Although German prodigy Fedor Holz announced last summer that he was retiring from professional poker and would play only recreationally from time to time, it seems that the game’s allure is too strong to resist.
It is true that we have seen less of the young poker pro since his announcement. However, he has decided that he could not deprive the international poker scene of his bright persona, and luckily so. To poker fans and fellow players, Holz is the young German that has won a multitude of poker events over the course of a career that spans only several years back.
And despite his retirement decision, he has not shown even a tinge of underperformance while at one poker table or another.
The inaugural PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo is currently taking place in the French Riviera and Holz has been spotted in several events on the festival’s schedule. In the final days of April, the player finished 4th in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max Shot Clock for €319,800. And only two days ago, he emerged victorious in a side event at Monte-Carlo Casino – the €5,200 Hyper Turbo 8-Max.
Holz collected €57,140 for his triumph, an amount much smaller in size than what he had won from various high rollers in previous events. Yet, it should be said that his accomplishment came as another manifestation of his mastery in different poker formats.
The German was part of a field of 38 entries who generated €184,300 in prize money. The player managed to sweep through his fellow contenders, entering a heads-up against Frenchman Jonathan Bensadoun. The two finalists battled it out for some time, until Holz grabbed the title and the top prize, and Bensadoun cashed a second-place payout of €41,930.
Here are the seven final table players and their respective payouts:
1. Fedor Holz – €57,140
2. Jonathan Bensadoun – €41,930
3. Luigi Conti – €30,410
4. Murad Akhundov – €20,270
5. Tom Hall – €14,740
6. Fabrice Maltez – €11,060
7. Timothy Adams – €8,750
Holz has cashed in several more events since the beginning of 2017, most of which high rollers. Including his most recent victory, the player has collected a total of $1,798,548 over the past four months, not a bad sum for a retiree and a recreational player.
This year, he made in-the-money finishes in two Aussie Millions Poker Championship events, a PokerStars Championship Macau event in early April, and in two PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo events.
In Macau, Holz finished runner-up to Steve O’Dwyer in the HK$400,000 Super High Roller to collect a payout of HK$6,749,170 ($868,518), his largest this year. Including his most recent poker achievements, the German poker pro now boasts a $22.1-million live poker bankroll.
