Leon Sturm

Germany's Leon Sturm is a 22-year-old German prodigy that won Event #23: $50,000 High Roller at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $1,546,024 just days after taking down GGPoker's Super MILLION$ $10,000 buy-in Super High Roller for $1,518,400.

Primarily an online grinder, the young Sturm is now breaking onto the live high roller scene in a big way with a WSOP gold bracelet.

“It does feel amazing," Sturm told PokerNews in his winner's interview. "The bracelet is something special; it means more than just a trophy, I guess. Before, I was thinking that trophies and bracelets don’t mean much to me. But I think a bracelet is special, so that’s pretty cool. The competition was really tough, so that makes it better.”

Echos of Fedor

Sturm's early success on the live felt is reminiscent of that of Fedor Holz, Germany's all-time money leader who rose to poker fame when he won the 2014 WCOOP Main Event for $1.3 million at age 21.

Like Sturm, Holz followed his online score with a strong World Series, finishing third in 2015's $10,000 Six-Handed Championship for $268,463 and 25th in the Main Event the same year for $262,574. The next year, Holz won his first bracelet when he took down the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop for $5 million.

Read More About Sturm's Victory in the $50,000 High Roller.