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Lex Veldhuis and fellow streamer Ben “Spraggy” Spragg were among the finalists in the $10,300 2020 PokerStars SCOOP Main Event, both finishing in the top 40. At one point, both players were at the same table late in the tournament, which resulted in a Twitch poker viewing record. Lex Veldhuis breaks the Twitch poker view record The PokerStars streamer had the biggest Twitch broadcast of any game last night on the platform during a deep SCOOP run. It was always going to be a special night when two streamers who were good friends made the final 40 of the SCOOP High Main Event, it turned out to be a record breaker.

PokerStars Ambassadors Arlie 'Prince Pablo' Shaban and Lex 'L. Veldhuis' Veldhuis will remember the inaugural Blowout Series at PokerStars better than most thanks to both players commanding amazing runs during the festival in the last couple of days.

Shaban hit his biggest score thus far in his poker career on Sunday evening while Veldhuis rocked out two deep runs, one of which was his biggest score on stream to date.

Arlie 'Prince Pablo' Shaban Wins the Blowout Series 84-M: $22 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Prorgressive KO, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE]

Arlie 'Prince Palbo' Shaban navigated through a massive field of 15,572 entrants wo win the Blowout Series 84-M: $22 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Prorgressive KO, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE] for $19,707 ($13,399 in prize money + $6,308).

It was one of the quickest Blowout Series events on the schedule taking less than 6 1/2 hours to complete and one of the few times you will see Shaban grinding away from the stream.

Despite Shaban's fans missing out on some incredible action and highlights on Shaban's stream, there was a good reason the PokerStars Team Pro Online member was keeping his thoughts and hole cards to himself.

just setting up my twttr

— jack (@jack)

Shaban was already guaranteed the biggest score of his poker career after agreeing to a three-way deal with fellow Canadian 'joshdur' and Brazil's 'cuco.sebas'. There was still plenty of prizes to be played for with big bounties on the final three players before Shaban finished out on top to bring his all-time highest cash up to $19,707.

It took four bullets for Shaban to get on the right path. He shared with the PokerStars blog that he took out fellow PokerStars Ambassdor Lex Veldhuis (we will get into his big Blowout Series run shortly) and felt like he had a shot at winning the event when there were 75 players remaining.

Shaban then went from an average stack to one of the bigger stacks with 30 players remaining after winning a big flip and felt like he had a big chance to win the event after reaching the final table.

'There were some recreationals at the final table so I realized I had a serious shot,' Shaban shared with the PokerStars Blog.

Shaban also shared his late game strategy at the PokerStars Blog: 'I think a lot of the amateur players who were deep were playing too tight. It was a $22 buy-in and at that stage, there were $500 bounties on people’s heads. You have to call off with wider ranges because the bounties are worth so much. So, I turned up my aggression against players I saw playing very tight.'

Blowout Series 84-M: $22 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Prorgressive KO, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE] Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize	Bounty	Total
1	Arlie 'Prince Pablo' Shaban	Canada	$13,399	$6,308	$19,707
2	joshdur	Canada	$13,122	$3,006	$16,128
3	cuco.sebas	Brazil	$12,489	$1,959	$14,448
4	youbartonz	United Kingdom	$6,359	$1,206	$7,565
5	Elvis 'Catholovisck' Renan Paiva Goes	Brazil	$4,533	$969	$5,502
6	MarceloRoya1	Brazil	$3,231	$1,364	$4,596
7	chris288	Germany	$2,303	$477	$2,780
8	holms99	Russia	$1,642	$346	$1,988
9	LuckyEgorka	Russia	$1,170	$1,202	$2,373

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Two Huge Blowout Series Scores for Lex 'L. Veldhuis' Veldhuis

It was quite the Monday evening for PokerStars Team Pro Online Lex 'L. Veldhuis' Veldhuis. Unlike Shaban, Veldhuis streamed his action on his Twitch channel to thousands of eager fans.

Veldhuis appeared to know that it would be a big day for him as not only did he advance to Day 2 of the $5 million guaranteed Blowout Series: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, The Big Blowout!] but also advanced to the final table of the $1 million guaranteed Blowout Series $5,200 Side Event with $26,714 locked up with the chance at the $219,546 top prize.

The Blowout Series $5,200 Side Event was destined to end first with the final table lasting slightly more than 2 1/2 hours. Veldhuis' run in this event ended a bit sooner with his impressive run ending just short of the podium in fourth place for $97,257.

just setting up my twttr

— jack (@jack)

There was no time to rest or celebrate for Veldhuis after his big win as he had a chance to set himself up for an even bigger one in the Big Blowout.

Lex Veldhuis Net Worth 2020 - Second Most Popular Poker ...

That run came to an end about five hours later after he couldn't get his ace-queen to hold against the ace-jack held by 'Tzitzi989' to go out in 30th place.

Veldhuis was able to bank another $14,029 for his deep run to bring his total earnings well into the six-figure range on Monday evening.

Follow along with the dedicated PokerNews Blowout Series Hub to stay on top of all things Blowout.

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Poker on Twitch is booming, hitting record viewer numbers throughout 2020.

In fact, during the Spring Championship of Online Poker back in May, the reigning king of Twitch Poker Lex Veldhuis dominated the Twitch directory to become the no.1 stream on the entire platform.

If you’ve ever played a poker session whilst watching one of your favourite streamers on the side, chances are the idea of streaming yourself has crossed your mind.

There’s nothing stopping you. In fact, in the cases of Lex and his fellow PokerStars Ambassador Ben “Spraggy” Spragg, it was one of the best decisions they made.

Lex has now built a brand new studio in his new home, with every aspect custom-designed for him to stream. Who knows? Maybe one day you could do the same, but everyone has to start somewhere.

So what essential things do you need to start streaming poker on Twitch?

Let’s get into it, with Lex and Spraggy’s help.

STRONG INTERNET

Don’t fall at the very first hurdle.

If you’re putting in the effort and all the hours you can muster, make sure your internet connection is able to work just as hard for you.

“The most important “piece of equipment” you can have is a good internet connection,” says Spraggy. “When I first started streaming, I had less than 1mb upload and the stream was either super low quality, or it would cut out and buffer a lot.

“Strong and stable internet is the primary issue as a stream which cuts out or stutters all the time is the main turn off for viewers.”

A MICROPHONE

Lex recently revealed his custom-built Twitch studio

The way you build an audience and community is by communicating with them.

This is especially true in poker compared with other popular games on Twitch. Viewers want to know why you’re doing what you’re doing, and how you’re feeling when the results arrive.

It’s really the only way they can truly go on a journey with you.

“It really doesn’t matter about the quality to begin with,” says Spraggy. “You just need a way to communicate and start connecting with people. I started with an old gaming headset I had lying around, and used the flip down mic.”

As you progress and you stream gets better, eventually the time will come to part with some cash for a better quality mic. But you needn’t break the bank.

“I think you can get a good microphone for €60-€100 euro,” says Lex. “Basically, you should eventually get a microphone that isn’t built into a webcam or something.”

A CAMERA

Speaking of webcams, viewers want to be able to see you in action. You don’t have to be Steven Spielberg. Just point the thing and shoot.

As Spraggy explains, the quality doesn’t have to be great to begin with.

“A quality webcam is important but not 100% necessary,” says Spraggy. “I started with a super cheap webcam that came free with an old laptop or something.

“I think a good cam is necessary in order to grow, but if you’re uncomfortable at the start you can definitely find your feet without investing a lot of money. You can build on that at a later time.”

OVERLAYS AND ALERTS

No, I’m not talking about the free money added to a tournament prize pool when the guarantee isn’t beaten.

Twitch Overlays are the graphics, animations or tools that you use to display your stream. They sit over your actual game/video content when you’re broadcasting live.

“I think you need to have some sort of basic overlay,” says Veldhuis. “It makes your stream look clean and nice because, and it’s the first thing that catches the eye. It’s something you can build off of too. So make sure your graphics fit you.”

The same goes for alerts, according to Veldhuis. A Twitch alert is a sound or graphic which pops up on the stream when, for example, you get a new follower or you receive a donation.

“I know it can be hard to set up good alerts, but it just lets people see the effort that you’re putting in,” says Veldhuis.

A SCHEDULE

If you watch a streamer regularly enough, they will eventually form part of your daily routine. Many people fall asleep to streams every night, and they can do so because the streamer is actually streaming when they say they will.

If you can get a schedule out there and be consistent, viewers are more likely to keep coming back.

“Yeah, one of the most important things is to make a schedule and stick to it,” says Veldhuis. “A lot of people don’t understand how important the first 10 viewers you get are. If those 10 viewers keep returning to your stream, they will already put you above half of the Twitch Poker directory.

“If you lose five of those viewers, then you plummet down to the bottom. So treat all of your first viewers like gold because they might tell somebody in a different channel about your stream and help spread the word.”

Ben “Spraggy” Spragg

THE PASSION AND DRIVE

If you’re still reading this article, chances are you’re pretty keen on starting to stream poker. You’d have probably started even without this friendly nudge.

So what are you waiting for?

“My main advice is always to just get started,” says Spraggy. “Don’t worry about your audio being perfect, your webcam being perfect, or your graphics and overlay being perfect.”

The only way you’ll know if streaming is for you is by doing it. Allow yourself the time to see if Twitch is really something you wish to pursue.

“Don’t invest lots of money in getting started and then realise it’s not something you enjoy doing,” adds Spraggy.

Before I let him go back to his awesome new home studio, I wondered if Lex felt any pieces of technology or equipment were overrated.

Lex has built an amazing Twitch community over the years

“Hmmm, let’s see,” ponders Veldhuis. “I actually think a lot of lighting stuff is a little bit overrated. People worry their stream isn’t bright enough or something, y’know? But you don’t need to have a professional studio immediately. Instead, try tweaking your lamp setup and make sure that you’re in a reasonable position with the light from outside. That sort of thing.”

I was also curious if he had any regrets from his epic ascent on Twitch.

Lex Veldhuis 2020

“One thing I really regret is that I didn’t record all of my streams early on,” he says. “If you record them you can look back on those early streams and evaluate yourself and your poker play. It’s really fun to have that, and I really messed up in not doing it.

“So yeah, record every single one of your streams!”

Lex Veldhuis Hendon Mob

Check out Lex Veldhuis and Spraggy on Twitch.