Progress

[ Mission Completed: A Clean Slate. ]

[ Achievement Unlocked: Ice Cold. ]

[ You are now as cold as a block of ice. Bad beats, psychological tricks, cheating, all of these are now water off a duck's back. You now have the mind of a true God of Gamblers. ]

[ Reward: Perk Upgrade - Calm Mind. ]

[ Perk upgraded: Calm Mind -> Ice Cold - You are the true bastion of logic and rationality in this gambling world. There is no love, there is no hate, there is no wind, there is no emotion. ]

[ Where your mind was a still lake, now winter has fallen. The water has turned to ice, and ice shall not be moved. ]

"That's a very useful trait. Thank you System." James said out loud to himself.

[ System may have skipped a few progressions on that quest line to give you this. System believed you needed this most right now. ]

James thought to himself. He viewed the past events with Gina and Phil dispassionately. Those tragedies had been useful in tempering his mind, and giving him an impetus to push forward. For that, he owed Phil a debt. A debt he would repay in blood and tears.

As for Gina, she had made her choice. James would bury those memories of a better time. Perhaps when he had completed his path, he would circle back and pick them up again.

He had just one more unfinished task - revenge on the Organization. When he had accomplished that mission, he would truly lay his identity of James to rest, and finish his metamorphosis into Sanjay.

As Sanjay, he would climb to the top and truly claim the title of God of Gamblers.

---

"It is a long road to the top, System, I am glad you are here to walk it with me."

[ System is glad you have finally and truly recognized System. System will be with you to the end. Together, we will triumph, and System will never be hungry again. ]

"You and your hunger. It may be a while before I can find the opportunity to feed you again. Is there any other way I can sate your appetite, and perhaps get you out of the tutorial mode? I believe I will need more than just these parlor tricks to bring down the Organization."

[ There is a way, but it comes at a high price. System hesitates to tell you. ]

"Tell me, and I will decide if the price is worth the paying."

[ You can give System a drop of your blood. In doing so, System will be able to fully be one with you. The original construct of System is to help you grow into the God of Gamblers through carefully gated milestones and missions. The money is, in a sense, a representation of your blood and toil. With true blood, System can short circuit those requirements. ]

"Just a drop of blood? That does not seem like a very high price to pay for vengeance."

[ System will leave you to make the choice. ]

"Will sacrificing my blood mean that I will automatically inherit all the benefits of the system and ascend immediately?"

[ No. You will still have to learn and practice, but System will be able to do more. For example, System will be able to remove the charges requirement on your active skills in exchange for more blood. ]

"That sounds like a worthy exchange. I will do it."

[ Are you sure? ]

"Yes. It is the logical and rational decision. In the grand scheme of things, a drop of blood is not much to pay. You are the one true friend I have. I trust you."

[ If you are sure, simply say the words, "I agree". ]

"I agree."

---

James felt a brief burning sensation in his chest, followed by a brief moment of super clarity marred with a hint of malevolence. It felt like he could see through the hidden workings of the world and understand the logic behind life, and that logic was there as a challenge for him to break.

All too quickly, the sensation of omnipotence faded, and he was left with just his own senses once more.

"Did it work?" James asked.

[ Yes, it did. ]

[ Mission Completed: The Final Frontier. ]

[ Missions Skipped: Leveling up your System I, Leveling up your System II, Leveling up your System III, Leveling up your System IV, Leveling up your System V. ]

[ Associated achievements have been skipped. ]

[ Full System Unlocked. ]

[ Achievement Unlocked: The Full Deal. ]

[ You and your System are now one. ]

[ Reward: Full System Capabilities ]

[ There is no longer a need for us to have perks or skills separately listed or grinded. Anything we have learnt through our gambling journey is now fully available for us to use at any time. This is the true meaning of mastery. The true potential of the System. ]

[ Charges restriction on Peek have been removed. ]

"Sweet. So, where do I go from here?" James asked.

[ We have a good grasp of probabilities, and a good basic grasp of poker. System would suggest that we focus on mastering poker. When we master poker, we will gain the ability not just to look at someone else's cards, but we will control the entire game. ]

"Great. Couple of questions though. How do I master poker, and what do you mean by control the entire game?"

[ If you expend enough resources, either money or blood, you will be able to change your own cards after they have been dealt. As for mastering poker, we have just grasped the fundamentals of the game. Hold'em is a mostly solved game by now. Next, you will learn about ranges, game theory optimal plays, and nuances of live play. With enough experience, you will master anything. ]

"You mean, like that old school movie God of Gamblers? Or like Kung Fu Mahjong?"

[ Yes. That first series was loosely based on the true story of one of my most successful hosts. The games have changed by now, but the capabilities you will control will exceed his. As to the second, it is not impossible for us to gain control over the other games as well. ]

"Hahaha. It looks like I am truly limitless now." James let out a sinister laugh. In such a short time, he had progressed from a minnow into a hidden force.

[ We. We are truly limitless. ]

"Of course."

---

James gave up on playing online poker. Online poker was a boring grind, filled with hand after hand of monotony.

Instead, he spent the rest of the week reading digital copies of books that he had bought online. With each book he finished, his system had provided him with a synopsis of all that he had learnt and would be able to bring forth.

[ Ranges: Most players play based on sets of hands. For example, AA and KK often play the same way both pre- and post-flop. When you understand the range of possible hands that an opponent may have, you are able to calculate your odds of winning. Similarly, we should aim to develop a baseline style of play where we play a range of hands the same way. ]

[ Game Theory Optimality (GTO): Now that we have understood how ranges work, we can work on developing the right set of ranges to avoid being exploited by an opponent. For example, if we only raise premium hands, and only bet with a pair or better post-flop, then our actions can telegraph our cards. Instead, we should make the same action with a pre-defined set of hands that will reduce the opportunities a skilled opponent can exploit. For example, if we only raise Aces pre-flop, then our opponents will always fold. This was the case during Phil's game. Now, if we add a couple of other random hands that have potential to play post-flop into that raising strategy, we will either get opponents to fold wrongly against us, or get them to play back more often, increasing the value we can get from our strong hands. ]

[ Live Play: GTO is just the beginning. It is a baseline strategy that you use while you gather information on your opponents. Paraphrasing Sun Tzu, if we know our enemy as we know ourselves, we will be inevitably victorious. Based on our read of the opponent and their idiosyncrasies, or through table talk, we can narrow down their hands and identify their habits, and in so doing, crush them. For example, if we know that our opponent plays a very solid and tight game, we can represent a wider range of hands that may out-flop our opponent, and get him to fold the better hand to us. ]

In just a short week, with the full capabilities of the system unlocked, James had elevated himself from a gifted poker amateur into a full professional.

In order to internalize all that he had learnt, however, James needed to practice, and against live opponents. Online poker just did not provide him with the same breadth of information and experience that he could use. Furthermore, he was certain that all of his future encounters would be in the real instead of the virtual world.