PokerStars India Online Qualifier Jai Saha Turns €40 into Final Table Appearance at EPT Barcelona
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It was a fruitful week for Jai Saha at the EPT Barcelona where he turned €40 into €95,100 in the record-breaking €1,100 EPT National over the weekend.
From India, Saha qualified into the event online in his home country and put together a dreamlike run, final tabling and eventually hitting the rail in seventh place, only narrowly missing out on the final day of play and six-figures.
The Thrill of the Deep Run
Saha got through the online satellite that was giving out just one seat to the event, along with around $1,500 for travel expenses. He ran good to get there and continued to run hot in the live arena, getting traction on his first bullet in the National, which drew 4,682 entries in total.
“It was my first time playing for such a big prize pool. It was good fun - like proper adrenaline and everything."
Saha was happy with his play in the event, apart from some spots on Day 3, and won his important flips. The recreational Indian player doesn’t venture out too much to the live stops, playing mostly for fun on the weekends online.
“It was my first time playing for such a big prize pool. It was good fun - like proper adrenaline and everything. The players were quite good I think at the final table especially."
Prior to his deep run in Barca, Saha had just two cashes for around $16,000 to his credit, according to Hendon Mob.
“It was my first time playing such a big field as well," Saha said. "It was quite exciting, like the pay jumps and all that stuff. So it was a good experience overall.”
Bright Future for Poker
The 24-year-old Saha was always into cards games as a kid but he got into poker - as many players do – playing with friends in college. He attended university in the UK and contrary to the stories of some, Saha graduated with a degree in engineering and is now working in IT – a job he will be getting back to promptly.
Poker in India hasn’t always been the most accepted activity, the game largely being viewed as gambling and often coming with a stigma attached. But Saha is excited about the present state of growth of poker in his home country.
“It was my first time playing for such a big prize pool. It was good fun - like proper adrenaline and everything."
“It’s good to see it grow obviously because the fields get bigger,” he said. “It’s a good future I think.”
Saha had already postponed his flight when it appeared he would be playing Sunday, so he took the opportunity to play in the €2,200 High Roller that kicked off that day. Despite hanging on for most of the day, he was eliminated towards the end of the night, signaling the end of his Barcelona visit.
Armed with a bankroll boost, Saha said he hopes to play more live tournaments when his schedule permits.
“It was a pretty good hit. It won’t change anything too much but maybe [I'll] come play some more events.”
With the online poker scene growing in India, Saha will be looking to take advantage of bigger fields, along with more opportunities to qualify into live events in the future. It sure paid off in a big way this last time — in the form of a more than 2,377% return-on-investment.
You can follow all the action from EPT Barcelona here at PokerNews as live updates from the €5,300 Main Event and more are now underway.
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