Fedor Holz is one of the best poker players ever. The German sensation dominated online poker tournaments before turning 21, and then became a live poker superstar and WSOP bracelet winner in his early 20s.
Who is Fedor Holz?
Fedor Holz, aka the 'Young Prince,' was born July 25, 1993 in Saarbrucken, Germany. He was the first of the 2000s German invasion on the game of poker. He’s also the most successful player ever from his native land, although he isn’t the only great young German pro in the game today. His crew included Steffen Sontheimer, Rainer Kempe, Christoph Vogelsang, and many other multi-million-dollar young German players who made a takeover of the high roller scene.
Fedor Holz biography
Fedor Holz is a true poker prodigy. He not only crushes it on the felt but also in business and as an investor. He’s smart enough to realize that eventually the poker income dries up, even for the best players.
On the felt, Holz’ career has gone similar to Phil Ivey’s in that he was so far ahead of the competition for quite some time. He’s also a cool, calm, and collected player like Ivey, who rarely tilts or complains about a bad beat. Both poker greats have a similar demeanor at the table, both are professionals at the highest level in terms of skill and character, and both are feared poker players.
Away from the felt, Holz is a GGPoker ambassador (previously with partypoker), a public speaker, poker coach, and founder of Pokercode, a poker coaching app. These days, the online poker star known as CrownUpGuy is as much a businessman and investor as he is a poker player.
What a run in 2016
Every poker player dreams of the kind of heater Fedor Holz went on in 2016. But only one other player — Justin Bonomo in 2018 — has ever crushed it like the German did that one year. And, technically, the insane heater only lasted about eight months.
Three days into the new year, CrownUpGuy took down a $200,000 buy-in Triton Super High Roller in the Philippines for $3,072,748. That’s certainly more than enough to live off for the year. Here’s the crazy part — he was only just getting started, and had two larger scores later in the year.
In May, he finished second in the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl in Las Vegas for $3,500,000. Over the summer, he won his first bracelet in the $111,111 buy-in High Roller for One Drop for $4,981,775. And then for good measure, after the WSOP concluded, he traveled to Barcelona, where he took down the $50,000 Super High Roller at the European Poker Tour for another $1,473,127. In total, he won over $16 million for the year, an all-time record at the time. Bonomo surpassed that figure two years later by cashing for $25 million.
Fedor Holz poker accomplishments
Just days before his 22nd birthday, Fedor Holz ran deep in the World Series of Poker Main Event, the most prestigious tournament in the game. He finished in 25th place for $262,574 and put his name on the map. From then on, he went from an online poker superstar to an international poker sensation.
One year later, he cashed for over $16 million in live tournaments and had become one of the best overall tournament players in the world. Holz now has over $40 million in live tournament cashes, which ranks him at the top in Germany’s history by quite a wide margin over Christoph Vogelsang ($10 million).
In 2020, during the WSOP Online Bracelet Series on GGPoker, Holz won his second bracelet in the $25,000 buy-in People’s Choice Event for $1,077,250. In April 2021, he bagged another title, this one in the GGPoker Spring Festival’s $1,500 Sunday Marathon No-Limit Hold’em for $124,456.
Holz is one of the top ambassadors for the game, which is a big reason why partypoker, and now GGPoker, signed him to represent the poker site. He also is considered one of the best poker coaches in the game and has helped numerous players reach the high stakes level.
