How is a poker vlog made? Go behind the scenes of the Lex Veldhuis Vlog at EPT Paris
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Find out how a poker vlog is made as we peek behind the curtain of the Lex Veldhuis Vlog, with help from our photographer Manuel Kovsca
Over the past decade, no form of poker content has blown up as much as poker vlogging.
Vlogs (i.e. video blogs) allow audiences to live vicariously through their favourite poker players slash content creators, whether they’re battling in pots at the tables or simply soaking in the atmosphere at live poker events. Viewers at home are not only entertained but often inspired to play themselves.
The latest to enter the vlog arena is PokerStars Team Pro Lex Veldhuis. The streaming superstar’s vlogging career began at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas in January 2023 and now continues here at the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Paris.
So we went behind the scenes of the Lex Veldhuis Vlog to find out exactly how a poker vlog is put together.
Behind the scenes of the Lex Veldhuis Vlog at EPT Paris
PRE-PRODUCTION
To help with the vlog production and his YouTube channel in general, Veldhuis works with the full-service YouTube agency Team5pm, based in Amsterdam. “They’re my main partners when it comes to planning and technical stuff,” he says. “They also help with the editing and visualisation.”
The man behind the camera, both at the PCA/PSPC in the Bahamas in January and now here at EPT Paris, is freelance videographer Brandon Gervacio. Recommended to Veldhuis by Team5pm, Gervacio comes from a lifestyle content background, so it was important for him to get a feel for Veldhuis before filming began.
Lex Veldhuis’ videographer Brandon Gervacio
“I watched a lot of videos of Lex so I could learn more about him and how he is, so I can get to know his personality,” Gervacio tells us. “He’s not pretending to be a character, he’s just himself in front of the camera and I really like that about him, how natural he is.”
But the poker world was brand new to Gervacio, who has only ever played small stakes online. “It’s really intense,” he says. “I’ve never played live poker before, but I can imagine the atmosphere when you step in the room to play. Now I really want to try live poker, at small stakes of course!”
FLY ON THE WALL
Gervacio’s day begins at around 10 am when he arrives at the poker venue to prepare for the vlog ahead. “In total it takes me around 10 hours throughout the day to put a vlog together,” he says, stressing that he’s not alone in the process. “The team in Amsterdam are busy creating the concept of each vlog along with Lex.”
Veldhuis turns up bright and early too, so the two can film any intro/outro sequences required before play begins for the day. There’s also an opportunity to capture footage of Veldhuis registering for his tournaments, and bumping into friends and poker players along the way.
“Having Brandon with me holding the camera, it’s more like a fly-on-the-wall scenario,” Veldhuis says. “He follows me and I bump into people and only after we’ve exchanged a few lines do they notice the camera. I’m mic’d all the time so it’s easier to capture content.”
“I always to try [vlogging] out and put my own spin on it.” – Lex Veldhuis
Veldhuis’ fellow PokerStars Team Pros Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot, and Sam Grafton all make regular appearances in Veldhuis’ poker vlogs so far. But none of his encounters are forced.
“I’m not really comfortable walking up to people with a GoPro and forcing conversations,” he says. “If I was to immediately whip out a camera when talking to someone, I think it takes away some of the authenticity from a conversation. It could feel like I was only talking to them because I want to film it.
“Sam, Spraggy, Parker, they’re three people I talk to the most outside of live stops, so seeing them at live stops makes it very easy. And they’re recognisable to my audience because obviously, they watch them as well.”
CAPTURING THE ACTION
As soon as he relinquishes his cards after an interesting pot, Veldhuis begins to transcribe the hand details into his phone, ensuring he’ll get all of the crucial details correct later on. “Then I’ll add some notes, for example, ‘important to talk about four-bet strategy here’,” he says.
Those transcripts are then sent to the digital creatives at Team5pm, who will then build the overlays and hand graphics required from their base in Amsterdam.
While Veldhuis is jotting down his notes, Gervacio is on the rail capturing footage of all players at the table. “He shoots a b-roll with images of the players at the table so we have some immersion,” Veldhuis explains. “Sometimes he’s able to capture the hand I’m talking about on the vlog, which is insanely lucky and even better.”
Gervacio then takes his footage back to the media room and begins to edit it.
Gervacio at work in the EPT Paris media room
A NICE PAYOFF
In total, he says he captures around 25 minutes of usable footage per day, then edits it down to an average of nine minutes per vlog. Naturally, the length of a day’s poker vlog all depends on how many interesting hands Veldhuis plays throughout the day, how deep he runs in a tournament, or how much footage is shot away from the tables.
“It’s definitely a bit more intense [having the cameras around],” Veldhuis admits. “Usually on a break, you go see a friend, get some fresh air or a bite to eat. You can zone out a little bit. But with the vlog, every break is spent either recording footage or doing voiceovers. It’s more intense but I think the payoff is really nice.”
Speaking of the vlog voiceovers, Veldhuis records them into a mic held by Gervacio either on break or at the end of play. “I tried writing it out like a script but I didn’t really like the flow of it,” he says. “It didn’t really sound like me, and some of my best friends pointed it out right away.”
So everything you hear is natural and unrehearsed.
“YOU GET THESE REALLY EXCITING MOMENTS”
The subject of today’s vlog will be Veldhuis’ run in the €3,000 EPT Mystery Bounty. It’s Day 2 and he entered play with the fifth-largest chip stack. But the really exciting stuff comes when the bounty tickets can be exchanged for mystery prizes.
“Mystery bounties are perfect, for any type of content,” Veldhuis says. “They’re great for the media side, and for poker tournaments in general because you get these really exciting moments. It’s almost like you have multiple winners. The people who pull the biggest bounties are almost as happy as the winner of the actual tournament.”
If you ask Veldhuis whether he would rather have a big stack in the Mystery Bounty or the €2K High Roller he ran deep in a few days ago, he’ll pick the Mystery Bounty every time.
“Having the sweat on the vlog is really nice,” he says. “I had two bounties in the Bahamas. It’s a nice moment where the audience can sweat along, because what if you grab a big one?
Generally, as a content creator, if you can play something that has multiple layers of content it’s always better. That’s why bounty tournaments on my stream work well.”
In general, Veldhuis says he’s enjoying doing a poker vlog more than he thought he would. Now he plans to continue documenting all of his trips throughout 2023. “I always wanted to try it out and put my own spin on it,” he says. “I feel like I’m doing it in a way that’s good for me.”
You can watch all episodes of the Lex Veldhuis Vlog on YouTube
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