PokerNews’ own Chad Holloway is no stranger to thrift stores in Las Vegas, where he often tweets his various discoveries, from signed poker books to Aussie Millions and World Series of Poker (WSOP) swag. Earlier this week, he stumbled upon some interesting merchandise at a local Goodwill in the form of t-shirts and hoodies featuring Lex Veldhuis and Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg, both PokerStars Ambassadors.
The merch harkened back to their early streaming days when they would venture to Jason Somerville’s popular Run It Up (RIU) Reno.
One man took notice of the above tweet in the form of 2021 WSOP.com Player of the Year – and favorite to win again in 2023 – Mike “BrockLesnar” Holtz.
Upon learning of the robust bounty hanging on the shelves of a local Goodwill, Holtz jumped in his vehicle and headed to the store where he proceeded to spend $140 snatching up goodies.
“Spraggy hoodies are a hot commodity,” Holtz told PokerNews. “I was watching his YouTube stream and saw they were there. I had to go buy them.”
Holtz stocked up on apparel that he brought to Day 2 of the 2023 NAPT Main Event. Being a generous guy, Holtz began to give clothing away to anyone who wanted it, among them Landon Tice, Adam Hendrix, Dustin Lee, and chip leader Parker Talbot.
“Lots of players actually declined the Spraggy merch,” Holtz said with a smile. “I literally couldn’t give it away to some. Still seven hoodies left.”
Holtz is coming off a hot summer where he set a WSOP record when he notched 25 cashes in a single WSOP series, which was one ahead of Shaun Deeb and two ahead of both Scott Bohlman and Ben Yu.
Of those 25 cashes, 13 were live, including a seventh-place finish out of 2,759 in Event #31: $600 Mixed No-Limit Hold'em; Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack for $30,081.
"I knew early on that I had accumulated a larger than average amount of cashes and was curious where I stood," Holtz said after setting the record. "When I looked online I realized I had 10 and was leading by two. I checked how many the previous years had accumulated and realized the most ever according to WSOP were Chris Ferguson and Daniel Negreanu with 23 cashes. I realized I was on pace to surpass this and from then on in the series was a subconscious goal of mine. It’s certainly something that I am incredibly proud of and will remember forever."
While he will remember that forever, NAPT players will certainly remember him forever for his goodwill.
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Mike Holtz
