Fedor Holz: One more title

Picking a favorite to win a high buy-in poker tournament could be a fool's errand. Nearly all of a 70+ field could have won millions both live and online: they are going to all be conversant in the pressure, the massive bucks and the winner's enclosure.

However for the past year or so, one man has transformed a pin-sticker's paradise right into a bookmaker's bad dream. Fedor Holz has won everything--$16 million in live tournament winnings in 12 months--a heater so scorching that Holz said he may need to retire.

But Holz hasn't retired. A minimum of not yet. At around 6:30pm in Casino Barcelona, where the eu Poker Tour has settled for the beginning of its 13th season, Holz has just won another major tournament. This time it was the €50,000 Super High Roller event, the primary flagship tournament of this festival. It was worth €1,300,300, which isn't a nasty pension fund in itself. What was already phenomenal is becoming paranormal--and all of it looks really easy to this extraordinary 23-year-old German.

"Today, I DID NOT have too many tough decisions," Holz said. "I ran very well obviously."

Holz is true. He could do nothing wrong today. He hasn't done anything wrong in about three years, but today was exceptional even by his standards. He sat back as Sam Greenwood knocked out all of the short stacks early in today's final, then Holz steamrollered Greenwood after they got heads-up.

Holz chatted with Rainer Kempe at the rail after the winning hand but before the trophy presentation. Greenwood may need wanted a talk with Kempe too: he's the one player to overcome Holz heads up since he was in this remarkable run.

Sam Greenwood: Powerless to forestall Holz

Today's high-octane final was the fitting opposite of the way the tournament had progressed within the late levels yesterday. Action towards the tip of last night was soporific. Players were exhausted from two long days and none desired to miss the general table. It meant that we returned with nine players today, yet another than usual, but in addition that five of them had far fewer chips than they might have liked.

The final nine: Standing (l-r): Sylvain Loosli, Ahadpur Khangah, Timothy Adams, Daniel Dvoress, Alexandros Kolonias, Erik Seidel. Seated (l-r): Fedor Holz, Julian Stuer, Sam Greenwood.

That particular situation ended in a predictable outcome. The hole couple of levels today were as action-packed because the end of last night was sleepy. First Erik Seidel, then Julian Stuer, Daniel Dvoress, Sylvain Loosli and Ahadpur Khangah were eliminated in brief order, even though it was the previous who went out within the most dramatic fashion.

The final day was not even an orbit old once we had a lesser-spotted four-way all-in between Seidel, with pocket nines, Stuer with pocket tens, Sam Greenwood, with pocket kings, and Khangah with a speculative A♠5♠. Greenwood's kings held up and he vaulted into the chip lead. He covered only Seidel, so the veteran headed out the door, while the opposite three nursed even shorter stacks than what they brought into the day.

Stuer soon lost a flip against Alexandros Kolonios and got his last chips in against Greenwood. Stuer's Q♠2♣ couldn't beat Greenwood's K♠8♠ for the last of his shrapnel. The person who led on the end of Day 1 was out in eighth, for €181,200.

Dvoress managed to stick clear of the four-way collision earlier, and likewise managed an early double-up of his short stack. But he soon picked up red pocket eights when Greenwood had T♥T♦ and there has been nothing he could do except go seek €232,600 for sixth.

Pocket eights also accounted for Loosli soon afterwards. This time last year, Loosli won the most important tournament of his career on this room, earning a maiden Super High Roller title. Having reached the overall ONE YEAR later, he had the danger to defend his title and become the primary two-time Super High Roller champion. But Holz's A♣K♦ would end that dream.

Defending champion came up short

Loosli was the primary player to not be knocked out of the overall by Sam Greenwood, however the Canadian soon got back within the saddle by ending the fairytale run of Khangah in fifth. Khangah, an Azerbaijani businessman, is at his first EPT festival and took his idiosyncratic form of play the entire option to the highest five.

But after limp-losing a pot to Adams, he then got his last chips in with K♦J♦ to Greenwood's dominant A♠7♥. A jack flopped but an ace turned and Khangah picked up €377,100 for fifth. If newspaper reports of his business acumen are accurate, it is a drop within the ocean in financial terms. But it is a pretty spectacular debut from a player new to tournaments of this size.

Ahdpur Khangah: A GOOD debut

Kolonias could also be relatively new to the high buy-in events at EPT festivals, but this man has a highly respected video game. He has two SCOOP titles and a third-placed finish in a WCOOP event, so isn't any slouch. He judiciously sat out some of the early confrontations and maybe fancied he would get his final table properly in motion when he found pocket kings and got all of it in against Holz's nines.

But he had picked a poor opponent against whom to take a look at and win an 80/20 chance. Holz spiked a nine at the flop and Kolonias was out, winning €467,700.

Greewood consoles Kolonias after the latter's elimination

Adams came into the general table because the chip leader, but his dominance of thise tournament had lasted far longer than simply the late stages of yesterday. Early on Day 1, he had amassed a stack of greater than 800,000 before many of us had even taken the wrapping from their 250,000 starting stack, and he had had a wall of chips in front of him for the duration.

The final day was different. Largely due to the activity of Greenwood, to his right, and Holz, to his left, Adams didn't be able to use his chip result in exploit any weakness around him. He needed to take an unfamiliar back seat.

He then picked a poor spot to aim to flex his muscles: he shipped for five million excessive of a Greenwood open, but his 2♦2♣ lost the race against his countryman's A♣K♣.

Wheels came off in third for Adams

All of this came about in lower than three-and-a-half hours. They'd gone from nine to 2 within the blink of an eye fixed (in poker terms). But if Greenwood and Holz sat opposite each other for the overall showdown, their chip stacks were only separated by one big blind. With neither appearing fascinated with deal negotiations, it had the makings of a titanic heads up struggle.

Heads up at EPT Barcelona Super High Roller

But that couldn't was farther from the reality. In fact, Greenwood barely won a pot of any note against an incorrigible Holz. And when Greenwood got the last of his chips in with a hopeful 6♦5♥ Holz had A♦K♥. Hold hit top pair at the flop and faded a straight draw. After which the tournament was over.

"I think now it is time to visit the beach," Holz said, teasing again with the possibility of retirement. Why would he retire? The way in which he plays, it is not even like he has to work at all.

Fedor Holz: He sees ticker tape in his sleep

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EPT13 Barcelona Super High RollerDate: August 20-22, 2016Buy-in: €50,000Entries: 102 (78 unique players; 24 re-entries)Prize pool: €4,897,530

1 - Fedor Holz, Germany, €1,300,3002 - Sam Greenwood, Canada, €903,6003 - Timothy Adams, €597,5004 - Alexandros Kolonias, Greece, €467,7005 - Ahadpur Khangah, Azerbaijan, €377,1006 - Sylvain Loosli, France, €293,8007 - Daniel Dvoress, Canada, €232,6008 - Julian Stuer, Germany, €181,2009 - Erik Seidel , United States, €137,13010 - Stanley Choi, China, €105,30011 - John Juanda, Indonesia, €105,30012 - Adrian Mateos, Spain, €98,00013 - Conor Drinan, United States, €98,000

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: European Poker Tour]