Louis Devaleix: From First Polo Lesson to Netflix Stardom and Argentina’s Biggest Stage

Louis Devaleix is a French-born polo patron and player who had never sat on a horse before 2020. Within four years, he built La Fe into one of the most recognized polo teams in America, won the East Coast Open at Greenwich, captured the San Jorge Open in Argentina against the legendary Cambiaso family, represented the United States in the International Cup, and became one of the most talked-about figures in Netflix’s Polo docuseries. He holds a 0-goal handicap.

Some people discover a passion late in life and dabble. Then there is Louis Devaleix, who took his first polo lesson in 2020, had never ridden a horse before that day, and within four years was defeating the greatest polo player in history on Argentine soil. His story — which landed in front of millions of viewers when Netflix’s Polo premiered in December 2024 — is not a fairy tale. It is a portrait of obsession, money, effort, and the rare alchemy that happens when all three collide.

This article covers who Louis Devaleix is, how he built La Fe into a competitive global polo organization, what his 2024 San Jorge Open victory against the Cambiasos meant for his career, how Netflix’s Polo both elevated and complicated his public image, and what his journey tells us about the future of high-goal polo.

Who Is Louis Devaleix?

Louis Devaleix was born in France and moved to Brazil as a baby, growing up in Rio de Janeiro. His family belonged to a golf and polo club, but it was golf — not polo — that captured his competitive energy. He played at a high enough level to earn a college scholarship in the United States, building a life split between sport and business. He currently works in healthcare IT.

Devaleix is physically imposing at 6’4″ and has described himself as an adrenaline junkie. Before polo consumed him, he had tried skydiving, deep-sea fishing, and virtually every sport that could feed his appetite for intensity. Golf carried him through college and into adult life. Then, in 2020, at a club in Loxahatchee, Florida, a single polo lesson changed everything.

From Golf to Polo: An Unlikely Transition

The transition from golf to polo is not as unusual as it might seem — both sports demand hand-eye coordination, timing, and a willingness to spend long hours perfecting technique. But the differences are enormous. Golf is a solo pursuit played on a flat, predictable surface. Polo is a full-contact team sport played at 35 miles per hour on the back of a 1,000-pound animal. For someone who had spent decades refining his golf swing, the shift was both physical and psychological.

His First Day on a Horse

It was his first time riding a horse. He took his first polo lesson with Carlos Gonzalez at the Sunset Polo Club in Loxahatchee Groves, Florida, and as soon as he hit the ball a couple of feet forward at a standstill, he was hooked.

“It was my first time riding a horse. I took my first polo lesson with Carlos Gonzalez and as soon as I hit the ball one meter I fell immediately in love with the sport. It was beautiful and inspiring, it’s you with another animal.”

That description is worth holding onto. For someone who had spent decades on a golf course, the partnership between rider and horse was something entirely new. After that first lesson, he played a few easy games in the arena, fell off repeatedly — and kept falling in love. “Although I fell off a lot, and I still fall a lot, I fell in love with the sport,” he recalled. “Polo truly is the most amazing sport that anyone can play, so I’m just very fortunate.”

Building La Fe: More Than a Team

La Fe is not just a polo team. It is a growing international organization that reflects Devaleix’s values, his loyalty to the people who made polo possible for him, and his competitive ambitions on two continents.

The Robi Bilbao Partnership

The name “La Fe” comes from a family farm in Argentina owned by Roberto “Robi” Bilbao, a seasoned player from Trenque Lauquen, Argentina. Bilbao is far more than a teammate — he is Devaleix’s business partner, primary horse provider, coach, and the person Devaleix credits with making polo accessible to him.

“La Fe is a family farm Robi Bilbao has in Argentina. Robi is one of the reasons I get to play polo, he has sacrificed a lot to play here with me as he could make more money working for other teams. He is a loyal and transparent individual who provides me with all my horses and has made polo affordable for me, and that’s why I decided to name the team after his farm.”

That is a rare admission in a world where team names often carry sponsor logos or family surnames. Naming the team after Bilbao’s family farm was a deliberate statement about loyalty over corporate branding. “I felt it was only fitting to name the team after Robi’s farm in Argentina after all the sacrifices he makes both with his time and resources,” Devaleix explained.

The partnership goes beyond the field. Together, Devaleix and Bilbao have built La Fe from a single team into a multi-faceted polo operation that includes competitive men’s teams, a growing roster of supporting players, and an expanding presence in Argentina’s high-goal season.

La Fe’s Roster and Organization

La Fe has attracted notable players and expanded its organizational footprint over the years. The team’s core has always been Devaleix and Bilbao, but the supporting cast has included some impressive names:

For the San Jorge Open in Argentina, La Fe assembled a roster of Devaleix, Bilbao, Blas Bensadón, and — in a major coup — Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola, the reigning Argentine Open champion.

Horse Breeding: A Second Passion

Beyond playing, Devaleix started breeding horses alongside Robi Bilbao. “Last year we started breeding together and besides playing, it has become my other passion,” Devaleix said. “I read about the different horses, the strings, and watched videos.” He has even begun exploring cloning as a future possibility. For a man who had never ridden a horse before 2020, moving into breeding within two years shows the depth of his commitment to the sport and its animals.

Louis Devaleix’s Polo Career

Handicap and Playing Style

In polo, handicap ratings run from -1 to 10. The rating reflects a player’s overall value to a team based on their skills, horsemanship, and game understanding.

Devaleix is not a professional polo player in the traditional sense. He is a patron — a player who funds the team and plays alongside hired professionals. Patrons are the financial backbone of high-goal polo. Without them, the sport in its current form would not exist. Usually seen in the Number 4 defensive position, Devaleix takes his role seriously.

“I really like to play as back. I figure if I can slow down other players, I can help the team. Robi wants me to work and my job is to help the pros. I play for the three guys, not the other way around.”

Despite not fitting the typical polo player mold, he has contributed goals for La Fe in 18-goal competition and has shown consistent improvement. His teammates review every game on video, and no match goes by without a detailed debrief on riding position, strategy, and mistakes.

East Coast Open 2021: The Breakthrough

Devaleix experienced competitive success early in his polo career. In 2021, competing under the team name Ellipse, he won the East Coast Open at Greenwich Polo Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, playing alongside Hilario Ulloa — one of the best players in the world — along with Matt Coppola and Robi Bilbao.

“It was a fantastic experience. To play with Hilario Ulloa, one of the best players in the world, when you’re just starting out and winning the East Coast Open is an accomplishment that still hasn’t sunk in.”

Ulloa rerouted his entire family schedule — coming from England and Sotogrande, Spain — to make it possible to play with the team before heading to Argentina. “He was on the sidelines of a Ylvisaker Cup game we played recently and gave me instructions on what I’m doing wrong and where I can improve,” Devaleix said of Ulloa’s continued mentorship.

The team went on to raise the East Coast Open trophy again in 2022, establishing La Fe (the team had been renamed from Ellipse to La Fe by that season) as a legitimate competitive force in American high-goal polo within its first two years of existence.

The 2022 Gauntlet of Polo: Going All In

Originally planning to compete only in the 18-goal season, Devaleix made a last-minute decision to enter the Gauntlet of Polo — the most prestigious and demanding series in American polo. La Fe came in as a 20-goal team with a lineup of Devaleix, Bilbao, Francisco Elizalde (a 9-goaler who had recently played with La Dolfina in Argentina), and Lucas Escobar.

The Gauntlet exposed La Fe to the highest level of competition in the country, including matches against Adolfo Cambiaso. The team lost Elizalde to injury during the season, a significant setback, but adapted and finished in the top half of the standings.

“In 2021 I played 2-4 goal tournaments and this year I got to play the Gauntlet. I played against Adolfo Cambiaso. We even lost Fran, it was a big challenge for us, but we adapted and finished better than half of the teams during our first season.”

The International Cup 2023: Representing the United States

In November 2023, Devaleix received an unexpected honor: a spot on the GCPC USA team for the 12th International Cup at Grand Champions Polo Club. He joined veteran 8-goaler Nic Roldan, 3-goaler Grant Ganzi, and 24-year-old Santos Bollini to face Spain in a 14-goal match.

“I’ve never had the honor of representing the United States in any sports. I’m grateful and thankful for the opportunity, it is a real privilege.”

GCPC USA was defending an 11-year win streak in the annual match. For Devaleix — who had been playing polo for only three years — the call-up was a mark of how quickly he had risen in the American polo community.

The San Jorge Open 2024: “The Most Important Tournament I’ve Ever Won”

In 2024, La Fe made a dramatic entrance into Argentina’s high-goal polo season by winning the San Jorge Open — the first major tournament of the spring season, and one that officially opens the competitive calendar in Argentina. The victory was monumental not only for what it represented competitively, but for who they defeated to earn it.

Playing at the iconic Argentine polo grounds in Palermo, La Fe fielded a lineup of Devaleix, Robi Bilbao, Blas Bensadón, and Camilo “Jeta” Castagnola, the reigning Argentine Open champion. Their opponents were a team called La Dolfina 90210, headlined by the legendary Adolfo Cambiaso, his son Poroto (widely considered one of the top players in the world), his daughter Mia, and Sarah Faith Siegel Magness.

The final was a tense, back-and-forth affair. La Fe took an early 2-1 lead, but the match seesawed through six chukkas with neither team pulling ahead by more than a goal. The score progression tells the story: 2-1, 4-4, 5-6, 7-7, 8-9, and then 11-10 in La Fe’s favor. Trailing 8-9 heading into the final chukka, La Fe scored three unanswered goals, with Castagnola sealing the victory with a goal just 25 seconds before the final whistle.

The match details underline how evenly balanced the contest was:

Devaleix was unequivocal about what the victory meant:

“This is, without a doubt, the most important tournament I’ve ever won. For our organization, it means everything. If you think about it, it’s hard to say if we’ll ever get to play against Adolfo Cambiaso again in Argentina, especially at the Argentine Polo field. In Palermo, we likely won’t get that opportunity again. Just playing against him was a victory for us. I think we would have been happy even if we lost by a couple of goals.”

Playing in Palermo — Argentina’s most hallowed polo ground — had been Devaleix’s dream since he started the sport.

“It’s been a dream since I started playing with Robi four years ago. Every time we watched matches live, I would tell him that my dream was to play there someday. I didn’t expect it to happen so soon!”

The Cambiaso Factor: Playing Against Polo Royalty

No conversation about elite polo is complete without the Cambiaso family. Adolfo Cambiaso is widely regarded as the greatest polo player in history. His son Poroto has already won multiple major titles and is considered one of the top players in the world. His daughter Mia is an emerging competitive force. Facing three Cambiasos simultaneously on Argentine soil — with just four years of polo experience — was surreal for Devaleix.

“Beyond Poroto and Adolfito, I’d like to highlight Mia, whom I had never faced before, and she played really well. Add to that their horses, which are exceptional. We played good mares, about five or six years old, and Jeta brought his own, so it wasn’t just me defending — it was all four of us on the field.”

The opportunity to play alongside Castagnola came together quickly. Devaleix initially called Hilario Ulloa, with whom he had won the East Coast Open, but Ulloa couldn’t organize his horses in time. Robi Bilbao then spoke with Jeta Castagnola, who was able to join. “A few weeks ago, Robi texted me on WhatsApp asking if I wanted to play in Palermo. Then he followed up, asking if I wanted to play against Cambiaso. At first, I thought it was a joke — I couldn’t believe it was serious,” Devaleix recalled.

The significance of the San Jorge Open cannot be overstated. Adolfo Cambiaso has been playing — and winning — at the highest level for over three decades. Castagnola himself was the reigning Argentine Open champion. That Devaleix, a player who picked up a mallet for the first time in 2020, stood on that field at all — let alone won — is one of the most improbable stories in modern polo.

Netflix’s Polo: Fame, Criticism, and Polarization

The five-episode docuseries Polo premiered on Netflix on December 10, 2024. It was produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle through their Archewell Productions, alongside Boardwalk Pictures. The series aimed to do for polo what Last Chance U did for American football or Welcome to Wrexham did for lower-league soccer — make an elite sport accessible and emotionally compelling to a mass audience.

What the Show Revealed

Louis Devaleix emerged as the series’ central figure across its five episodes — titled “Pressure,” “Focus,” “Priorities,” “Danger,” and “Final.” The show followed La Fe through a high-goal season, capturing both Devaleix’s competitive drive and his personal life, including his relationship with wife Pamela Flanagan Devaleix and her pregnancy with their daughter Alina Kelley.

The docuseries gave viewers an unfiltered look at what it means to be a patron — someone who funds a team and plays alongside world-class professionals while navigating the enormous skill gap between them. Devaleix’s emotional investment in the sport was on full display. The show captured moments of elation and raw frustration alike.

One moment became a focal point for viewers: Pamela describing polo as “a hobby.” The comment resonated because it named the uncomfortable truth at the heart of the patron system — the sport survives on the money of wealthy individuals, and for many patrons, it is ultimately a pastime, however intense.

Critical Reception and Public Reaction

The series received mixed to negative reviews from critics. It holds a score of 40 on Metacritic. The Guardian gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it “clattering and niche” that “looks destined to fall through the submenus into obscurity at the speed of light.” The Telegraph also rated it 2 out of 5 stars, noting “there’s lots of blood, sweat, and tears in the series — but not enough of the Sussexes to make this anything other than a dull indulgence about a rich person’s pursuit.” The Times added that “it’s simply impossible to relate in the same way to the sleek, tanned, sports car-driving players of Polo.”

Despite the critical reception, the show garnered 500,000 views in the first half of 2025, and it brought polo into the cultural conversation in a way the sport had rarely experienced. On social media, reactions to Devaleix specifically were divided. One commenter wrote that he “really needs to learn how to handle a loss,” while another described him as “looking so powerful and determined — Louis through and through — what an inspiration!”

The critical polarization itself tells a story. Polo has always struggled with public perception — too elite for mainstream sports audiences, too niche for entertainment viewers. Devaleix, as the show’s most prominent subject, became the focal point for that tension. Whether viewers saw him as admirable or absurd largely depended on their preexisting relationship with the world of wealth and sport.

Louis Devaleix and Pamela Flanagan: A Polo Love Story

While competing at the International Polo Club (IPC) for La Fe, Devaleix met Pamela Flanagan, a polo player and attorney who was in Wellington as part of the Hawaii Polo Life team. Their shared passion for polo and horses connected them immediately.

Timeline

The relationship moved fast. “Getting engaged in three months was not really something that was aligned with my personality,” Pamela recalled. “Or something that anyone in my family would have ever thought that I would do. I didn’t think I would do that.” Pamela is the sister of Bachelor alum Kelley Flanagan and a practicing attorney who founded the Rescue Polo Project, an organization that saves horses from slaughterhouses in Mexico and Canada.

Devaleix also has a son, Ames, from a previous relationship, who is La Fe’s biggest supporter and even took his father’s place on the podium during the team’s triumph at Greenwich.

Pamela’s Own Polo Career

Pamela is not simply a polo spouse. She is a competitive player in her own right. Her team Hawaii Polo Life won the Women’s U.S. Open Polo Championship during her time in Wellington, and she has continued competing at the highest levels of women’s polo. In a detailed Instagram tribute, Pamela described how Louis supported her competitive ambitions — pushing her to re-enter the Women’s U.S. Open after she had considered stepping back to focus on her career. He helped organize her team, put three of her teammates on his February six-goal team to help them prepare, sat out a match so the women could play together as a unit, scrambled to find horses and helpers, and on the day of the Women’s U.S. Open final — while simultaneously playing (and winning) a 16-goal final of his own in Sarasota — jumped off his horse, threw his jersey on a friend for the presentation, and flew by helicopter back to Wellington to watch the second half of Pamela’s final.

The fact that both Louis and Pamela compete at the highest levels of their respective divisions under the La Fe banner makes theirs one of the most unusual husband-wife dynamics in polo.

Louis Devaleix at a Glance

Conclusion

High-goal polo in America sits at a crossroads between inherited tradition and new money. The sport survives because wealthy individuals fund teams that employ world-class Argentine professionals — without patrons, high-goal tournaments would not exist at their current scale.

Devaleix’s story illustrates both the promise and the tension of this system. He has brought genuine competitive ambition to the patron role — investing in horse breeding, assembling rosters that can compete on the sport’s biggest stages, and training seriously enough to hold his own at increasing levels of competition. The San Jorge Open victory against the Cambiasos was not a fluke bought with money alone; it required strategic teammate selection, serious preparation from Devaleix, and a team that functioned as a unit.

At the same time, the Netflix series exposed the reality that the patron system is built on a massive skill gap. Devaleix plays alongside 10-goal professionals while holding a 0 handicap. His wife, in a moment of candor captured on camera, called it “a hobby.”

Lives Between Two Poles

The truth probably lives somewhere between those two poles. Devaleix’s commitment is genuine — the breeding program, the dream of playing in Palermo that he spoke about for years before it came true, the regular trips to Argentina to improve his game, the video review sessions after every match. But the financial architecture that makes all of this possible is equally real. What makes his story worth watching is that he seems fully aware of both realities, and keeps going anyway.

“Outside my family, polo is the only other component. I stopped all other activities.”

Whether you call that a hobby or a calling probably says more about you than it does about him.