2001–2010 Holt lost in the final qualifying round of the World Snooker Championship in 2001 and 2002. Holt almost qualified for the 2004 event – he was 9–5 ahead in his final qualifying match against
Anthony Hamilton, before losing the next five frames to lose the match. In the 2005
World Snooker Championship, he beat his friend
Paul Hunter in the first round. In the second round he faced
Steve Davis, losing 10–13 after having led 8–2. For the 2005 tournament he used
eBay to auction the sponsorship space on his waistcoat to Cabaret, a Nottingham nightspot. He qualified for the 2006 World Championship, and lost in the first round to eventual runner-up
Peter Ebdon 10–8, earning Ebdon's applause as a result of his performance. He won the non-ranking
German Open in 2006, and reached the final in 2005. His 5–3 victory over
Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2007 Malta Cup was his first in five attempts against O'Sullivan. He then lost to
Mark King in the last 16 there. He lost to eventual champion
John Higgins in the first round in 2007. The rest of 2007 was unspectacular, barring victory in the minor Dutch Open, which featured seven of the top 32 of the time, including wins over
Nigel Bond and
Barry Pinches. He missed out on the 2008 World Championship after losing to
Michael Judge, causing him to drop out of the top 32 after four seasons there, after a season in which he failed to reach the last 16 of a ranking event. Holt's results improved in
2008–09. He reached the last 16 of the 2008
Grand Prix, defeating
Jimmy White and
Michael Judge to qualify and scored a 5–1 defeat of
Mark Allen at the venue, before losing 2–5 to
Ding Junhui. In the subsequent
Bahrain Championship Holt scored a 5–0 victory over
David Morris in which his Irish opponent scored just 10 points, the lowest total in a best-of-nine world ranking match since 1992. He then beat
Jamie Cope to reach the last sixteen and commented that he was in the best form of his career. He then lost 4–5 to
Robert Milkins in the last 16, having led 3–0. He defeated
Mark Davis and
Dominic Dale to reach the 2009 World Championship, guaranteeing his return to the top 32. He summarised the change in his game by commenting "This year, people have had to beat me. I haven't given matches away." Holt qualified for three of the six ranking tournaments in the
2009–10 season, but lost in the first round in each.
2010–11 season The
2010–11 season saw the introduction of
Players Tour Championship (PTC) events. At the
Prague Classic, Holt won six matches to reach the first final of the career which included victories over
Stephen Maguire,
Mark Selby and
Shaun Murphy. He faced
John Higgins who he had failed to beat in 13 previous meetings, but produced a superb performance to win 4–2. Holt dedicated the title to his father who had suffered a stroke two months previously. The result ensured he would qualify for the
PTC Finals as he finished 13th on the
Order of Merit and he saw off
Marco Fu 4–1 and
Barry Pinches 4–3 to match his best result in a full ranking event. In the quarter-finals he lost 4–2 against
Martin Gould. Despite his surge in form late in the season, he ended it ranked world number 45, the lowest he had been in ten years.
2011–12 season Holt reached the second round of ranking events three times during the
2011–12 season, but lost on each occasion. He saved his best performances for the minor-ranking
PTC events for the second season in a row most notably at the
10th event where he won the title by beating
Dominic Dale 4–2 in the final. Holt said afterwards that the shorter matches suit him as there is not enough time for him to lose his head and stated that if he could maintain a consistent temperament he could achieve more success in the game. He was also a losing quarter-finalist in three other events to finish fourth on the
Order of Merit and qualify for the
Finals again where he was beaten 4–1 by
Stephen Lee. At the
German Masters he beat
Mark Williams 5–1 and
Kurt Maflin 5–3 to reach the quarter-finals where he lost 5–2 to
Ali Carter. He began the event by outplaying
Judd Trump in a 5–1 win with breaks of 115 and 97. His second round match against
Martin Gould went to the colours in the deciding frame with Gould missing the final blue, before Holt potted the blue and pink to triumph 5–4. He then swept past world number 100
Kyren Wilson 5–1 to face home favourite
Xiao Guodong in the semi-finals. Holt was beaten 6–3 by Xiao in a high-quality encounter. His form continued into the following week's
Zhangjiagang Open by winning six games to reach his third minor-ranking final where he lost 4–1 to
Ju Reti. At the
German Masters, Holt played Trump in the quarter-finals, with Trump exacting some revenge from his defeat earlier in the season by whitewashing Holt 5–0. Holt qualified for the
World Championship, losing 10–4 to
Mark Allen in the first round, but his successful season saw him finish it as the world number 22, the highest he had been in eight years.
2014–15 season Holt began the
2014–15 season by advancing to the final of the
Yixing Open, but he was beaten 4–2 by
Ding Junhui. He eliminated
Rory McLeod and
Sam Baird at the
Wuxi Classic, before losing 5–1 to
Neil Robertson in the last 16. A second last 16 ranking event appearance followed at the
Shanghai Masters after Holt overcame
Ricky Walden 5–2, but he was ousted by reigning world champion
Mark Selby 5–2. Holt made a 138 break during his 6–1 victory over
Zak Surety in the opening round of the
UK Championship, before losing 6–3 to
Dechawat Poomjaeng. He lost his first six ranking matches in 2015, but qualified for the
PTC Grand Final by finishing sixth on the
Asian Order of Merit. There, Holt defeated
Jimmy Robertson 4–2 and held on against
Stephen Maguire to win 4–3 having been 3–0 up. In his only quarter-final in a ranking event this season, Holt was knocked out 4–1 by
Joe Perry. Holt played
Ronnie O'Sullivan in the opening round of the
World Grand Prix and he made breaks of 88 and 119 in going 3–0 up. O'Sullivan responded to make it 3–3, before a 76 from Holt saw him advance to the second round, where he was knocked out 4–2 by
Liang Wenbo. In the first round of the
World Championship he scored his first win at the
Crucible for 11 years by beating
2010 winner
Neil Robertson 10–6. In the second round Holt lost 13–8 to
Mark Williams, but hoped the defeat would be a turning point in his career and that next year he would arrive at the tournament as a ranking event winner.
2016–17 season Holt almost delivered on this statement straight away as he reached the final of the
Riga Masters, the first ranking event of the
2016–17 season. He got past reigning world champion
Mark Selby 4–1 and then beat
Ian Burns and
Stuart Bingham both 4–3 and
Anthony McGill 4–0. His semi-final with
Mark Williams was decided on the final brown in a deciding frame. In his first ranking event final, he took a slender 2–1 lead over
Neil Robertson, but was defeated 2–5. Holt beat
Ronnie O'Sullivan for the second time in a row when he knocked him out 5–2 in the second round of the
Shanghai Masters. Another win over O'Sullivan came in the third round of the
International Championship, before narrowly losing 5–6 to
Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals. Holt lost in the second round of the
UK Championship,
German Masters and
China Open.
2019–20 season In February 2020, Holt won the
Snooker Shoot Out for his first ranking tournament win. ==Personal life==