Why I Quit High Stakes Poker Tournaments, Steffen Sontheimer

If you've been playing and watching Poker for a while, you'll remember seeing Pokercode Coach Steffen Sontheimer mixing it up in the Live High Stakes Tournament Streets!

With nearly $14,000,000 in live earnings, Steffen is an accomplished player in the live high stakes tournament realm! Whether deep runs in WSOP or EPT high roller events or when he won the inaugural Poker Masters in 2017, securing the coveted purple Jacket, there's no getting away from the fact that Steffen was crushing!

Steffen stepped away from the high stakes tournament scene, though and in a recent video with Pokercode, he ran us through the highs and lows of High Stakes Live tournaments and why he chose to step away and back into his cash game roots!

High Stakes Poker Tournament Lifestyle

Steffen eludes the fun of travelling the world. You have the fortune to visit so many countries whilst playing some of the highest stakes poker tournaments available.

When running well, Steffen outlines that it was fantastic, 2017 proving to be a breakout year with Steffen, as mentioned winning the Poker Masters, Cashing four of the five events and bubbling the only event he didn't cash!

The downsides, however, came almost in line with success. Steffen points out that as 2017 came to a wrap, he asked himself, "what's next?"

What's Next?

Steffen reached the pinnacle of the high stakes tournament scene. In his own words, he had succeeded in that area and needed to know what was next.

While the lifestyle initially with the travel and games was fun, the excitement was no longer there on the 10th/11th time of visiting Vegas.

Missing routine seems to have been a big part of Steffen's decision to step away. In a conversation with friends, he recalls saying he would like to be training for football weekly. A simple pleasure that, unfortunately, with his then-current schedule, just wasn't possible.

Steffen also met his now-wife, and the realisation dawned that seeing her with regularity would be challenging when you're flying around the world week to week.

Whether we play Poker for a living or play recreationally and have other jobs, all of us can empathise. A work-life balance is critical not only for happiness but also for success in work. While Steffen doesn't hint at burnout, precisely the idea of building a routine in day-to-day life and fitting Poker in as part of that, I think, highlights the need we all have for balance.

The Entire Journey

We've picked out a couple of crucial points Steffen raised, but to hear the end to end, including what drove him to step into the High Stakes Poker Tournament streets and what he's up to now, check out the video below!

Free Account

If you’re not quite sure whether to take the plunge and join pokercode, why not sign up for a free account?

By signing up for a free account you will benefit from:

• Access to a list of curated study content, including Fedor’s & Steffen’s best videos
• Participate in our free public coaching with Fedor Holz and other coaches!
• An inside look at how the Pokercode community studies

Sign up now and don’t miss out!

This will also give you a few days to see what the content is like here at pokercode, before deciding if you want to take the step into our paid offering.