German poker pro Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz has won more than $12.7 million since the start of 2015, with $9.2 million of it coming thru the first six months of 2016.
In January, the 22-year-old grinder won a $200,000 buy-in event at a WPT stop in the Philippines for $3.4 million. Then in June, he finished second in the $300,000 Super High Roller Bowl at Aria for $3.5 million. He has cashed an incredible 18 times this year, with four wins. Three of those were back-to-back-to-back victories in five-figure buy-ins at Aria.
Card Player caught up with Holz during a break in Wednesday’s $5,000 no-limit hold’em at the World Series of Poker. Holz was then still in the hunt for his first career bracelet.
Brian Pempus: A lot of tournaments you play are high rollers with a lot of the same players. Can you talk about how different it is to play a tournament in which you don’t know everyone at the table?
Fedor Holz: I enjoy it more because there is new information to pick up. When I play in high rollers it’s mostly people whom I already have a set thing against. I like that each table is different and has different interactions.
BP: What are the first things you try to pick up on someone you don’t know?
FH: Mostly it’s whether they are aggressive or tight. For most players, when they open big it’s mostly that they rather play tight. How they look is important too. Europeans tend to be crazier than the Americans. There are a lot of little things.
BP: For sure. When people at the table find out who you are and that you are on this huge heater do they tend to play differently against you right away?
FH: I think a lot of people do it in their own kind of way. It’s weird sometimes. Sometimes people really want to win a hand against me, other times people don’t want to play a hand against me. It’s hard to figure out exactly right away what their approach is.
BP: What would you say has been the biggest factor to your success during this great run over the past year or so?
FH: Running good (laughs). I do grind a lot, so obviously it’s more likely that you win tournaments in a row if you play a lot more tournaments. I think I am one of the regulars who plays the most live tournaments. So it is just more likely that I win three in a row. And the fields are small, so it’s less unlikely than people think. But I ran pretty hot and feel great about it.
BP: Do you ever stop and think to yourself that this is something you need to enjoy as much as you can right now because a run like this might not happen again for awhile?
FH: Yeah, for sure. I feel like poker gets you into this rush where you always want more and more, and now I want to calm down and play a little less and focus on other things.
BP: When you win a tournament and then enter into another one, do you feel like you are in the zone and do you think this feeling helps you elevate your game?
FH: I think so. I think it’s not really the high but the confidence. When you win your confidence is most likely pretty good, and that just helps. Sometimes I get the confidence from playing really well in a tournament that I get like fourth or fifth in. People can feel it when you have this confidence, and they play differently against you. It can help you win more money.
BP: Do you think short-handed is the strongest part of your poker game?
FH: Yeah, I think so. I play a lot of short-handed online, sit-and-gos and six-max cash games. I use online as a training place. Some of my friends are high-stakes cash game players, and it’s just great to get some hands in there and review them. It’s hard to just theoretically talk about stuff. I play like $50-$100 online just to improve my game and I think that worked pretty well. I did well [at $50-$100] but I expect to be a slight loser in expected value. I’ve been doing pretty well in live cash games, but it’s so few hands. I ran pretty well in the biggest game I’ve played in. It was a $2,000-$4,000 game. [In Las Vegas], I played $500-$1,000 and lost slightly, but it was just five buy-ins or something. It sounds like so much money, but it’s just [variance]. I’m not a cash game player. I’m not patient enough, so it has to be [a cash game] where the hourly is very high and you have to focus every minute.
BP: What’s the biggest adjustment you make when playing full ring?
FH: Be tight (laughs). That’s really it. You have to wait. You have to be pretty tight under the gun. A lot of people aren’t patient and play too many hands.
BP: What were some of the early leaks in your game that you had to fix?
FH: Being way too aggro. I mean, I think a couple of years ago it worked a lot better, but in general people are just too aggressive now, opening too much and three-betting too much. I think poker is more passive than we often play it. It’s a lot more calling.
BP: Do you think you are still benefiting from that aggressive image that people have of you?
FH: Oh yeah, for sure. Don’t tell anyone (laughs).
