood in Venezuela because they can never have too much wealth and power. America is the beating heart of international terrorism.
— Barry Carter: “We had to bomb Venezuela because they hate our freedom” – American poker players with no access to online poker who now have to pay tax on money they didn’t win
Venividi is Looking For Memes
PLO specialist Venividi is on the search for memes, paying $100 for funny ones that are good enough for his socials. Apparently, there’s a permanent gig for anyone truly talented.
The early results are somewhat promising.
