Broadcast in recent days on the Poker Life Podcastwas an interview with Lex Veldhuis (pictured), who donned his PokerStarspatch in what would turn out to be a rather controversial two-hour sitting. It began with Veldhuis lambasting 2012 World Series of Poker One Drop winner Antonio Esfandiari.

“I had some run-ins with him whereI just decided he’s worthless,” Veldhuis explained. “The first time I came to Vegas [to play a live tournament eight years ago], I was tournament-hungry and wanted to win a bracelet… I got there really motivated, played the WPT at the Mirage, final tabled a side event, and got pretty deep in the Main. Then, I played Mandalay Bay and [Esfandiari was] sitting to my left.”

Cue the fireworks.

Veldhuis continued, “I was playing [what was] standard back then for European players… He was sitting to my left. Regardless, I was shitting on him all day in a combination of my style and the cards. He played very predictably.”

When the day ended, Esfandiari asked his new friend to dinner to talk a little poker strategy. Veldhuis responded in the affirmative, but wanted to bring his own friends along, as they had plans to go out. Rather than accommodate the request, Esfandiari countered, “You’re new here, and I’m asking you to dinner, and you’re about to turn me down?“

“I’m not going to ditch my friends because you’re Antonio and I should be grateful you’re asking me to dinner,” Veldhuis thought, along with a few other not-appropriate-for-TV comments.

Five years later, Veldhuis and Esfandiari (pictured) were at EPT Vilamoura. A group that included Daniel Negreanuand Liv Boeree asked Veldhuis to dinner, but, similar to the time before, Veldhuis said he wanted to bring a friend who was in town. Esfandiari, who was in charge of the reservation, retorted, “We’re trying to keep it exclusive,” and Veldhuis thought, “Not this fucking shit again.”

Veldhuis also called out Esfandiari’s demeanor in tournaments, saying, “He has no empathy for the situation people are in if he wants attention.” He added, “He’ll put somebody on the spot… His deal is his deal… The fact that he involves other people just to try to be funny when they’re really vulnerable, that’s what annoys me… That’s part of the reason I don’t like live tournaments… There’s this entitled, look-at-me, stupid bullshit.” He singled out Esfandiari’s actions when players are all-in during high-stakes events, among other examples.

“I don’t have beef with him; I just don’t like him,” the PokerStars pro concluded.

Posters on Two Plus Two were commenting on Esfandiari in general, with one person saying, “Antonio is living proof that you can get a huge number of fanboys in poker by always being an attention-whoring douche.” Others called out Veldhuis, including one person who said, “Lex did himself no favors by publicly airing this immature, childish, negative rant on Antonio. He sadly comes across as a total douche.”

What do you think of Veldhuis’ appearance? Comment here and let us know: