In a recent running of the weekly PokerStars Sunday Million, longtime PocketFives member Kyle KJulius10 Julius (pictured) came away with a gratuitous $199,000 payday. The $215 buy-in contest was chopped three ways and Julius, who officially finished second, booked the largest payday of the group. It’s not every day that you run through a field of nearly 7,500 players, so his landmark showing was definitely worthy of a feature article here on PocketFives.

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Julius, while most certainly aware of the fact that he booked a meaningful six-figure cash, was still letting it all sink in. He told PocketFives in an exclusive interview, “It still hasn’t set in. Nothing has really set in since the 2012 PCA. You never expect to win these tournaments with huge fields. It’s something you dream about doing as a poker player and for it to actually happen is crazy.” Don’t call us crazy. You’re crazy!

Here’s a fun fact for you: right before Julius chopped the Sunday Million, he closed on a house. Call it good karma for his new digs, and hopefully there’s no prepayment penalty on his mortgage. We asked him to break down the chop for our readers: “I got a really good deal. The Million’s structure toward the end is generally pretty fast and anything can happen. I had the chip lead and we did a chip chop, so it favored me money-wise.” A not-so-paltry sum of $20,000 was left on the line for the winner.

Okay, let’s get back to that fun fact we were talking about earlier. Julius’ new house is in Peoria, Illinois, which is a few hours south of Chicago in the corn fields. There’s nothing metropolis-like about it, as Julius described, “When I saw the house, I knew it was what I wanted. It has kind of a cabin feel to it with a sick deck and a hot tub that is surrounded by the woods. It’s very private, which I like.”

Side note: the first thought that popped into this author’s head was that Julius’ house is the exact opposite of Phil Galfond’s former urban condo, which came complete with a two-story slide.

His Sunday Million chop came while Julius was in Jamaica on vacation with nine other people, who golfed, gambled, and played live cash games against each other. On other occasions, his online adventures have come while he has been camped out in Canada or Mexico.

Here’s another fun fact for you: his most recent Sunday Million chop came nearly one year to the day following a win in the same tournament, which was officially good for $177,000 in February 2012. Last year also saw him drive deep in the WCOOP Main Event for $48,000 and take second in the PokerStars Sunday $100 Rebuy for $60,000. Maybe he’ll make it a three-peat in 2014.

On the year that was, Julius told PocketFives, “It has honestly just been a blur. I have been constantly on the road living out of a suitcase. I’m going to try to travel a little less this year, but it’s really hard not to travel. There are so many great tournaments year-round in great places.” We’re just a few weeks into 2013 and already the PCA and Aussie Millions have taken place. We’re just three months away from the start of the WSOP in Las Vegas. Vegas, baby!

We’re also just a few weeks away from the two-year anniversary of Black Friday, which uprooted the American online poker industry in 2011 and largely sent it into oblivion. For Julius, Black Friday was initially a thorn in his side: “I was so depressed when Black Friday hit. I was running low on money, was backed, and was stuck about $200,000 in makeup. But, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

If you want to be a successful online poker player like Julius, here’s a tip: get to know Ryan RJules12Julius (his brother) and Nick Grip Grippo (pictured), who is one of the most successful members of our community of all-time. Julius commented on his own superstardom: “It all goes back to my brother, who was the first person to teach me the game. Also, Nick Grippo. Those two have impacted my game the most, but besides that, I just have faith in what I know and have a great understanding of how people perceive me, which I think is the biggest key.”

Finally, Julius shared a few words of wisdom for those looking to strike it rich in the Million and get a feature article of their own here on PocketFives. What are they? We’re not going to tell you so we can get rich ourselves. Okay, we’re kidding: “The Million is such a great tournament because down the stretch it’s usually a bunch of randoms. If you have chips down the stretch as an experienced player, you should have a huge edge. I felt very comfortable throughout the whole thing.”

Nine-hundred words later, this interview has come to an end. Congrats to Julius on his recent success. You can sign up for PokerStars through PocketFives and support our online poker community in the process by clicking here. They’ll even give you a 100% up to $600sign-up bonus.

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