Fedor Holz won over $20 million in under two years and cemented his legacy as one of poker's best. The German wunderkind, who is being tailed by a camera crew who are doing a documentary, is in action here in Event #1 of the Poker Masters.
He is in pursuit of The Poker Masters Purple Jacket™ and he recently spoke to Poker Central about it.
Level: 3
Blinds: 500/1,500
Ante: 1,500
Dominik Nitsche raised to 3,000 under the gun and action folded all the way around to Matt Hyman, who called from the big blind.
Hyman proceeded to check-call a bet of 4,000 on the 
flop before both players checked the 
turn as well as the 
river.
Hyman tabled the 
, but it was no good as Nitsche held a bigger pair with the 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
140,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
||
|
100,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
We thought Dan Smith was the first to go, but in fact it was Stefan Schillhabel. He just hit the rail so fast we did in fact miss it. Fortunately, he shared some details on Twitter before jumping back in action.
@ikepoker I busted so fast, @PokerNews didn't even see it :D follow https://t.co/kusSfnP2Mh for updates
— Stefan Schillhabel (@becksundsoda)
Nick Schulman raised to 3,000 from the cutoff and both Ben Lamb and Zach Hyman, who were on the button and in the big blind respectively, called to see a 
flop.
Hyman was first to act and he led out for 3,000. Only Lamb called and it was heads-up action to the 
turn.
Hyman bet again, this time 7,500, and Lamb pushed back with a raise to 20,000. Not to be outdone, Hyman three-bet all in for roughly 60,000 and it worked as Lamb ditched his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
100,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
|
85,000
-26,000
|
-26,000 |
|
||
Keith Lehr raised to 7,000 from early position and Alan Schein called from the small blind.
Schein then check-called a bet of 5,000 on the 
flop before checking for a second time on the 
turn. Lehr bet 15,000, Schein min-check raised to 30,000, and Lehr snap-folded.
Meanwhile, Dan Smith has opted to re-enter the tournament.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
125,000
125,000
|
125,000 |
|
||
|
115,000
-10,000
|
-10,000 |
|
|
||
|
90,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 1,500
It took less than a level for the first elimination of the day, which was Stefan Schillhabel. Not long after, Dan Smith joined him on the rail.
After losing most of his stack holding aces into a set of queens, Smith shoved his last 9,500 from the small blind and Sergio Aido called from the big.
Aido: 
Smith: 
Smith was looking to pair his overcard, but that proved easier said than done as the board ran out a lowly 
.
This tournament allows for a single re-entry, and only time will tell if Smith opts to fire again.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
150,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
After Bryn Kenney, who has two runner-up finishes in high roller events in the past two months, raised to 2,500 from the button, Spain's Adrian Mateos, one of the hottest players in all of poker over the past year, three-bet to 10,000 from the small blind.
Kenney called and then called a bet of 7,000 on the 
flop. After the dealer burned and turned the , Mateos fired out 25,000 and that did the trick as Kenney quickly released.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
175,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
|
||
|
95,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
|
|
||
It's been a rough 15 minutes for Dan Smith.
We missed the hand as it played out, but we do know he was left with just 12,000 after losing a big pot to Jake Schindler. The former held pocket aces, but the latter had made a set of queens.
Not long after, with 6,000 in the pot and a flop of 
, Smith checked from the big blind and then called when Sean Winter bet 1,500 from the cutoff. Both players then checked the 
turn before Smith bet 5,000 on the river.
"Alright, I'm gonna slow play," Winter said before tossing in a call. Smith confidently tabled the 
for a pair of queens, but it was no good as Winter held kings with the 
.
In the very next hand, Winter raised it to 2,500 from the hijack and then called when Smith three-bet all in for just 4,500 from the small blind.
Smith: 
Winter: 
Once again Smith woke up with aces, and this time they held after the board ran out a safe 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
225,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
9,000
-116,000
|
-116,000 |
|
|
||
