From the Mouth of Holz: Closing in on 2017 Super High Roller Bowl

German poker player super star joined Remko Rinkema on the Heads Up Podcast and talked at length about his play and his new ventures in life. With the Super High Roller Bowl almost upon us Holz talked about how he keeps collecting results while retired and what we could look forward to in 2017.

Is he retired?

“I think I’m extremely retired, but it shows just how subjective perception is – I counted 15 or 16 tournaments that I’ve played in the last ten months. Compared to my grinding days that counts as retiring.”

Come out of retirement because of results?

“It depends how you measure the results –money-wise for sure. From the perspective of how I feel – I just can’t do it anymore. Last year I destroyed my grinder’s mindset after Vegas. But I’m  very happy to put my time in something else.”

But a big finish in SCOOP?

“That was a really stupid idea. I was just sitting there and saw the tourney and thought I’d play a little bit. I did not think of running deep because I had a meeting the next morning in Linz – another Austrian city. So we had to wake up at 7 am but I played until 7 am, so I did not sleep that night. I’ve had been awake for like 45 hours or something on Day 2 and that was not the best planned idea.”

Any poker skills that translate to other ventures?

“It’s not just area-specific – Lots of the skills I’ve learned over the last few years in poker are not that specific to poker actually. Yeah, obviously being good at cards is one thing but there’s like ten other things – bankroll management, being good at handling downswings and taking the right amount of risk. How to learn, how to network – there’s so many things to poker.

“Dedication is really important. One thing you can’t blame poker players for is that they put in the time. Whether it’s effective or not, most players spend a lot of time on poker.”

Ready for SHR Bowl?

“Of course, I’m excited for it – all these times, even if it’s not for much anymore, all these times I play poker I’m still excited for it. Playing against these people. It’s fun – it’s still a challenge for your mind, also being focused being able to access that skill you trained for years and years. That’s pretty amazing and an enjoyable experience.”

On other Germans in the field?

“Basically, I’ve known Koray since I started playing poker. Steffen Sontheimer I’ve known him a long time now, Steffan I don’t have that much to do with but I obviously know him because Germans hang out as a crew. Christian is someone I spent quite some time with in poker – great people. 

In terms of them being successful, everyone that is in poker that plays at a high level knows them. They play the high stakes online, they’re all known in the community. It’s just this moment of once you’ve reached a moment of being public and known from the public and fans that don’t follow online. Half of them are already famous online players. If they’re gonna be the next Fedor Holz – I think that’s more of the run. But in skill, I already think they’re there or better.”