Over the weekend, Austria’s Pokerjoe48finished second in the PartyPoker Sunday Major and walked away with almost $20,000. It was his fourth largest online MTT score to date and helped propel him to over $1.2 million in career winnings. We virtually traveled to Europe to talk with him about his latest payout.

PocketFives: Congrats on the PartyPoker Sunday Major final table. Tell us how you’re feeling about it.

Pokerjoe48: Thank you. I am obviously pretty happy. I had some deep runs that day, but none of them worked out and I was left at 3:00am with one PartyPoker table. That one luckily went pretty well.

PocketFives: Walk us through how the final table played out.

Pokerjoe48: It started with some really short stacks that had about 10 to 15 big blinds as well as two big stacks. Everything went pretty fast from there. I was lucky enough to bust one short stack with A-A against his J-J and we were four-handed pretty fast.

I was pretty comfortable because I thought I had a good feeling what everybody was doing and how they were playing. I then won a bigger flip with 8-8 versus A-Q to bust the fourth place guy and was even with the chip leader. Then, one shorter stack busted after a few hands. So, for a Major, it was a pretty fast final table because the stacks were a bit shallower all the time before we went three-handed.

PocketFives: Do you have any plans for the money?

Pokerjoe48: Sundays are always an expensive grinding day, so I am happy to have some room now for the next few weeks and don’t have to worry if they don’t go as planned.

PocketFives: What do you think about the structure and field of the PartyPoker Major compared to other sites?

Pokerjoe48: The structure is pretty good in the beginning and gets a little faster along the way, but I don’t really mind that. There are more recreational players in the field compared to some other sites like PokerStarsand Full Tilt. If PartyPoker fixes its issues, it is a nice site with some really cool tournaments, especially on a Sunday.

PocketFives: You won the PokerStars.fr SCOOP Main Event in 2012 for over a quarter of a million dollars. How exciting was that?

Pokerjoe48: I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was a three-day tournament and the final table was on a Tuesday. A lot of my friends were watching and railing and it was the biggest day of my poker career so far. Everything went really well and it took some time to realize everything when the tournament was over. I also couldn’t sleep for a couple of hours afterwards despite the fact that it was already 6:00am. It felt great.

PocketFives: How did that cash change your poker career and your life in general?

Pokerjoe48: I gained a lot of confidence in my game, which is in my opinion one of the most important aspects of being a successful player. It also boosted my bankroll and it was easier and more comfortable to play all of the games I wanted to play.

In my “real” life aside from poker, it didn’t change that much. I am not the kind of guy who needs expensive stuff. I got myself some things over time like a new workplace setup, but with some of the money I helped some really important people in my life who always supported me, and that was the best feeling for me.

PocketFives: How did you get started in poker originally and why was it interesting?

Pokerjoe48: In 2006, a couple of friends and I watched poker on TV and were immediately fascinated because we were really into card games like Skat and some other games we played in school. We liked the different aspects of it like strategy and psychology.

We continued watching and played home games and some of us went deeper into it than others. Then, we found out there were some really small buy-in tournaments in our home city and we went there and really enjoyed the game and the community. After that, I started playing online and everything went from there.

PocketFives: What else interests you? Do you have any hobbies?

Pokerjoe48: I have a lot of things I am interested in. I quit playing five or six days a week this year because I was feeling that some things I enjoy were not getting the attention I would like them to get. So, now I mostly play two days a week if there is no tournament series. The other days I am playing tennis and soccer, spending time with my friends, working outside at my parents’ house in the garden, and looking for other things I would be interested in.

PocketFives: Is there anything else you want to add?

Pokerjoe48: I would like to thank all my close friends in Austria: Jefri, Alex, Martin, Roli, Koray, Butzi, Fedor, and all the others. Thank you also to my mates in Germany: Farid, Igor, Yille, and Rostik for their support over the years. Without them, it wouldn’t be the same.

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