Every year, many new media personalities appear in the world of poker. Some grind for a long time on the internet, and then come to the live game – and rise to a certain level of fame. Others initially begin to combine the game and streaming, getting their name out into the world.

The latter direction may be interesting for young people, but also for experienced players with solid experience. American professional John Van Fleet, known under the nickname “apestyles,” is a vivid example of this. He won more than $22 million on the internet, but only relatively recently switched to streaming.

Today, the GipsyTeam team will tell you more about who he is. Let's recall his main poker achievements and how his streaming career developed.

Meet John Van Fleet aka apestyles

Apestyles, also known as John Van Fleet, has been successfully playing online for over 15 years, and his total profit is over $22 million.

But not everything in Van Fleet's career went smoothly. One evening, he managed to lose his entire bankroll and seriously hurt his net worth. It was late at night when John Van Fleet was competing heads-up with Sauce123 at the $100/$200 tables. He combined this session with drinking. As a result, in the morning, there was $0 left in the account.

The man was surprised and began to blame hackers, but the story turned out to be much more prosaic – he lost all his money and did not even remember it. In addition, some of the plays raised big questions for him – for example, calling 3 barrels on with bottom pair. That night became a good lesson for the poker player – since then he has not been drinking.

Today, John Van Fleet is not only a professional player, but also a streamer and ambassador of Americas Cardroom. That's why he plays exclusively tables from this room in his poker broadcasts on Twitch and YouTube.

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Americas Cardroom is a popular poker room with over twenty years of history. Since 2011, it has been part of the Winning network, known for its soft fields with americans and canadians.

We will never know the exact online winnings of apestyles or net worth, but certain conclusions can be made based on publicly available information:

  • The total prize money is over $22 million
  • Biggest career cash: $1,027,000
  • The average winnings in MTT is $4,972
  • The most money won on PokerStars is $8,429,466
Statistics of apestyles
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PokerStars starting out holding online poker games back in 2001 and now the company is worth over 6 billion dollars. They sponsor a slew of tournaments like the European Poker Tour, UK and Ireland Poker Tour, plus a handful of others. Over the years, PokerStars has remained on top of the online poker industry. They’ve expanded to offer fantastic online casino games and sports betting.

Since 2020, John Van Fleet decided to diversify his life – and became a streamer. At that time, he was 38 years old. As it turned out almost immediately – it was a good move.

Van Fleet's streaming career hasn't always been smooth sailing. One of the most challenging moments came in 2023, when his YouTube channel was banned without warning. Attempts to find out the reason, as well as to restore the content and the channel itself, have led to nothing.

John turned 41, but he wasn't thinking about giving up streaming, so he went back to YouTube. Of course, it's easier for Van Fleet to start over from scratch, since he already has a well-known name in the community, but YouTube subscribers don't grow quickly. There's practically no chance that the old channel will be restored, and YouTube's support service almost never meets even such famous people halfway in these matters.

If you are interested in other top poker streamers, check out our list of worthwhile channels.

Twitch Poker Channels We Bet You Will Go All-In On
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Looking at the success of streamers, everyone can think about how realistic it is to become a famous professional, watched by thousands of people. It is possible, but in the streamer's craft, not only professionalism is important, but also charisma, the ability to communicate with viewers. History shows plenty of examples of when outright gambling addicts achieved success by making a show, and not by showing class at the poker table.

However, we recommend taking a conscious path and focusing on improving your level. Start by studying the poker fundamentals, and GipsyTeam will help you:

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  • Software discounts and guides: In the Shop, we keep all of the latest software (including more classic programs like Flopzilla) at the best prices possible. Anytime you start a free trial of any of the tools, our support specialists can help you install and troubleshoot any issues.
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