If you’ve ever watched popular poker streamer Lex Veldhuis play cards, you may have wondered if you were about to witness someone have a heart attack, live in real time.
Thankfully, that’s never happened, but it seems his excitable nature is at least partly to blame for a recent health scare that saw him collapse and undergo an examination for an irregular heartbeat.
On October 28, Veldhuis tweeted out that he’d have to cancel a meet and greet with fans after he collapsed on the street, leading to this hilarious jab from poker legend Doyle Brunson.
you are just getting old buddy. This will hurt your borrowing power, so you have a real problem. I'll stake you in the $1.00-$2.00 PLO so perhaps you can keep food on the table. Seriously, get better! https://t.co/4xSSf0scru
— Doyle Brunson (@TexDolly) October 28, 2018
At the time, Lex said that doctors checked him out and told him it was no big deal, but a week later he revealed that there may be something more serious at play.
Veldhuis got a second opinion, and that doctor insisted more tests were necessary to find out exactly what was going on with his heart.
“I need to have this checked out because this is serious,” he says in the video to his fans a week after he collapsed. “I’ve had this weird feeling where, it’s like there’s someone pressing a finger to my heart when it’s more stressful, or pressure situations.”
True to his streaming nature, Veldhuis apologized to his viewers for taking time off and not making his promised air time.
Crisis Averted
Friday morning brought good news, however.
The man who goes by “RaSZi” online posted a new video this morning saying he had been 100 percent cleared of any irregularities. After running a battery of tests, doctors determined that his heart was completely healthy.
“It’s almost guaranteed to be something tired, or stress related,” he revealed in his latest video update. It could almost even be something like not enough water the day before. Very happy it’s not heart related, and I’m super stoked about that.”
Lex will undergo a few more tests to make sure, but he didn’t sound like a man who’s ready to remain on hiatus for much longer.
“Next week, back to streaming. I can’t wait. (Tuesday, November 9) 100 percent, guaranteed,” Lex assured his fans.
However, he’s making no vows to tone down the fiery demeanor that apparently helped land him in the hospital in the first place.
No Taming the Dutch Lion
The excitable Dutchman is certainly not the calm and stoic figure that many of his fellow poker streamers are.
The passion and excitement for poker, and well as the pain and agony over bad beats, were on full display as he made an epic run in this year’s World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event.
It’s that raw authenticity that so many of his fans can relate to, helping to land him a record 32,839 concurrent viewers during the Main Event run which saw him ultimately finish 58th for $28,000.
