Poker Stories Podcast: Online Poker Crusher Mike ‘BrockLesnar’ Holtz

Poker Stories is a long-form audio podcast series that features casual interviews with some of the game’s best players and personalities. Each episode highlights a well-known member of the poker world and dives deep into their favorite tales both on and off the felt.

Mike Holtz spent his teen years as one of the best gamers around. In fact, at one point he was considered the top-ranked World of Warcraft player and was recruited to join a traveling league called the World Series of Video Gaming. Unfortunately for the Maryland native, the league went bust and he was left looking his next step in life.

There were numerous jobs and even a stint in jail, but after rediscovering his love for poker in a local home game, Holtz decided to move across the country to Las Vegas to be closer to the action. Although he started in cash games, he found himself to be better suited to tournaments, specifically online at WSOP.com under the name ‘BrockLesnar.’ It was there that he won a WSOP Circuit ring and was crowned 2021 Player of the Year. Then in 2022, the 32-year-old added his first WSOP bracelet.

Highlights from this interview include Mega Bomber Man with mom, midnight baseball, World Series of Gaming and Napster, the mushroom diet, working as an underage bouncer, going to weekend jail, snitches get pizza, the hotel home game, building a bankroll, trying to beat Skyler, winning Player of the Year, having a spew tournament, the flop overcorrection, Hellmuth vs. Negreanu, from Bill to Brock, the sad ending for wrestlers, a barf 15-20 years in the making, abandoning Jeff Madsen to win a bracelet, Power Ranger hand kissing, avoiding spiders, Rat Fink Magoo, dodging highway traffic, and advocating for bomb pot tournaments.

Catch up on past episodes featuring notables such as Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Patrik Antonius, Justin Bonomo, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Galfond, Nick Schulman, Fedor Holz, Barry Greenstein, Dan Smith, Scotty Nguyen, Mike Sexton, Maria Ho, Brad Owen, and many more. If you like what you hear, be sure to subscribe to get the latest episodes automatically when they are released.