EPT Paris: Joris ‘BillLewinsky’ Ruijs continues his poker ascent in Paris
With $4.57 million in live cashes, Joris Ruijs is one of the most successful Dutch poker players of all-time (sixth on the country’s all-time list, if you’re counting). But you can forgive yourself if you’re not familiar with the name. Online, he goes by a completely different one.
“BillLewinsky” is the moniker behind which Ruijs, 34, has won millions, including two SCOOP titles and two WCOOP wins. He’s a fixture in the biggest online games, and these days he battles in high rollers around the world.
Ruijs is currently manoeuvring his way through the EPT Paris Main Event on the feature table. This is already his best EPT Main Event cash to date, but he’s had plenty of success in high rollers and side events over the years.
It’s a nice reminder of how far he’s come. When we last spoke, in 2019, he told us how it was his goal to reach the highest stakes. “[I want to] get to a level of play where I feel comfortable in those events,” he told us.
It’s safe to say he’s now the one making others uncomfortable.
COOKING WITH GAS
Ruijs started playing poker when he was 18, playing tiny stakes and freerolls. As his bankroll grew, he moved up to $1 and $2 games. “After a year, I noticed I was making quite a bit more money than I was in my job as a chef. I moved and left that job, and never got another job again.”
Ruijs is a big stack in Paris
He then had a huge online score that kick-started his rise up the stakes. “Ever since then, I’ve always been super competitive online,” he said. “I started my own company, so there was a three-year stretch where I wasn’t playing as much online, but other than that, I’ve always been competitive at the high stakes.”
READY FOR SCOOP
He’s shown his class this week in Paris. Back in 2019, Ruijs told us how he felt live poker differed from online.
“The stakes in live poker are much higher, and the level of play is far lower,” he said. “One of the things that people do live is lose patience, or they start making mistakes and trying to force the issue, which you don’t really see online because everything goes so fast.
‘BillLewinksy’, or Joris to his mates
“I think the level of online high stakes is higher than it’s ever been. There’s a group of guys that are consistently playing them, and they’re all excellent at poker, so you really have to battle it out for the small edges. Whereas with a live $10K, you could have a table where three out of four people are sitting there because they enjoy playing the game, or they won a satellite or something. It’s quite a bit softer than online.”
Ruijs, like thousands of other online players, will no doubt be settling in for a big SCOOP grind when he’s finished here in Paris. “SCOOP is always nice because the structures are so good, it’s more prestigious. You get to play pretty high stakes every day,” he said.
RUIJS’ COOP TITLES
- 2019: SCOOP 32-M: $530 Sunday Million – $217,140
- 2024: SCOOP 61-H: $1 050 NLHE 6-Max PKO – $48,765
- 2019: WCOOP $530 NLHE Bounty Builder HR – $128,879
- 2022: WCOOP $1,050 Turbo – $40,321
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