Fedor Holz Wins WSOP Online $25,000 Heads-Up Event His Second BraceletThe German Tournament Star Defeated A Field of 127 Entries To Earn $1,070,250 For His Eighth Career Seven-Figure Score |
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Fedor Holz is just 27 years old, but even at his young age the German high-stakes poker pro star has put together one of the most impressive resumes in tournament history. The latest gem on the crown of ‘CrownUpGuy’ (Holz’s screename on a number of online sites) is his victory in the 2020 World Series of Poker Online $25,000 buy-in heads-up no-limit hold’em event, which was selected as part of the ’People’s Choice’ events. Holz defeated a stacked field of 127 players in the tournament to win his second WSOP gold bracelet and the top prize of $1,070,250.
With more than $34.1 million in career tournament earnings, Holz currently sits in eighth place on poker’s all-time money list. He now also occupies the eighth-place spot on the WSOP’s career earning’s leaderboard, with just shy of $13 million won in official bracelet events. In fact, his two largest scores were recorded at the series. In 2016 he won his first bracelet by taking down the $111,111 WSOP One Drop High Roller for $4,981,775. Two years later he finished runner-up in the $1,000,000 buy-in Big One Dor One Drop for another $6,000,000. This latest victory marked his third seven-figure score at the WSOP alone, and was the eighth tournament score of a million dollars or more that he has already secured in his young career.
Holz defeated a number of tough players on his way to the final four. In order, from the round of 128 through the round of eight, he beat out: Luc Greenwood, Anton Morgentstern, Robert Flink, George Wolff, and three-time bracelet winner and current all-time money leader Justin Bonomo.
The final four was set on September 1, but play didn’t resume until a few days later on Sept 6. Holz was matched up against Spanish poker pro Sergi Reixach on one half of the bracket, while Brazilian poker pro Brunno Botteon battled against Oktay Kahyaoglu on the other side.
Holz took a lead in his match with Riexach by flopping a set of fives against his opponent’s pocket aces. The river brought four to a flush and four to a straight to dampen the action somewhat, but Holz still got out to a 3:2 lead as a result. In the final hand of their match Holz raised to 2,000 with 107 from the button and Reixach three-bet to 8,800 from the big blind with AJ. Holz called and the flop came down A52 and Reixach bet 6,000. Holz called and the turn brought the K to give Holz a flush. Reixach checked his top pair of aces and Holz bet 11,200. Reixach called and the river brought the K. Reixach checked again and Holz bet enough to put Reixach all-in for his last 40,000 or so. Reixach made the call with his aces and kings with a jack kicker, but his hand was second best. He earned $311,150 for his 11th cash of the series.
Botteon and Kahyaoglu traded the lead back and forth for a while, but Botteon had built more than a 2:1 advantage by the time the decisive hand of that match arose. With a board of 1053A4 Botteon moved all-in with A10 for aces and tens and Kahyaoglu called with 104 for a lower two pair. Kahyaoglu earned $311,150 for his run to the last four in this event.
With that the final heads-up match of the event was set. Holz managed to jump out to an early lead, taking down a sizable pot without showdown in the opening minutes of the showdown. He maintained nearly a 3:1 chip lead when the final hand was dealt. With blinds of 300-600, Botteon raised to 1,500 on the button with 1010 and Holz called holding 55. The flop came down 854 and Holz checked. Botteon bet 2,011 and Holz check-raised to 8,100. Botteon three-bet to 19,680 and Holz shoved with his middle set. Botteon called for 25,865 more with his overpair of tens and received the bad news. The 9 on the turn and the 4 on the river kept Holz ahead to secure the pot and the title. Botteon earned $622,300 as the runner-up finisher. This was his 13th cash of the WSOP Online series, including a second-place showing in the $500 limit hold’em event for $41,855 and a sixth-place finish in the $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller for $388,837.
Holz posted a video of the winning moment from this event on his Twitter account, which you can find below:
Crazy emotions right now. Shipped my second bracelet and a million bucks (also for 130 lucky staker)! pic.twitter.com/mDvnq4J7Io
— Fedor Holz (@CrownUpGuy) September 6, 2020
Here is a look at the payouts awarded to the final four:
Place | Name | Earnings |
Champion | Fedor Holz | $1,070,250 |
Runner-Up | Brunno Botteon De Albuquerque | $622,300 |
Semifinalist | Oktay Kahyaoglu | $311,150 |
Semifinalist | Sergi Reixach | $311,150 |