Meet Pokercode's Cash Game Coach - Steffen Sontheimer

Steffen Sontheimer is joining Team Pokercode! The German cash game crusher is looking to add dedicated cash game content to the already existing study offering. The man also known by his online nickname ‘Go0se.core!’ had an insane run between 2016 and 2019 racking up over $13,000,000 in live tournament cashes, according to Hendon Mob. But, being a cash game player at heart, Steffen turned his back to tournament poker to restart crushing online cash games. And now you can learn from the Goose.

Get to know the new Pokercode cash game coach!

How it All Started

Steffen grew up in the southwest of Germany, close to the Black Forest in a small village. Having an interest in sports and games, poker crossed his path and brought some excitement. After starting out playing with some friends he decided to move his game online to low-stakes cash games. But to Steffen, it’s not at all about how it started. “It was nothing special. Nobody actually sees the story in between. Everyone is always asking how it all started, and they see what they see now. Playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“Nobody actually sees the story in between. Everyone is always asking how it all started, and they see what they see now. Playing for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

And in the story in between, it turned out that April 2014 was a turning point for Steffen’s poker career. “I got invited by Fedor Holz to go to Canada with a group of ten to fifteen German players. I didn’t know Fedor at all, but he reached out to me because he liked my posts at a poker forum. It was at this rockstar house in Canada and we grinded SCOOP. I learned a lot about tournament poker. Players like Rainer Kempe and Benjamin Rolle made the trip as well, so it was a great environment to play and learn.

Another place where Steffen learned a lot was Brighton, England. The tax situation wasn’t ideal in Germany and moving to England or Austria was the best option for German poker players. Steffen went with Brighton, a city on the south coast of the UK, but eventually moved to Vienna. He kept in touch with other pros, talking a lot about poker and improving his game.

The Success

After the switch from cash games to tournament poker, Sontheimer improved a lot in a very short period of time. His Hendon Mob page reads like a fairy tale story. It was only a year after his first cash in 2015 that the German cash game pro was very successful in the High Roller-circuit of $10,000 and $25,000 buy-ins. Sontheimer was competing with the best players in the world at the highest stakes available. But it got even crazier in the summer of 2017. At the beginning of May Steffen was crowned champion in a $100K Aria Super High Roller, banking $1,200,000. After that he took down the inaugural Poker Masters Purple Jacket, cashing in four events and winning two of them. Steffen managed to win more than $2,7 million in only a few days.

"During the $250,000 event, you can see it. When I get it in with AK v AQ against Sean, I want it to hold, but there is no celebration moment – no sign of happiness."

The reputation of Sontheimer grew and grew over the years. He played tournaments with a $250,000 buy-in and even entered the $1 million Big One for One Drop in 2018. His biggest score to date was at the Bahamas, November 2018. The crusher took down $3,685,000 after beating Sean Winter in the $250,000 Super High Roller Championship. The year after he played with success as well but it might’ve been the last time we saw Sontheimer on the High Roller Circuit.

A lot of poker players would go crazy for winning an event like this, but not Sontheimer. “Things were changing for me. During the $250,000 event, when you look back at the action, you can see it. When I get it in with AK v AQ against Sean, I want it to hold, but there is no celebration moment – no sign of happiness. Scoring in soccer triggers a bigger feeling. It’s become a job. There are no more euphoric moments”, he comments unemotionally.

Sontheimer realised after three years that the tournament circuit didn't suit him that well and he didn’t enjoy it that much anymore. The mandatory dates he had to travel to places like Vegas and the Bahamas started to take their toll. The penny dropped when Sontheimer talked to a good non-poker related friend. “He was asking me: What’s your next vacation? You can do whatever you want now you have the money and the time. The poker trips felt like an obligation to me. Taking a year off would give me the feeling of vacation. Going to casinos all over the world was like working for me. I didn’t feel happy in that situation anymore, so that was the point I realised I had to change.

What’s next?

The German pro always stayed humble when he had great successes at the poker table. Deep down he still feels like that little boy from the small village he grew up in. Despite winning millions of dollars he didn’t think he was doing something very special. “Actually I think a lot of guys from my first poker friends could have achieved what I did. For me, it didn’t feel very special. I worked hard for it and I think my mindset was good. I played poker like a video game: after a big score, I wanted to set an even bigger score. I took it to the next level and I didn’t really think about the money I could win or lose. At every step in the tournament circuit, I got more comfortable. Playing events for some 1,000’s moving up to $10K’s and $25K’s and in the end, I played the biggest buy-ins in the world.”

Nowadays, ‘Go0se.core!’ enjoys playing online cash games again. Sontheimer always felt like he is a true cash game player and he’s back to his roots, moving back to Germany as well. Instead of traveling to every single tournament, he loves to play from the comfort of his home. From playing $2/$5 Zoom to the higher stakes: the online players aren’t safe when Sontheimer arrives.

Most of Steffen’s focus is now on developing cash game content for Pokercode. Joining a team with the likes of Fedor Holz, Matthias Eibinger, and Simon Rønnow.

Pokercode grew a lot since the start. By always improving our study offer, partnering with GGPoker to offer the best play experience for our community, and building on tools like the Pokercode Rangeviewer. Adding Steffen to the team is another step forward and it’s amazing for our students. Steffen knows the successes he experienced might be realistic for his poker students in the future as well, so what are you waiting for?

Steffen’s pre-recorded content will be released on the platform June 10th with weekly new content coming up by the cash game GOAT.

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