Fedor Holz Among Latest Triton Winners as German ‘Unretires’ to Glory

At a final table including some of the best poker players in the world, German high roller legend Fedor Holz took down the $40,000-entry Triton Mystery Bounty Event for a top prize of $528,811 and 11 bounty pulls which he will enjoy on Tuesday. With legends such as Jean-Noel Thorel, Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson and American high roller Nick Petrangelo all falling just short, Holz’ win came after a superb hero-call in his heads-up match with Latvian WSOP bracelet winner Aleks Ponakovs at the Maestral Resort & Casino.

Maue Leads German Charge

While it was eventually Fedor Holz who won the $528,811 top prize in the fourth event of the Triton Montenegro series, when the final table was reached, Holz trailed his fellow German Leonard Maue in the chipcounts. Maue’s stack of 7.19 million chips represented an incredible 144 big blinds to Holz’ 104 bigs, with Ponakovs the next back on 76 big blinds.

The final table was seven-handed and a Russian player was the first to leave the party. Despite coming into the action fifth in chips, Mikhail Soltanov cashed for $99,000 in seventh place when he lost with king-queen to Mike Watson’s ace-ten. Nevertheless, the result represented the Russian’s second final table in four events at his first Triton series, a superb achievement.

French poker charmer Jean-Noel Thorel was the next player to go, cashing for $129,000 in sixth place. Far from a newcomer, Thorel has some huge results, especially around Europe’s high roller circuit and banked another six-figure effort here when his pocket sixes couldn’t overcome Nick Petrangelo’s pocket jacks. With five players left, Fedor Holz already had seven bounties in the bank for the pull on Tuesday… and he was about to get four more.

The Chip Leader Loses Out

With five left, Mike Watson for a huge stack of 45 big blinds into the middle pre-flop, with just pocket tens. Up against Ponakovs’ pocket queens, Watson never had much of a chance and he departed meekly in fifth for $164,000 after chipping up the eventual runner-up.

The overnight leader Maue had suffered a mauling in a couple of hands and suddenly found himself the short stack with just 43 big blinds. Soon, he had the roundest number of all, as he lost his last to his countryman. Maue was all-in with ace-five for less than 20 big blinds and ran into Fedor Holz’s pocket queens, unable to catch the ace he needed to stay alive, leaving with $203,000 in fourth place.

Into the podium places, every decision had huge ramifications, and none more so than the one made by Nick Petrangelo. The American called off a four-bet shove from Holz brilliantly, but while Petrangelo was ahead with pocket tens, Holz got extremely lucky with pocket three, flopping another to make a superior set and send the unfortunate U.S. player to the rail with $245,000.

Holz the Hero Again After Great Call

“There’s a reason why this is the one I play once or twice a year – I have an incredible time.”

With just two players left, Holz had the crucial chip lead, with 145 big blinds to the Latvian Ponakovs’ 32. Agreeing to a deal to smooth out the payments a little, action then got underway. The WSOP bracelet winner Ponakovs got off to a good start as he looked to add the superstar Holz to a long list of heads-up victims including the great Phil Ivey. But Holz came back in style, winning a couple of pots to reestablish his dominant lead.

On a board of K-Q-9-5-K, Holz checked his queen-ten to Ponakovs, who shoved with ten-three. It was a calculated risk from the Latvian and a bold bluff, but Fedor Holz sniffed it out and made the call, winning the event for $528,811 and claiming his eleventh bounty pull. With each of those worth a minimum of $40,000, he is guaranteed to win $440,000 in less than 24 hours’ time, but it is highly likely he’ll score a bounty size bigger and go past $1,000,000 in winning for yet another major poker title. Ponakovs claimed $407,189 as a worthy runner-up.

Following his victory, Holz was interviewed by the Triton team after his second poker tournament played this year ended in a victory worth a probable seven figures. The winner of the first 2016 Triton event in The Philippines was full of compliments for the brand’s immense growth.

“The first Triton was definitely very different than 10 years late,” the German said. “They’ve come a long way. They put together the best tournament series in the world and there’s a reason why this is the one I play once or twice a year – I have an incredible time. It’s just the best tournament series there is.”

Here’s how Fedor Holz won his latest and perhaps greatest Triton title yet at the Maestral Resort & Casino in Montenegro in the $40,000 NLHE Mystery Bounty event.