You never quite know where interviews with players are going to go. Sometimes we talk about highly unique hobbies. Sometimes we talk about random adventures to faraway lands. In the case of Austria’s neverfoldQ5, however, we digressed into talking about erdbeer schnaps.

There are a ton of recipes you can make with erdbeer schnaps, a liquor, if you’re so inclined, many of which involve strawberries. After we finished our interview, as I normally, do, I asked neverfoldQ5 if he had anything to add. “Oh yeah,” he exclaimed. “I really want to recommend erdbeer schnaps to the PocketFives community. It’s a great drink. A bit sweet, but pennyfox and I drink it a lot.”

Maybe there’s something to it. Maybe instead of practicing and reviewing your game over and over, what you really need is a crate of erdbeer schnaps.

We caught up with neverfoldQ5 after he won the 888 Poker Mega Deepoutright for $24,000. There were 627 entrants that day and PocketFivers raked in over 40% of the prize pool. “It’s a nicely structured tourney,” the Austrian told us. “It’s possible to take your spots wisely and you don’t get into the push-fold too quickly. The average stack at the final table was like 60BB, so it’s still possible to play some poker.”

One of the players at the final table the day neverfoldQ5 won was Jeff YoungSupremacy Hakim (pictured), a longtime member of PocketFives who finished in sixth place.

“He was super tough to play against,” neverfoldQ5 said of Hakim. “I think I was out of position against him at the final table, so that wasn’t much fun, but overall the final table was pretty tough. I got lucky doubling up with 3-3 against 7-7 and after that some 4bets and 5bets got through. You have to run really well to win tourneys like that.”

neverfoldQ5 is currently a full-time poker player. “The best part is that no one tells you when to work and what to do, and obviously the live trips are great,” he said of his favorite parts of his career. “The German and Austrian communities have really nice guys to hang out with and talk strategy with, but also to get drunk and have fun with. The worst part is obviously the variance.”

Oh, the variance. The dreaded “v” word that so many players have brought up. “I’ve played this game for some years,” he said of how he copes with the ups and downs of poker. “I have been broke enough times. Basically, the keys are volume and content.”

As neverfoldQ5 (pictured) said, traveling is one of the biggest perks of poker, as you can make your own schedule and hop around from tournament to tournament or elect to do all of your damage online. “Away from poker, I enjoy football, traveling, sleeping, and eating. Every place I’ve traveled can be the best place; it all depends on the people around you. I like warm countries, so Spain is definitely one of my favorite ones. I really enjoy the EPT stops in Barcelona.”

The Austrian’s largest online poker score to date was worth $44,000 and came after winning a W Series event in January on Winamax. He earned his $1 million cash badgethree weeks ago and is the #7 ranked player in Austria. Worldwide, you can find neverfoldQ5 camped out at #319 in the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings, about 100 spots off his all-time high of #216 set earlier this year.

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