On Thursday night, in the opening event of the Poker Masters, Steffen Sontheimer had to settle for a fourth place finish as Nick Schulman went on to victory. Friday night Sontheimer made up for it by posting a comeback for the ages against his good friend Fedor Holz to win Event #2 for $900,000.

Sontheimer started the seven-handed final table with a middle-of-the-pack stack, but it didn’t take him long to get to work changing that. Just 20 minutes into Friday night’s action, Bryn Kenney moved all in for 320,000 from the button and Sontheimer called from the big blind. Kenney showed while Sontheimer had . The flop put Sontheimer ahead for good as neither the turn or river were any help for Kenney.

Sontheimer only had to wait 15 minutes before he found another victim. Sontheimer raised to 70,000 from UTG and action folded around to Adrian Mateos in the small blind. The Spaniard, who finished seventh in Event #1, moved all in for 740,000. Sontheimer called and tabled and found he was racing against Mateos’ . The board ran out to give Sontheimer the win and eliminate Mateos in sixth.

An hour later, Holz took over the role of executioner. Christian Christner raised to 85,000 from UTG before Holz made it 235,000 from the cutoff. Christner responded by moving all in and Holz called. Christner showed and it was another race as Holz tabled . The flop put Holz ahead and when the turn and river were no help for Christner, he was out in fifth.

The table dynamic shifted dramatically with the next elimination. Phil Hellmuth had been verbally sparring with both Holz and Sontheimer during most of the early play. Tom Marchese put an end to that though. After having nursed a short stack for a good portion of the night, Hellmuth moved all in for his last 495,000 from UTG. Marchese re-raised all in from the small blind, forcing Sontheimer to fold. It was yet another race with Hellmuth showing and Marchese ahead with . Hellmuth could only watch in horror as the flop gave Marchese a set. When the runner-runner he needed didn’t come, Hellmuth was out in fourth.

Marchese’s tournament didn’t last much longer, but it took a bad beat for it to end. Holz raised to 165,000 from the small blind before Marchese move all in for 1,500,000. Holz used one of his time extensions before eventually calling and showing . Marchese was ahead with . The flop changed all of that though and after the turn and river, Marchese was out in third.

Heads-up play began with Holz holding a nearly 7-1 lead over Sontheimer. Over the next hour or so though, Sontheimer flipped the script and eventually had a 2-1 over his good friend Holz before finally eliminating him. Holz raised to 155,000, Sontheimer re-raised all in and Holz called. Sontheimer had his friend in a world of hurt with to Holz’s . The final board ran out to give Sontheimer the win.

Sontheimer also leads the Purple Jacket standings with $1,104,000 in earnings thanks to his fourth place finish in Event #1 and win in Event #2.

Final Table Payouts

1. Steffen Sontheimer – $900,000
2. Fedor Holz – $550,000
3. Tom Marchese – $300,000
4. Phil Hellmuth – $200,000
5. Christian Christner – $175,000
6. Adrian Mateos – $150,000
7. Bryn Kenney – $125,000