Pratyush Buddiga (born May 11, 1989) is an American former professional poker player and spelling bee champion originally from New Zealand.
[1][2] His brother Akshay competed in the 77th Scripps National Spelling Bee, where he finished 2nd.
[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".
The final three finishers agreed to a three-way deal based on ICM numbers.