If you haven’t watched professional poker players on Twitch, we’ve got a few you need to see. We’re very lucky to be able to watch the pros as they play; streaming comes with sacrifices. It’s widely acknowledged that streamers are giving valuable information to their opponents, which can hurt their win rate.
Twitch allows poker streams, thanks to their gambling rules. Each of the streamers in this article are professional poker players with tournament winnings, both live and online. We aren’t going to be writing about gaming streamers who play poker, even though it can be fun to watch (as we saw at Hustlers Casino).
Major Poker Rooms on Twitch:
- 888pokerTV streams poker on Twitch with professional commentary, several times a week.
- PokerStars247 streams classic poker clips all day, every day. You can expect to see major poker tournaments ranging from classic to present-day.
The Biggest Poker Twitch Streamers
Lex Velhuis – Team PokerStars Pro – 300,000+ Followers
Lex has been around the poker world for a long time. The Dutch player has been affiliated with PokerStars since the early days of televised poker and these days he’s an ambassador on their Pro Team. His Twitch stream is very well-made and he explains his thought process to his viewers. Lex himself says. “Every month I invest about $100.000 of my own money to compete (and get Jebaited) in the toughest online poker tournaments.”
Since Lex Velhuis is on Team PokerStars, it’s not surprising that he plays on PokerStars. Lex is mainly a tournament player and he’s on the right platform for MTTs. They’re one of the best poker sites for tournaments at all levels, from micro to high-stakes (freerolls too). There are plenty of bonuses for new players, including a $30 Freeplay Bonus and a 100% matched deposit (up to $600).
Spraggy (Ben Spragg) – Team PokerStars Pro – 150,000+ Followers
British poker pro Spraggy is always entertaining and interacts with viewers a lot. After graduating in 2012, he began streaming cash games. Eventually, Spraggy started focusing on Texas hold ‘em tournaments on PokerStars, usually with large buy-ins. His sessions usually last for over 5 hours and he streams on Twitch most days of the week. He’s also got a very popular Youtube channel with highlights and full-length videos.
PokerStaples – partypoker Team Online – 158,000+ Followers
What makes this Twitch channel interesting is the mix of live and online poker. Jaime Staples is a Canadian poker player with $135,000 in live earnings, who shows viewers live-streamed poker games and also online games on partypoker. Jaime is a likable player who seems to be working hard to give viewers awesome content. He spends a lot of the online poker streams explaining his thought process and giving guidance.
partypoker is giving away $30 in tickets and a 100% matched bonus (up to $600) for any new players on the site. As you can see from PokerStaples, the software looks fantastic. There’s no HUD or third-party software allowed at the tables so players can expect a certain level of fairness. Their tournament schedule is full of micro to high-stakes events, which we’ve covered in detail in our partypoker review.
kevinmartin – Team GGPoker – 150,000+ Followers
Canadian Kevin Martin has almost $400,000 in live earnings and plays at events around the world. He also has a dedicated following on Twitch, where he’s been streaming since 2015. In 2020 he joined GGPoker and he’s been playing regular MTTs and bounty tournaments on their platform ever since. Before that, he was signed to Team PokerStars and even partypoker Team Online (though only for 4 months).
It’s fun to watch Kevin Martin on GGPoker, but nothing is stopping you from taking a seat at the table. GG has some of the best software in the world and that’s brought a lot of player traffic. The selection of Texas hold ‘em and Omaha tournaments are impressive, plus there are ways to enter live and online WSOP events through GGPoker. If cash games are more your style, there’s regular format, Rush & Cash (fast-fold), All In or Fold, and even short deck tables.
Check out our GGPoker guide to find out about the $50 in cash and tickets, matched bonus, and 30-Day Honeymoon for new players.
easywithaces (Fintan Hand) – Team PokerStars Pro – 131,000+ Followers
Fintan Hand is an Irish Twitch streamer in his thirties who also runs a successful Youtube channel. He’s won the PokerStars SCOOP three times and “once correctly pronounced my 'TH' sound”. Like a lot of other top poker streamers, he spends most of his time on PokerStars tables and regularly plays their Sunday Millions tournament.
Arlie Shaban – Team PokerStars Pro – 53,000+ Followers
This Canadian player has won five ONCOOP titles while streaming on Twitch, even playing for a record 125 days straight. He’s an ambassador for PokerStars, so he uses their platform too. Over his live poker career, he’s earned over $50,000 and travels around the world to compete in events.
jordanbanfield_ – 888 Stream Team – 12,500+ Followers
Jordan Banfield joined 888poker in 2021, but he regularly switches between other rooms like PokerStars. His total live earnings hover above $40,000, mainly coming from Canadian deep stack tournaments and WSOP events.
In 2022 Jordan streamed a Play with Friends session at 888poker, clashing against Sam Abernathy at a private table. Anybody can start private poker games like this at 888poker, with micro to mid-stakes cash games or tournaments. It’s very easy to invite friends and you can change lots of settings like stakes, timers, and table size.
PokerStars has Home Games, which are private games that you can play with free chips or real money. Choose the settings for private cash games or tournaments and send invites to friends. Players in the UK and DE domains can even use the built-in webcam feature, but Zoom or Discord work well for anyone outside those areas.
