As we have reported, young Austrian staker/poker player Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz won the WCOOP Main Event for $1.3 million. The PokerStars blog interviewed him after the victory, you can read the excerpt below, and you can also learn about Alan "Mr Negreanu" Gold, who cashed an astonishing 17 times and won the Player of the Series award with his amazing performance.
First, they asked him whether the result has already sunk in and how he feels about this huge score, and how his Day 1 went.
Fedor replies that he always wanted a deep run in a big tournament and that there are no words for how happy he is. His Day 1 went pretty smooth, he played steady and picked his spots well, and he also finished 3rd in the Bigger $109, so he was very confident going into day 2.
He says he can’t remember if there was ever a spot where he could have been eliminated, because he was playing lots of tables, but he had a big stack throughout the day. In the end it was "much more of a rollercoaster", but he always managed to fight his way back.
When asked about his toughest opponent at the final table, he said that he respected all of his opponents, but Elior "Crazy Elior" Sion was the biggest boss, since he was playing the final table from an iPad.
When the interviewer asks whether he had a moment when he thought he can win it, Fedor replies that he believed in himself from the get-go and states that this is essential for success. He is also super happy with how he played and thinks he played his best possible game. Even when he was a short stack in the 3-handed stage of play, he pictured himself taking the tournament down. He also slept a lot before Day 2 to be well rested and super focused.
Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz
After this they ask him who supported him during the final table and what he did after the win. Fedor replies that his roommates checked in from time to time, but where mostly railing in their rooms, trying to catch some sleep while Fedor was grinding, and he also had a good poker friend join him earlier on, so he had someone to talk to in between hands and in the breaks. After the tournament, he called his mother then went to get breakfast with his friends, a ritual they have been doing every time one of them binks something big.
When asked about the WCOOP and what this win means, Fedor replies that this was the only tournament he played from the series, because he’s been travelling in California, and that winning the most prestigious online poker tournament means more than anything for him poker-wise.
After this the interviewer inquires about Fedor’s background and what he plans on doing with the money.
Fedor tells him that he has been playing for about three years now, and started to take it seriously two and a half years ago after quitting his studies. He played low stakes but spent every second of his free time thinking about poker and networking with fellow players. After a year of struggling he started to get better and has never looked back since. With the money he plans to purchase a house for his family in Germany, which has been his biggest goal.
When asked about his idols, he says he would like to talk poker with Ike Haxton, Phil Galfond, Doug Polk and Dan Colman. He thinks Ike and Phil are extremely clever, while Doug is the best cash game player and a fun person who has an extreme work ethic and love for the game. Colman’s feeling for changing game situations, ICM, and how to apply it in certain situations amazes Fedor aswell.
Doug "WCGRider" Polk
Last but not least, he mentions Olivier Busquet, who is "such a nice and relaxed human being", and always great to have at the table. He tries to watch all of the footage he can from the players mentioned above and would love to talk with them more.
At the end of the interview, Fedor talks about the impact he wants to make with his win. He wants to positively influence on as many people as possible, and talks about his journey that led him here. His family never had much money growing up, and when he started to play poker he had "a year of struggling and living a shitty life", when he realised that he needs to change his ways in order to live a happy life. He accepted that quitting his studies was the right decision for him, and decided to travel the world with a good friend, and that his progress as a person is the reason for his success. In the final paragraph of the interview he gives a shout-out to his friends, who have helped him become the person he is today.
It’s truly an inspiring story and we wish Fedor a lot of luck in his future endeavours! Winning the Main Event however, does not equal to being the Player of the Series. The prestigious title goes to Alan "Mr Negreanu" Gold, who has cashed 17 times in the 2014 WCOOP. Even though he didn’t win a title, his second place finish in Event #15 and another final table, combined with all his other smaller cashes sent him to the top of the leaderboard.
Alan "Mr Negreanu" Gold
On the last day, the only player who had the chance to stop him was Assad91, who won two WCOOP titles in 2014 already. He needed to go very deep in the WCOOP Main Event to get first place, but he busted in 145th place, meaning "Mr Negreanu" will receive the packages to the EPT Grand Final and PCA Main Event, aswell as getting a ticket to the TCOOP Main Event.
With this, the 2014 World Championship of Poker is over. It has been an amazing series with plenty of excitement, very tough final tables and huge scores. In case you missed the action, PokerStars is uploading final table videos on their website constantly.
