One of the banner ads you might notice on PocketFives is for Poker Refugees, a relocation service that has shuttled hundreds of players to poker-friendly locales for the last three years. Among those who have taken advantage of it is Alextoon1(pictured), who currently resides in Malta and recently final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Million.

“I’m pretty solid in terms of money and prefer to have a steady income, so I plan to find someone to invest funds in property with me,” Alextoon1 told PocketFives when asked what his plans for the $79,000 were. He was the highest finishing PocketFiver in the Sunday Major that week and was among the nearly 8,000 poker hopefuls who showed up.

Alextoon1 got started in poker in late 2009 after hearing about the game from a friend. He deposited immediately and told us, “I was always depositing like $50 on Full Tilt Poker and losing it. Then, I started posting hands in an Israeli forum and realized how bad I was. After that, I started watching videos and improved slowly.” He also received coaching from several members of the PocketFives community.

His Israeli brethren helped “a lot,” Alextoon1 said. “My best friends are from that time. There are a lot of super good Israeli regulars. We are a small community, but are very cooperative and friendly, always discussing hands.” He remains among the top ranked players in the Israel poker community on PocketFives, where his location is set to, and has over 2,000 tracked in the money finishes for over $500,000 total.

Unlike many players who used Poker Refugees to relocate from the United States, Alextoon1 was in Israel when he decided to make the move. “I heard about Poker Refugees through PocketFives and got in contact with [Refugees founder]Kristin Wilson. After a long time deciding where to go, I decided to head to Malta.”

He selected Poker Refugees in order to have “the smoothest relocation possible” and said, “I chose Malta after being there for vacation. I really liked the people and felt like it was a really slow-going and relaxed environment. I’ve made some friends here and we usually go out to clubs and pubs on Thursdays or Fridays to ease up for the weekly grind.”

He closed by sending shout outs to oren priel, Assassinato(pictured), Gags30, shanetrain22, and timorm1 for taking my game to a totally different level.” In 2013, Alextoon1 finished second in the PokerStars Bigger $162, Bigger $22, Big $109, and Big $55 for $84,000 total. The Sunday Million final table is his largest tracked cash to date by more than double.

Alextoon1 added, “I also wanted to say thanks to Kristin for being there for me in Malta and always reaching out.” Check out Poker Refugees today.

The Sunday Million runs weekly on PokerStars. If you don’t already have a PokerStars account, sign up through the links on PocketFives to get a 100% up to $600 deposit bonus and one free month of PocketFives Training. Get started here.

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