We admit we chuckled a bit when we saw that a PocketFiver with the user name IHaveNoIdeachopped the PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuylast month and earned $39,000. His real name: Viktor Strahl (pictured), and he plays as HokuzzPokuzzon PokerStars. Our interview subject called the chop “a relief” and said, “I’ve been so close to the big ones for quite a while now, so it was really nice to finally go the whole way.”

There were over 1,000 players in that week’s version of the Sunday $100 Rebuy and the top 117 made the money. “The chop was kind of quick four-handed,” he relayed. “I didn’t think it would go through, however, since pistons87and jdpc27were involved.” In addition to pistons87 and jdpc27, PocketFives member Kukikuk participated in the chop and finished fourth. All told, members of the PocketFives community claimed seven of nine final table spots.

When asked about pistons87 and jdpc27, Strahl remarked, “They are both really good, obviously, but I never had a stack where they could push me over. I was really short the whole way from 18-handed to five-handed. When I spun my stack up, I managed to get the deal.” pistons87 earned $49,000 for the win, while jdpc27 took third place and cashed out for $40,000. Speaking of pistons87, check out our recent interview with him.

Strahl got started in poker after catching the World Poker Tour on television and said he was hooked relatively fast. “I liked it because of the competition. You try to outsmart your opponents and they do the same,” he said when asked why poker appealed to him.

He recently broke $1 million in tracked online poker cashes and has five scores of at least $10,000 this year. “In the last year, I’ve really studied poker,” Strahl said of his 2013 performance. “I’ve worked on ranges and I’ve been coached. I’m trying to do a little poker studying every day before I grind just to keep fresh. It helps me get in the right mental mode right before I grind.” By the way, he noted that he usually plays the $100 Rebuy with “single bullets.”

Although he calls frigid Sweden home, Strahl was in sunny Mexico(pictured) with a group of poker players when we caught up with him. He was planning to stay in the balmy weather for a few months and then potentially head elsewhere. On how he got to Mexico, Strahl joked, “We were talking about Australia, but we liked Mexico more than we thought, so we just stayed here for a few months.”

He hasn’t forgotten about his Swedish roots despite being on the other side of the world. He told us, “If it weren’t for eisenhower1, I wouldn’t be playing poker. I’ve had a couple of rough years behind me and he knew what I was going through. He has helped me a lot with my game and been a great guy outside of the game as well. He has turned out to be one of my closest friends inside and outside of poker.”

eisenhower1 is the #38 player in the PocketFives Poker Player Rankingsand #9 in Sweden. He was ranked as high as #2 in the world earlier this year and, as such, serves as quite a resource for Strahl. “He’s really good and plays on a whole different level both technically and in buy-ins,” Strahl told us. “He helped me a lot with positional play and made me more aware of what ranges I should play in which positions.”

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

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