Steffen Sontheimer Wins Poker Masters Purple Jacket in Style

Jason Reynolds

4 years ago

Surprise package Steffen Sontheimer has won the final event of the inaugural Poker Masters and, with it, the coveted Purple Jacket.

Steffen Sontheimer wins another Poker Masters event to take home the first ever Purple Jacket. (Image: PokerFirma)

When the first Poker Master event debuted on September 13, Germany’s Sontheimer was arguably one of the least known players in the field.

However, that fact didn’t seem to faze him or the poker gods as he managed to rack up two wins and two cashes across the five super high roller events.

The online pro, who goes by the handle RunGo0seRun, has been quietly making a name for himself over the last few years, but his performance in the $100,000 Poker Masters finale was his big break.

Coming into the series, the young player who calls Brighton, England, home had just over $3 million in live earnings.

Sontheimer Emerges as a Star

By the time he’d blown through the likes of Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu in the closing event, Sontheimer had the third largest chip stack at the final table behind Christian Christner and Fedor Holz. As well as the pressure of playing for a top prize worth $1,512,000, he was also on the cusp of winning the player of the series title when the finale got underway.

Like the famous Green Jacket professional golfers receive for winning The Masters, Sontheimer had his sights set on the Purple Jacket, but he didn’t let that affect his play. With Holz pushing the action, Sontheimer sat on his stack and waited.

Eventually, after five hours of grinding, Stefan Schillhabel hit the rail when his weak against fell behind to Justin Bonomo’s pair of kings on the river. With the elimination floodgates now open, the chips began to flow more freely, but still Sontheimer maintained an even pace.

Sontheimer Stops Christner’s Run

When Christian Christner eliminating Bonomo, Seth Davis and then the only player who could catch Sontheimer in the Purple Jacket race, Holz, it looked as though he might clinch the final match. However, even with the player of the series title locked up, Sontheimer didn’t lose focus.

Coming from behind, the man who had barely put a foot wrong throughout the entire Poker Masters finally got it done with pocket queens. After chipping away at his opponent, Sontheimer made a quick call after Christner three-bet all-in with pocket deuces.

In a final flurry of cards, Sontheimer’s hand held up and, as he scooped up the remainder of Christner’s chips, the books closed on yet another impressive performance.

For his efforts in the $100,000 finale, Sontheimer took his Poker Masters earnings to $2,733,000 and marked himself as one of the brightest young stars in the game.