On Thursday, Chad M8kingmovesBatista (pictured) passed away. His family released a statement on Twitter that read, “It is with the deepest sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved son, nephew, cousin, brother, and friend, Chad lilholdem954 Batista. Chad died suddenly this beautiful Thursday afternoon with his family surrounding him.”

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Batista, otherwise known as lilholdem954on PokerStarsand in the poker community, was one of the most successful online poker tournament players before Black Friday. His resume includes being a former #1 ranked player in the world on PocketFives for almost a year from August 2007 to July 2008.

Batista was well known for frequently winning the pro-heavy $109 Rebuy on PokerStars numerous times along with three wins in the Full Tilt $1K Monday and a win in the site’s $750K Guaranteed.

Many of the game’s top pros and industry staples paid their respects on Twitter on Thursday. Here’s a sample of what we found:

Matt Plattsburgh Vengrin:
Very sad to hear of Chad’s passing today. He might have had a tough guy persona, but the guy was a sweetie. RIP my friend. #legend

Greg Merson (pictured):
RIP lilholdem, one of the first guys I followed in online tournaments as a railbird.

Jessica Welman:
If you never talked to Chad Batista away from the tbls, he was genuinely one of the most polite ppl I ever met on the circuit. His poor fam.

Derek killingbird Tenbusch:
Didn’t know Chad Batista personally. But dude was a serious MTT legend. RIP.

William Reynolds XO Reynolds:
RiP to the lil homie lil hold em’. One of the first MTT accounts I ever railed.

Sorel Imper1um Mizzi:
RIP to Chad Batista. Undoubtedly one of the true OG’s of online poker.

Matt Savage:
Chad Batista and I texted often about things that bothered him in poker. Always seemed to have a lot of pain but also a ton of passion! #RIP

Kyle KJulius10 Julius:
Chad was the first person I read about in poker… His story motivated me and helped me get to where I am. Pure character of the game! #RIP

Christian charder Harder (pictured):
RIP Chad Batista. An online tournament legend. Came from nothing to become one of the best of his time.

Adam RoothlusLevy:
RIP LilHoldem. We came up together in south Florida. We were like the odd couple running the poker streets in 2005. Gonna miss him.

Phil USCphildo Collins:
I remember railing Chad when he won the Full Tilt 500k and 1k Monday back-to-back for around 250k. Incredible.

Jon PearlJammer Turner:
RIP lilholdem, only great memories from the first time we met! A character at the tables, and so genuine irl. Gone way too soon.

Chris SLOPPYKLOD Klodnicki:
One time I chopped Super Tuesday with lil holdem and another dude and Chad somehow ended up getting more than first place money. RIP

JC PrtyPsux Alvarado:
Just saw the news about lilholdem. Man… He’s one of the most fun characters to ever play the game. Always put a smile on my face. RIP.

We wish Batista’s family and friends the best and will keep them in our thoughts. Several PocketFivers have paid their respects in this thread.

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Jason “wackyJaxon” Glatzer contributed to this article.