Sami Kelopuro (born 1987 in Finland), a.k.a. LarsLuzak, is a professional poker player represented by Poker Icons. [1]
| Sami Kelopuro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | LarsLuzak Lrslzk (PokerStars) |
| Residence | Monte Carlo |
| Born | 1987 (age 36–37) Finland |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 2 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish | 111th, 2011 |
| European Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 2 |
Early years
editKelopuro started to play poker cash games in late 2005 [2] when he was invited to a home sit-and-go poker tournament. Shortly afterwards, he became excited about poker and began playing online tournaments, sit-and-gos, cash games, heads up, shorthanded, and full ring games,. He started on PAF, an online poker room belonging to the Ongame Network, where he made several deposits of €30 each and began playing $0.25/$0.50 and $0.50/$1.00 games. At the time he was just finishing high school, yet he devoted up to 10 hours a day playing online poker. Six months after graduating high school, Kelopuro joined the Finnish Defence Forces for nine months. During his service, he continued playing online poker and decided that he wanted to play poker professionally after completing his service. He made his first large profits as a cash game specialist on the poker room Betfair.[citation needed]
Progress
editKelopuro made a major impact on the cash game scene in 2007, moving up to high-stakes no-limit Texas hold 'em and pot-limit Omaha hold 'em cash games at Full Tilt Poker, playing on limits up to $500/$1,000. He was involved in some of the biggest poker hands[3] at the time, experiencing daily swings up to a million dollars.[4] He is known for being one of the most aggressive and fearless cash game players in the world.[citation needed]
Despite shying away from the spotlight when he first became popular among railbirds, he started blogging at Coinflip, a poker website that he started with fellow Finnish poker pro Ilari Sahamies. When playing poker online, Kelopuro enjoys challenging himself by playing against some of the best poker players in the world.[5]
During the past years he has started to show results also in live poker tournaments, for a total of more than $200,000 in winnings.[6] In May 2011 he won the Spring Championship of Online Poker Event 38-H ($10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event) for $504,691.09.[7][8]
In August 2019, Sami Kelopuro won $1.3 Million during 8 hours in a PLO Omaha heads-up game against an unknown player.[9]
As of 2021, Sami Kelopuro has accumulated $1.152 million in live tournament earnings.[10]
Online Poker
editKelopuro has the most success in playing online poker. He is one of the biggest multi table tournament winners in online poker history, cashing for $23.3 million over a number of sites.
On PokerStars, he plays under the screen name “Lrslzk”, where he collected $6.6 million in tournament winnings.
On GGNetwork Kelopuro used the alias “MiMosa1” and his real name. On that site, he collected over $13 million in MTT cashes. [11]
References
edit- ^ Kollind, Lars (26 January 2011). "A Poker Icon to keep an eye on… Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro signs with Poker Icons!". Poker Icons. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
- ^ "Player Profile". highstakesdb.com. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ "Start > LarsLuzak wins $637,353 on Omaha PL $500/$1000 LarsLuzak wins $637,353 on Omaha PL $500/$1000". highstakesdb. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
- ^ Arnett, Kristy (2 June 2009). "Capture the Flag: Sami Kelopuro". CardPlayer Europe. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ Carter, Barry (27 March 2009). "The PokerNews Interview: Sami 'LarsLuzak' Kelopuro". PokerNews. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
- ^ "Sami Kelopuro's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
- ^ Pempus, Brian (24 May 2011). "Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro Wins SCOOP Main Event". CardPlayer. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ Johnstone, Jay (1 July 2009). "Sami 'larsluzak' Kelopuro Interview". Poker Player. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Sami Kelopuro "LarsLuzak" Won $1.3 Million during 8 hour PLO session". pokersuperagent.com. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ "Sami Kelopuro's profile on The Hendon Mob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ "LarsLuzak". PokerStake. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2024.