We smile every time we get to say the user name of Mauro Gees (pictured), who is better known in the online poker world as OMGitsGees. Seriously, you can’t say it and not smile. We dare you. In any case, Gees’ humor and poker know-how resulted in a five-way chop of the PokerStars Sunday Million in recent weeks, which came with a hefty $119,000 bankroll injection. So what does it take for five players to agree to a chop? And what other acronyms does the Swiss bar worker have up his sleeve?

If you check out his PocketFives profile, his headshot, which is shown at the top of this article, will make you smile right away. His poker career is still emerging and he’s the lone community member from the Swiss town of Chur. Let’s jump into the interview.

PocketFives: Thanks for talking with us during your bar gig. How did the final five to agree to a chop?

Mauro Gees: The other four players agreed to the chip-chop and, finally, I did too. I was guaranteed third place money, which was huge at $120,000. I hesitated because I wanted to play for the $235,000 first place prize so much, but my friends, lots of Swiss PocketFives members, and the Tuorta crew all told me to agree. $120,000 is life-changing enough and there was still $20,000 up for grabs for the winner.

I went into the final table with the second biggest stack. I really wanted to win it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go into the Sunday Million final table with a huge stack. I flipped good, knocked out TMMPOKPOKin ninth place, and after that, I ran my A-J suited into K-K. We weren’t all that deep and the structure is really fast in the end – one lost hand and you’re out. I finally thought, “Hey, wtf is wrong with you? Take the guaranteed $120,000.”

PocketFives: Your final table has put you on the poker map a bit. What has been the reaction from everyone?

Mauro Gees: I’m a recreational player. I’m pretty much breakeven lifetime except for a $60,000 Super Turbo FTOPS score and now I hit my second huge score and ran very well. My non-poker friends are shocked and my poker friends were cheering me all the way down to the chop. Without them, I wouldn’t have made it.

PocketFives: What is the Swiss poker scene like?

Mauro Gees: It was very popular until three years ago and there used to be card rooms everywhere. It was great, but then the Swiss casino lobby put too much pressure on everyone and, finally, they all had to close. Now, poker is only allowed in official casinos, so there are no tournaments anymore except for high buy-in turbos. Casinos want us at the craps, blackjack, and roulette tables, not at the poker tournament tables. However, cash games are still good in casinos, especially in smaller casinos. The players at 5/5 and 5/10 are usually very weak.

PocketFives: Do you play cash games live or online?

Mauro Gees: I don’t play cash games online because cash players are too good; no one is bad. But in live games, there are lots of people with no idea, people with money and people without money spending it anyway.

In Switzerland, people usually play 5/5; there is no 1/2. I went to the casinos to play 100 and 200 freezout tournaments and, when I went deep, I always missed the last train back home, so I had to stay there. I sat down at 5/5 and played very, very tight. I didn’t want to spew my tournament money, and that’s when I noticed that not everyone was that good.

PocketFives: Tell us about your decision to play poker part-time.

Mauro Gees: I know I’m not good enough right now to play full-time. Also, life is very expensive here, so you have to be a very good tournament player to play professionally. I’ve been working in a bar for the last two years, but I want to decide what to do with my life this summer and fall, and honestly, I don’t really know. I’ve been playing since 2006.

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