We hope every member of the online poker community had a very Merry Christmas. Now that your bellies are full of food and you’ve gotten your fair share of stories from the in-laws, it’s time to redirect your attention back to the wonderful world of poker. One player who had a happy holiday season this year was Hungary’s breeth(pictured) who came away with a win in the PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy in mid-December for $85,000. We caught up with him to discuss his recent achievement and spread a little holiday cheer.

PocketFives: Thanks for joining us all the way from Hungary. You eclipsed a field of 1,420 players en route to one of your largest tracked cashes to date. Tell us a little bit about your run through the PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy.

breeth: I lost 80% of my stack after the add-on and grinded on 15 to 20 big blinds for three hours. Then, I started to loosen up and played a lot of pots, especially on the bubble. When the bubble burst, I played tighter and luckily got a lot of good hands when the rest of the table thought I was playing like a maniac. They would shove on me and call me so lightly. When we got to 35 or 40 players, I started to loosen up again, claimed the chip lead, and won the important races.

Most of the players were tighter at the final table bubble and it was a good time to steal and 3bet a lot as the chip leader. When the final table started, I was the chip leader, but the second place stack was kind of close to me. From seven players to six, everybody played so tightly because there were a few short stacks, so I could take advantage of that with lot of open-raises.

From six-handed on, I had a dominating chip lead and after the two short stacks busted out, I coolered CesarSPA with A-A against J-J. I start heads-up play with a big chip advantage. It only lasted like 10 hands and in the last pot, I check-raised and shoved on the turn with straight and flush draws. My opponent called me with two pair and I hit it. So, I was kind of lucky the whole tournament.

PocketFives: This isn’t your first rodeo. How does the Sunday $100 Rebuy win compare to other wins you’ve had?

breeth: I won more money when I won the Sunday Million, but the $100 Rebuy fields one of the strongest fields online. It has almost never has weaker final tables because the percentage of pros in the field is very high.

PocketFives: You told us that when you signed up for PocketFives in 2007, there were fewer than 10 registered Hungarian players. Now, there are over 750. Why has the Hungarian poker population grown so much?

breeth: Hungary’s economy is kind of a disaster right now. The unemployment rate is very high and a lot of people lost their homes because the Swiss currency went to the skies compared to Hungary’s currency. Now, everybody has debts in Swiss currency and can’t pay them. So, poker is a good opportunity for a lot of young guys to make a living. Not too many high-stakes players are from Hungary, but a lot of low- to mid-stakes grinders are from here and so it’s just a matter of time until we have a big high-stakes community.

PocketFives: Finally, can you tell us about your holiday plans?

breeth: I’m spending time with my family and grinding less. I’ll be in Hungary too. I don’t know any Hungarian who spends the holiday outside of Hungary. Everybody visits parents and grandparents, so I will spend the New Year with friends.

Sign up for PokerStarsto play in the site’s slate of Sunday Majors like the $100 Rebuy.