Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis has a good friend named Bart Spijker. They’ve known each other for a couple of years and it’s hard to find better buddies.
They also like to hurt each other.
As Veldhuis tells the story, he once went broke in a big live game. Not momentarily cash poor. In Veldhuis’ words the damage made him “literally broke.” As in, no more money. Busto. Left with nothing more than the rubber band that held his cash. It was an experience that could humble the proudest of men.
Veldhuis stood, walked away from the table, and only stopped when he heard his friend’s voice.
“Lex, you forgot something!” Spijker called from the table.
Veldhuis turned around, and Spijker was dangling the rubber band in front of his face.
“That goes to show,” Veldhuis said.”It’s pretty ruthless.”
While it may be ruthless, Veldhuis says it’s all in good fun and has helped him develop a thick skin. It’s also resulted in a series of grudge matches between the two friends. It started off with Veldhuis putting a hurt on Spijker. It was satisfying, to say the least. Then something bad happened. Spijker started winning, even as much as 10-15 buy-ins per session.
“I told him everything he won was based on luck and he proposed a challenge,” Veldhuis said.
And it was on
The challenge: Veldhuis and Spijker will play 30,000 hands. Whoever has profited at the end will get to keep their winnings, plus get a 50,000 euro bonus from the loser.
“This will be the sweetest thing to ever win in my poker career,” Veldhuis said. “I can constantly remind him of it and brag about it. No doubt he will do the same if he were to win This is a true heads-up grudge match.”
The two have private $10/$20 NLHE tables set up on PokerStars and are already fighting. Three thousands hands into the grudge match, Veldhuis is up by $30,000.
So, if you’re the type of person who likes to see two friends eviscerate each other, this is your chance. But bring a poncho, because it’s likely to get bloody.
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