Sami Kelopuro is a professional poker player from Finland known as LarsLuzak who burst onto the high stakes scene around the same time as poker legends Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, among others, and helped launch a new era of online poker.
Kelopuro had an amazing start to his poker career, becoming a millionaire in less than two years after discovering the game. In 2005, he was immediately hooked after playing a home game tournament with friends. Still, in high school at the time, Kelopuro started playing online up to 10 hours per day, jumping into any action he could find. From tournaments to cash games, heads-up to full-ring, you name it, he played it.
He made several deposits of just €30 each and played a lot of NL50 and NL100 variants. Not exactly a ringing endorsement of his bankroll management skills, but it makes for a good story so I’ll just go with it. At any rate, Kelopuro began making big profits on Betfair, and after a 9-month hiatus with the Finnish Defense Forces, he decided to pursue poker full-time.
His decision to play poker professionally proved to be a profitable choice because, in less than two years’ time, Kelopuro was a millionaire. In 2007, he earned a remarkable $1.5 million after moving up to high stakes NL and PLO games on Full Tilt. He also took down the $10k NL High Roller event on PokerStars that year, earning him an additional $72,000.
Kelopuro played limits up to $500/$1,000 and was involved with some of the biggest poker hands at the time – and still is today, according to HighStakesDB.com. Daily swings of a million dollars are less likely in today’s games, but back then it was typical. But Kelopuro was unaffected by the swings and became known for being one of the most aggressive and fearless cash game players in the world.
Today’s games are obviously a bit tougher than they were back in 2007 but Kelopuro enjoys challenging himself by playing the best players in the world on PokerStars. His online results have been up and down as of late, however, Kelopuro still managed to win nearly $600k in 2016 after climbing back from a -$300k downswing that spanned almost 9 months. That’s close to a million-dollar swing and one hell of a comeback.
Kelopuro can also be found playing live tournaments and cash games around the world and has managed to stay successful for a long time. His endurance and persistence for outlasting many of his peers should not go unnoticed. In an interview with PokerStars.com, he explains his ability to stay on the top of the game.
I’ve managed to be successful and stay in the game for a long time, but it doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled some too. It does take a lot work to keep up with the game. The overall skill level has gone miles up in the eight years or so I’ve been around.
I do play smaller stakes than I used to and I actually have a much more professional approach to the game than in the beginning. I used to just play without even selecting the games. I do select the games better now, I talk some strategy with other pros, I try to take advantage of the programs and tools out there. I used to play just NL cash, and it took some effort to learn how to play tournaments and PLO. Even though I’m still doing good it’s definitely not easy anymore, and it’s no wonder a lot of pros don’t make it for so long.
There were rumors at one time that Kelopuro may have been broke but I think people are too quick to find a catalyst for a good beat story. Sami Kelopuro is indeed alive and well and still playing poker professionally. Just a few short months ago, Kelopuro was a big winner at the PLO and 8-game tables, topping the daily high stakes leaderboards several days in a row. Hopefully, he can build on this success throughout 2017 and beyond.
