Last night (May 19), poker on Twitch cemented itself as one of the most nail-biting, hair-raising, even tear-jerking forms of live entertainment we have.

Both Lex Veldhuis and Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg returned to Day 3 of the $10,300 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event with 40 remaining, $26,700 locked up, and a staggering $1,062,955 up top.

It’s hard to ignore numbers like that. It was a stream you simply couldn’t miss, whether you’re a complete newcomer to poker or a grizzled veteran.

As good friends, fake rivals and fellow PokerStars Ambassadors, Lex and Spraggy teamed up for a squad stream (Twitch streamers can team up so viewers can tune in to multiple streams at once, flicking back and forth between the action).

It proved perfect for last night, particularly when the two found themselves on the same table.

Unfortunately for Spraggy, he would eventually bust to Lex when he ran top pair into pocket aces. Emotions ran high for both, but Spraggy managed to keep his cool while Lex displayed his heartbreak as he eliminated a good friend.

You're such a champ mate. Thank you so much and that's the worst I've ever felt winning a hand. https://t.co/v9lRUEWnup

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) May 19, 2020

When Spraggy was out in 30th for $40,955, he sent his incredible 17,000 viewers over to raid Lex, who already had some 34,000 people tuning in.

As Lex continued to grind the $10K, his viewership peaked at an extraordinary 58,799. That was not only a new record for Lex but the most viewers for any poker stream ever.

“I think words fall short of what tonight’s session was,” Lex said. “I broke the world record for the number of viewers for Twitch Poker with 58,799. I live in a town with only 48,000 or so people who live here. That’s crazy.”

It also meant Lex Veldhuis’ stream became the no.1 ranked stream on the entire Twitch platform worldwide.

“When I saw the viewer amount I couldn’t believe it,” Lex said. “I was ranked no.1 on Twitch out of 125,000 live streams. It’s overwhelming how crazy that is. It feels like such a milestone.”

As for the tournament itself, Lex battled on but would ultimately fall in 15th after securing several pay jumps to $62,500.

“It was a super hard struggle. I was card dead, but in the end, I’m super happy,” he said. “I finished 14 spots away from $1M which always hurts, but the overwhelming thing to take away from today is the Twitch record and the support I received from everybody, the subs, good friends, family, everybody was sweating it so hard. All the messages I got after, it’s an insanely nice bonus.”

Last night may have been the pinnacle of Twitch poker so far, but this train hasn’t reached its final destination yet.

The SCOOP has been extended until May 31, with millions of dollars still up for grabs.

And Lex is ready.

“I’m going to take two days off,” he said. “Then I’m going to continue grinding my ass off.”

Don’t forget – you can win tournament tickets simply by tuning in to Twitch.

Check out Lex and Spraggy on Twitch.

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MORE ABOUT SCOOP 2020
OFFICIAL SITE & SCHEDULE | RESULTS
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