Ludovic Lacay is the latest member of Team Winamax to move to pastures new, after it was announced on his blog that he would be leaving with immediate effect to focus on something ‘scary and exciting.’

When I think about Ludovic Lacay I think about those brown headphones. I could easily identify him in the throng because he was the only one who owned a pair.

[Ludovic Lacay’s Image Courtesy of WPT]

That was Lacay. He was always different. Making moves that others wouldn’t. Dressed like a rock star. Muttering words that nobody understood. Smiling one minute and throwing his cards the next.

He always stood up and shook my hand when I waltzed past his table. He once promised a member of the media 1% of his action, at a major tournament that has been lost in the recess of my mind, just for charging his phone. He ended up cashing for a six-figure score. He was a man of his word. He handed over the cash to the lad.

So it’s sad that I read, in broken English, that Lacay has decided to leave Team Winamax. He’s the latest spirit to leave the group in recent times after Nicolas Levi left to take up Ranking Hero charge, and Manuel Bevand left to also discover a new challenge. It must be something they put into the Winamax tea, because I loved those two old boys as well.

Lacay was picked up by Winamax shortly after finishing as runner-up in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Spanish Championships in Barcelona. Those were the days when the European WPT legs were €10k events and top players like Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel and Steve Billirakis were cashing.