Professional poker players are typically known for being good with numbers, adept at figuring out percentages and the likelihood of winning various pots dependent upon a number of variables. But one particular poker pro has skills that go beyond the numbers, dealing more with words found on the printed page.

Pratyush Buddiga, a recent winner of the $25,000 Aria High Roller that earned a payday of $543,683, is a former Scripps National Spelling Bee champion. Buddiga won the spelling title in 2002 as an eighth-grader, claiming victory in heads-up competition by going all-in on the word “prospicience.”

For that victory a dozen years ago, Buddiga took home an engraved winner’s cup, $12,000 in cash, up-to-date volumes of Encyclopedia Britannica, and a set of Great Books of the Western World. Somewhere along the way, he likely picked up a poker book or two, as Buddiga’s lifetime earnings in live tournaments have now surpassed $3.2 million.

Spelling champ turned poker champ