Pratyush Buddiga

Pratyush Buddiga (born May 11, 1989) is a former American professional poker player and spelling bee champion originally from New Zealand.

Pratyush Buddiga
ResidenceColorado Springs, Colorado
Born (1989-05-11) May 11, 1989
New Zealand
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)None
Money finish(es)17
Highest ITM
Main Event finish		613th, 2011
World Poker Tour
Title(s)None
Money finish(es)3
European Poker Tour
Money finish(es)5

Early life

Buddiga was born in New Zealand and moved to the United States when he was five years old. Two years later he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 2002, at the age of 13 Buddiga won the 75th Scripps National Spelling Bee after spelling prospicience earning him $12,000 and a scholarship.[1][2] His brother Akshay competed in the 77th Scripps National Spelling Bee, where he finished 2nd. He attended Duke University and graduated in 2011.

Poker

Buddiga began playing in live poker tournaments in 2010. In 2011, he finished 613th in the 2011 World Series of Poker earning $21,295.

In 2012, he finished 8th in the European Poker Tour hosted in Berlin earning $94,127. The following year he finished 8th in GuangDong Asia Millions earning $772,870.

In 2014, he won his first major tournament, the Fallsview Poker Classic, earning him $222,172.[3] Later that year, he finished 3rd in the Super High Roller Event at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour earning $844,571.[4] In 2014, Buddiga said "No matter how good I get at tournaments, I’ll never be better at poker than the best cash game players, guys like Doug Polk, for example".[5]

Buddiga won the 2016 EPT Barcelona €25,000 High Roller event earning $780,011. The final three finishers agreed to a three-way deal based on ICM numbers.[6]

In 2017, Buddiga finished 6th in the Super High Roller Bowl earning $1,000,000 in the process. The tournament was won by Christoph Vogelsang.[7]

As of 2018, his total live tournament winnings exceed $6,400,000.

References
  1. Heim, Joe (May 25, 2015). "From spelling bee champ to professional poker player". Washington Post. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  2. Swains, Howard (2015). "PCA 2015: Spell c.h.a.m.p.i.o.n. with Pratyush Buddiga". PokerStars. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. Fast, Erik (February 26, 2014). "2014 Card Player Player of the Year Update -- Mike Leah, Pratyush Buddiga and Matthew Lapossie Join Top 20". cardplayer.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. Solomon, B. (December 19, 2014). "National Spelling Champ Pratyush Buddiga Wins $3.2m Playing Poker". onlinepoker.net. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. Rodriguez, Julio (December 14, 2014). "A Poker Life: Pratyush Buddiga". CardPlayer. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  6. Fast, Erik (August 24, 2016). "Pratyush Buddiga Wins 2016 EPT Barcelona €25,000 High Roller". cardplayer.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  7. Fast, Erik (June 1, 2017). "Christoph Vogelsang Wins 2017 Super High Roller Bowl $300,000 Buy-In". cardplayer.com. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
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