Fedor Holz looks back on his legendary season a decade later: raking in over $16 million in 2016, now focusing on family and career.

Ten years ago, Fedor Holz delivered one of the most dominant year-end performances in poker tournament history; ten years later, the German high roller has not maintained his high-frequency tournament pace, but he still returns to the poker table in a few top events.

During the 2026 PokerStars EPT Barcelona, Holz made an appearance, bought in the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller, and gave an interview to PokerNews, discussing his recent situation, his legendary season in 2016, and whether today's high-stakes players can replicate that incredible performance.

At 23 years old, he earned over $16 million in cash in a single quarter, achieving a historic performance.

In 2016, Fedor Holz was only 23 years old, yet he accumulated over [number missing] live tournament wins.US$16 millionbonus.

PokerNews points out that at the time, no tournament player had ever earned such a high amount of live tournament winnings in a single year, although that record has since been broken several times.

More importantly, this $16 million was not accumulated from a single mega-prize.

Holz achieved numerous six-figure results starting with EPT Monte Carlo, and then continued to run extensively in top-level races throughout the summer, creating a rare period of dominance in high-paying races.

Fedor Holz's representative results in 2016

The Super High Roller Bowl title was won by another German star, Rainer Kempe, while Holz finished as runner-up and earned $3.5 million. He then won the WSOP One Drop title, earning $4,981,775 in a single game, and then went to Barcelona to win the EPT Super High Roller title and $1,473,127.

Can Holz's meteoric rise of 2016 be replicated today?

Ten years have passed, and the landscape of high-stakes gambling has changed significantly.

When asked if it's possible for modern poker players to replicate their 2016 performance, Holz believes it's not impossible.

His observation is that there are now more high-stakes tournaments than a decade ago, meaning top players have more opportunities to achieve big results; however, the skill gap between players has narrowed, making it more difficult to maintain a significant advantage. Overall, he still believes there is a chance to see similar annual surges in the future.

This also reflects the duality of the modern High Roller environment: there are more tournaments and more prize money opportunities, but the skill gap between top players is also smaller than in the past.

Ten years later, life is completely different: married, focused on family and career.

If Holz devoted most of his energy to the poker table in 2016, his life is now completely different.

He admitted that he is "a different person" than he was ten years ago. Holz is now married and his life revolves more around...Home and commercial projectsPoker no longer occupies as large a proportion as it used to.

In the interview, he said that he is now looking forward to starting a family, so he rarely participates in poker tournaments anymore.

This is why, even though Holz still has the ability to participate in the world's highest-paying tournaments, he now prefers to participate selectively rather than maintain a year-round tour.

Poker is no longer everything, but it won't truly leave us.

Holz's infrequent participation in tournaments does not mean he has lost interest in poker.

PokerNews points out that he is still very likely to occasionally appear in the future.EPT or Triton PokerLarge series, but they no longer see tournaments as the core of their lives as they used to.

Even if he were to stop competing altogether one day, Holz's historic performance in 2016 would be enough to keep him in the discussion of the most important players of this generation for a long time to come.

EPT Barcelona will only play one high-stakes match (€100,000).

Holz did not schedule a packed schedule for this trip to Barcelona.

He stated that he would only participate in EPT Barcelona.A matchThat is, €100,000 EPT Super High Roller. He only stayed in Barcelona for the weekend, and has other activities scheduled for Sunday, so he has no plans to participate in any more matches.

After the €100,000 Super High Roller Day 1, Holz finished bagging the ball with the shortest scoreboard of the day.

He successfully advanced to Day 2, but ultimately failed to make a comeback with his short code and was eliminated before entering the prize pool.

From full-time high roller to selective tournaments, Holz enters the next phase of his life.

Ten years ago, 23-year-old Fedor Holz redefined the ceiling of high-stakes tournaments with a year of consecutive big results.

The Super High Roller Bowl runner-up, WSOP One Drop champion, EPT Barcelona Super High Roller champion, plus over $16 million in live tournament winnings throughout the year, made 2016 the most representative year of his career.

Ten years later, he no longer needed to prove himself against the world's best poker players every day. Marriage, family plans, and business had taken up more of his life, and poker had transformed from a full-time career into an occasional competitive arena.

But whenever Fedor Holz reappears at the high-stakes tables of EPT or Triton, he will remain a name that no opponent can ignore.

Want to change Texas Holdem from "can understand" to "can win"?

If you want to learn more about Texas Hold'em, you can continue reading：

The Origins of Texas Hold'em: Why is it the World's Most Popular Poker Variant?
Texas Hold'em Hand Rankings and Showdown Rules (Beginner’s Essentials)
Texas Hold'em Betting teaching: Check / Bet / Call /Raise and Betting Strategy Analysis
The importance of Texas Hold'em position? Why is the back position more advantageous?
How to play Texas Hold'em? Novices learn Texas Hold'em rules, processes and betting teaching in 10 minutes
Texas Hold'em Starting Hands Strategy Guide: Which Hands to Play?
Texas Holdem Starting Hands Chart Tutorial: Complete Starting Hand Chart and Position Strategy
How to play Texas Hold'em? Complete rules and a hand's flow (Preflop / Flop / Turn / River)

Hunter Poker offers comprehensive tutorials, hand analysis, and strategy sharing to help players upgrade from simply "reading the cards" to understanding the range . This allows you to make better decisions in every hand.

▶️ In Facebook Follow Hunter Poker.
📘 In Youtube Follow Hunter Poker.

Want to learn more about Texas Hold'em gameplay and strategies?

Online Texas Hold'em free tournaments typically have no entry fee, making them ideal for beginners to familiarize themselves with the rules and for advanced players to test strategies and gain experience. View full brand profiles to learn about each platform's free tournament schedule, features, and target audience.

Go to learn more