When will Fedor Holz stop?

When talking about the poker wizards of the world, many names immediately come to mind, however these days, none seem to be more famous than the young German prodigy, Fedor Holz. In just a few years, this incredible 24-year old poker superstar has accumulated over US$24M in live earnings and has recently surpassed Phil Ivey in the All Time Money List.

Back two years ago, in December 2015, Holz locked in his first seven-figure payout by winning the US$100K Alpha8 High Roller event. Since then, he has been notorious for taking down some of the biggest tournaments worldwide including the WSOP 2016 US$111,111 No Limit Hold’em High Roller for One Drop event. The victory earned him his first WSOP bracelet and his largest win to-date ofUS$ 4,981,775.

Shortly after, the “incredible Holz” shocked the poker world with the announcement of his retirement from poker. Not a bad plan. He was young, successful, and with a lot of dough to burn. However, fast forward to a year later, that plan, if it ever truly was his intent, seemed to be placed in the backburner. Instead, he finished 2016 strong with another Super High Roller victory and continued his fantastic run into this year.

An incredible 2017 year for Holz

Taking a look at the incredible Holz in 2017, the year is not yet done and already he has accumulated over US$4M in live earnings. He cashed 12 times, 5 of which were victories, and 9 of them as six-figure payouts. Breaking down some of those stats even further, Holz claimed his second Triton Super High Roller title, finished 5th at the Aussie Millions Main Event, and placed 2nd at the PokerStars Championships Super High Roller event in Macau.

Recently, Holz competed in the inaugural Poker Masters participating in all 5 events. Four of the events had a US$50K entry and the finale was US$100K. Although the crowning Purple Jacket went to German compatriot Steffen Sontheimer, he still secured an impressive 3rd place overall and earned over US$1M.

Holz signs with partypoker

This year has also seen Holz engage in new ventures, one is the Primed Mind app that he highly promotes, and the other is his recent signing with partypoker, which he announced on his Twitter feed in early September.

From this month on I’ll partner with @partypoker. I’m excited about their plans for the future of poker and I’m happy to be part of it.

— Fedor Holz (@CrownUpGuy) September 1, 2017

Partypoker has been diligently working on capturing the online High Roller market with Sam Trickett spearheading the project. In the partypoker blog, Holz commented, “I would never partner with a company that was not committed to looking after or listening to the players. I have discussed partypoker’s plans with my good friendPatrick Leonard who is heavily involved in improving partypoker’s software and customer services.”

In addition, Managing Director of partypoker, Tom Waters commented “High stakes action is currently a gap in our offering on partypoker and I’m delighted that Fedor has agreed to work with us to create a new high roller series that I think players and rail birds will love. It’s not all high stakes though, Fedor will also help us support the recreational players, providing academy sessions, videos and strategy advice.”

Holz joins a powerhouse crew of partypoker pros, Sam Trickett, Anatoly Filatov, John Lodden, Padraig Parkinson, legendary tennis player Boris Becker, and former WPT commentator Mike Sexton.

Surpasses Phil Ivey in the All-Time Money list

Ranked #1 in Germany for the past two years, the incredible Holz achieved another milestone this year. With over US$24M in live earnings, he now entered the top five in the All Time Money List. In just a short six-year span (2012-2017), he surpassed many legendary pros including Phil Ivey who has now been bumped down one spot below him. Holz’s next target is Antonio Esfandiari who has a US$3M lead however the top spot is still a way’s away with Daniel Negreanu sitting with a US$10M cushion.

Captain of “Team Germany”?

With Holz becoming an inspiration to many players around the world, one interesting development this past year has been the rise of “team Germany” in the High Roller circuit who isshowing exceptional results. The latest example was Steffen “RunGo0seRun” Sontheimer who recently won the inaugural Poker Masters Purple Jacket. Coming in 4th overall was another German pro, Christian Christner. In a podcast with Joe Ingram, Sontheimer shared that Holz convinced him to join the Super High Roller Circuit and is leading the group.

Predicting the breakout year of @RunGo0seRun. Best player in the game right now.

— Fedor Holz (@CrownUpGuy) January 26, 2017

With all these poker events, projects, endeavors, and achievements, it is clear that Holz is nowhere near the “retirement” he announced last year. Instead, having already made history, it seems he is more driven than ever with no signs of slowing down.

Article by Triccia David