It has just been announced that French rap star Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes has joined his country’s largest online poker sites Winamax, as one of its team of sponsored pros. The 45 year old now joins such pros as Gaëlle Baumann, Davidi Kitai, Ludovic Lacay, Patrick Bruel and Nicolas Levi, with a statement from Winamax commenting:
““For over twenty years, the suburban Parisien is one of the major figures of French rap..and now Kool Shen is one of the most respected poker players on the tournament circuit. Kool Shen joined Team Winamax in autumn 2012. You can find the tables under the nickname Kool Shen.”
Bruno Lopes first started playing poker aged 13, but then turned his attention to music before eventually carving out a highly successful career for himself. However, by 2005 the rapper became hooked on poker once more after watching Texas Hold’em played on television and has now become a highly skilled pro playing up to 40 hours a week both online and live.
Since cashing in at his first live tournament in 2008, Bruno Lopes has amassed an impressive $745,691 in winnings, with 2012 being a defining year having amassed $523,020 of that total. This year’s accolades include victory at the €5k Diamond Championships Euro Finals of Poker for €100,000 ($127,514) and a 1st place finish at the €1,500 WPT National Series in Cannes for €108,000 ($135,294). In addition, at the 2012 WSOP Main Event Kool Shen finished 468th out of 6,598 players to cash for $24,808.
Speaking previously about his experiences playing poker, Lopes said: “I love poker and I’ve been very lucky to meet lots of good people who play great poker. I’m good friends with Stephane Albertini who finished 47th in the Main Event and he’s taught me a lot of what I know.”
Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes will now make his sponsored Winamax debut this week at the WPT Mazagan PMU in Morocco.
30/11/2012, 7:48 am