Rising Star Kyle Julius

A strong argument could be made that Chicago native Kyle Julius is the perfect poker player. At age 26, he is fast approaching $6 million man status in total career cashes. One of his strongest assets is an insatiable competitive spirit to improve his game. A drive nurtured while nailing three pointers as a top high school basketball prospect. So it’s clear he has game, but does he have heart?

Tough losses painfully close to the big money and devastating beats don’t undermine Julius’s desire to win. Sure, some opponents may even call his cultivated confidence unabashed cockiness. But he’s humble enough to let his play, not his ego, do the talking at the table. But does he possess the grit to be consistent, week after week, year after year?

Over the last three years Julius has been one of the most consistently profitable players in both online and live play. The truth is he’s wicked smart, supportive of his peers, and incredibly grateful for all of the success that has come his way. Not to mention he finished 4th in the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year race in 2012 with over $2.3 million in online and live cashes. Now that’s impressive. Julius could easily be the perfect player. Case closed.

But wait a second. Perhaps we are jumping the gun a bit. Because according to the man himself his game is far from flawless. “I make mistakes all the time,” says Julius. “But I learn from them and improve my game. That’s the key for me. There is just no way you can play perfect poker. It’s impossible. Anyone who says they play perfect is full of it.”

In fact perfection has never been a goal on Julius’s wish list, but a stash of well invested cash and a championship bracelet or two along the way certainly would fulfill a long term poker dream. At this stage of the game only the sky’s the limit for the young professional. It’s up to Julius to determine how bad he wants it.

Preparation for Success

Julius first became intrigued by tournament poker’s winner take all attitude while playing basketball as a freshman in college. He learned poker by playing the game, without assistance from books, training videos, or tips from forum junkies. He paid close attention to what worked and what failed, (with a little help from his talented poker champion older brother Ryan), one hand at a time. That simple, yet effective approach, succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. Years of competitive sports had honed a laser like discipline, focus, and work ethic that paid off in spades.

So how did a lanky teenager who ate, drank, and slept basketball, who dreamt of hitting the winning shot at the buzzer like hometown hero Michael Jordan turn into one of the world’s best poker players? It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of sweat and tears grinding thousands of tournaments online, a little introspection, and a few years of emotional maturity.

Craig Tapscott: Is there any one thing you credit for your meteoric rise in poker over the last couple of years?

Kyle Julius: I credit failing. Honestly I do. I had made it deep in a bunch of online big tournaments and frequently was the chipleader late in the game during a number of major online events. Many times I had the chips to lock up a finish in the top three. But instead I went for the hero plays and threw those deep cashes away. It was heartbreaking. I’ve tossed away a lot of tournaments. Having the experience of getting deep and understanding my mistakes and then getting there again and again, eventually I learned to make better decisions down the stretch.

CT: What are some of the specific things you’ve learned?

KJ: Foremost, I learned not to press or force things at the table. Staying relaxed is a huge key for me. In basketball my coach emphasized to let the game come to you. Don’t force it. Let things happen, and then all of a sudden the best things tend to happen. That is 100 percent what poker is in my experience. You are in the game flow and letting things happen, not forcing decisions but remain relaxed to make the right decisions and go with the flow.

CT: How did you adjust to playing more live events?

KJ: Well when it came to live play, I overplayed too many hands. I eventually realized that it is not a sprint but a marathon. You just want to make it to the next day, then the next day, etcetera. It’s survival. Yet with my style of play, I am not going to stay in survival mode during the whole event. Eventually I am not going to be afraid to get my chips in. I will have a good amount of chips at some point. It is rare that I will be grinding all the way through with 20 big blinds. The main thing to realize is that you can’t win the event on day one. You have to know what you are playing for and remain patient.

Raw Talent Draws Offers for Backing

Julius is well aware from experience that the days and nights of an online grinder are as rewarding as they can be heartbreaking. Variance and bad beats can shatter the dreams and bankrolls of even the most dedicated player. As Julius began to take the game more seriously and go deep in tougher fields, he entertained the idea of taking on a backer. The backing team of Mark Herm and Nick Grippo long had their eye on the rising star. They saw great potential in Julius’s raw talent and made him an offer for financial support in online events and a select few live events.

“Kyle actually has a confidence and cockiness that is unmatched by almost anyone I’ve seen in poker,” says Mark Herm. “Of all the people I have backed or watched over the years he has one of the highest natural abilities I’ve ever seen. He also has his own natural style, which seems to morph and adjust to table conditions shockingly easily. Kyle is one of the most talented players on the circuit and I don’t throw that compliment around loosely.”

Julius credits Herm and Grippo as poker peers as well as investors to being instrumental to his slow but steady climb to success. “My backers emphasized early on for me not to get in over my head and play all the high buy-in events until I was ready,” says Julius. “I really was anxious to play the biggest live events, even if it wasn’t well suited for my game at the time. But I waited. I learned from their advice and decided to take it step by step, so results came slowly for me. But when they did come, they took off really quickly.”

CT: Much of the poker world has heard of backing but don’t really know all the details involved. Can you share how backing works and how it has helped you?

KJ: Backing is when someone will pay your full buy-ins for tournaments, online or live or both. Usually the arrangement starts off at a 50/50 split. Whatever you lose in buy-ins is called makeup. Let’s say you lose $20,000 total in buy-ins and you haven’t won anything. If you then win a $30,000 event, your backer(s) get the $20,000 invested in you returned to them and you split 50/50 the profit or $5,000 each in this case.

CT: What percentage of players online and on the live circuit are backed?

KJ: I would say online in tournaments about 80% or more. Live is about the same. In any case, players are at least selling a piece of action of themselves to friends or other players. We also swap percentage points with other friends that are really good at poker.

CT: Give me an example. For the WPT LA Poker Classic main event how much of your action was yours and how much was swapped?

KJ: For the LA Classic I swapped out 22% of myself. I usually average around 20%. It all depends. In tournaments such as the LA Classic that have great structures, there are many players that have huge advantages in these types of events. And to get a piece of that caliper of player decreases the variance for all involved. I mean 5% of a $1,000,000 score is great. You’re making good money. I swap with players I think are capable of winning the tournament.

CT: So how did Herm and Grippo assist your growth and motivate you?

KJ: As backers they were extremely smart. I was $200,000 in makeup before the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure score. But I had saved about $100,000 in my bank account, which allowed me to afford to travel and not rely on anyone to pay for my living expenses.

CT: What did they do that was so smart?

KJ: Well there was an event right before the PCA, the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic. I ended up taking 12th place. Their motivation for me was to put me in for 50% of the buy-in or $5,000. And I would put in the additional $5,000. They knew that I would play to cash and not just to win and not be so desperate to get out of makeup by putting too much pressure on myself. They realized if I owned a piece of myself it would affect my play and my focus. It worked. I went deep and cashed for $40,000.

CT: And then the magical PCA event was next.

KJ: Yes. And they did the same thing for the PCA and put me in for 50% again. I put up 40% and sold 10% of myself to other players. I finished 2nd for $1,500,000.

CT: After that you choose to walk away from being backed, correct?

KJ: Yes. Since the PCA I have been on my own.

How The Puzzle Pieces Came Together

As 2010 came to a close, Julius was on track for a breakeven or even worse, a losing year. But instead he closed out the year in spectacular fashion. In a matter of a few weeks that fall he cashed for over $320,000 in two online major events. He then had a rock steady year in 2011, closing out with a 12th place finish at the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic main event. Then things exploded to begin the New Year. Julius took 2nd at the EPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $1.5 million, and then quickly followed in February with a prestigious PokerStars Sunday Million title for over $177,000. He traveled in June to the WSOP in Las Vegas surging with confidence. Julius would take 2nd for $589,000, barely missing a gold bracelet, in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em Event. Then again this past February he chopped the PokerStars Sunday Million three ways and cashed for $199,000. It’s clear to see that Julius is coming into his own after a few years of 24/7 immersion into everything poker.

CT: You really started to make some consistently big scores in 2010. At this point what were some of the things that catapulted you to new levels of understanding of tournament poker strategies?

KJ: With experience I learned to look at who was at my table and know who I would be targeting and who I would be staying away from. I was now paying more attention to a variety of things. I know my opponents stack sizes. I know whose tournament life I can put at risk and have them have to go all-in or fold. I learned to constantly be putting players to that type of pressure. At the same time I learned to avoid certain people that might not believe me. You have to have a plan and realize what opponents know or at least think about you at the table. It’s vital.

CT: What else was essential?

KJ: I learned that a big part of poker is mental toughness; because you will go through so much adversity throughout a tournament, so many tough spots. You could easily beat yourself up over every single thing. The truth is you have to move on. Obviously you want to remember hands and how people play them. You must pay attention to what everyone is doing. But also realize you will make mistakes. You will get unlucky and lose hands. I have learned to let a bad beat or adversity go. I think this has been a big key to my success, especially in live events. My advice is to completely let it go. If you can’t, then it will affect your life outside of poker. And that’s not good or healthy.

CT: How did you learn to let the heartbreaking beats and losses go? Was it tough for you?

KJ: Of course it was tough. I don’t like losing. That’s the thing about poker. It is a huge egofest. Everyone has their ego and it’s about being able to tame that and shut it down. I had to learn to give up in some spots and avoid certain spots or avoid great players at the table. The thing is you don’t really need to be going after a tough player. Sure, sometimes you can get stubborn and don’t want to get outplayed. So you have to bite your tongue and not be concerned if a player got the best of you or not. It is just one pot. You’re not winning the tournament in that one pot.

CT: You are obviously very confident in your game.

KJ: Yes. I have always been confident in myself with anything I’ve done and worked hard at. I always thought I was good at poker, even when everyone was telling me how bad I was. (Laughs) Yet I still thought I was doing awesome. Truth is I was probably doing some really terrible things. But I have always been confident in my game and that’s been a key for me, and learning how to kick aside the stubbornness and realize there is always room for improvement.

Julius Believes He Can Still Improve for Even Better Results

Julius possesses the self-awareness, tenacity, and demeanor to have a long career in the game if he so chooses. He is not at all satisfied to rest on his recent laurels, but still feels motivated to improve his skills as well as grow his bank account. “My game can definitely improve, it always can,” says Julius. “My main focus at present is to improve on my discipline. I feel like there have been so many tournaments I have played over the last few years where I just knew I didn’t want to be playing. So I convinced myself it was okay to just gamble for big stacks or to bust out quickly. Truth is I shouldn’t have been playing them in the first place.”

CT: Where do you see yourself in ten years?

KJ: To be honest, ten years from now I hope to be playing random big tournaments at my favorite venues. But I’d also like to have something else going on, something more stable than playing poker full time.

CT: Any goals?

KJ: I hope to have a few big wins, whether it is a WSOP bracelet or a WPT main event, it doesn’t really matter to me much. My biggest goal is to just keep my head on straight. One thing I have made sure of is that I have my money invested and just in case I go on a bad downswing I have a backup. I know this game can quickly go south for people, so to be around in ten years and still be able to play all of these awesome tournaments would be an achievement of its own. ♠