“I don’t think I’ve had a ton of success, far from it, but I do feel I’m on my way there, especially this year.”
It’s been an incredible start to 2026 for Toronto’s Senthuran Vijayaratnam, who kicked off the new year by winning the WSOP Circuit Calgary Main Event in mid-January for a career-best $396,556, a number that moved him into the top 100 of Canada’s all-time tournament earnings leaders.
It’s a win that couldn’t have come at a better time for him, as he told us, along with what’s next on his lofty list of goals. While you’d think winning one of the biggest events in Canadian history might be as good as it gets all year, he has ambitions far beyond that now with a second chance after falling on hard times.
“I was on the fence of going to Calgary, simply because I couldn’t afford to go. Against all logic and reasonable thinking, I booked my flight to Calgary at 10:30pm the day before the last (starting) flight of the Main. Fortunately for me, the 6am flight that would get me there in time to play ended up being one of, if not the only, flights that didn’t get cancelled due to the snowstorm that morning.
I packed my necessities: Bible, Build-A-Bear from my kids, toiletries, a change of underclothes, and $5K cash, which is all I had, no exaggeration. Got there at the end of Level 3, one bullet, and the rest is history now.”
Vijayaratnam continued, “When I won, I had a sense of relief. Looked up, thanked Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior, fell on my back on the floor, took a moment, got back up, knowing the job is far from done. I video called my family. My youngest picked up the phone, how fitting that was, as he was turning four in a few days.”
Just the beginning
Priority number one when he got home was to throw his son a great birthday party, but the life of a poker player often means a lot of travel, and the Calgary champ was soon back in the air. After a couple of quick stops locally, which saw him win one of Casino Niagara’s $550 Sunday events for another $10,651, it was off to the US for a couple of big WSOP Circuit stops in Cherokee, North Carolina, and Pompano Beach, Florida, where he finished 4th in the $2,200 High Roller for $14,254 USD. Vijayaratnam says it’s a continual quest for titles, not money, that drives him.
“Money will come with titles. People back home know that I’m a firm believer of that. Never chop, always 100% of myself, zero deals. It’s that first or nothing mentality I truly live by in poker.”
Next on Vijayaratnam’s quest is the WSOP Circuit at Playground, a venue where he earned his first Circuit ring last year, along with an MSPT High Roller title, and has had many other deep runs.
“Honestly, I have no idea why I’ve had success there, but I feel and get a lot of love there from everyone, and I’m truly humbled by that and appreciate it. It’s just a special place for me. I feel at home even though I’m not from Montreal. I love Playground. It’s the best poker spot in the world, and no one is ever going to convince me otherwise.”
Next stop, the Top 10
While he jokes that winning the Playground Main Event might get him a sponsorship from his favorite room, it’s a couple of other Main Events that he has his eye on to reach a lofty goal set at the start of the year, which would rocket him up that Canadian top 100 list that he didn’t know he was even on.
“Top 100? That’s cool, to be honest. There are a lot of great Canadian poker players. I’d be lying to you, though, if I said I’m happy about it. $10M by the end of the year, or get to the top 10? I’ll be happy then. All I have to do is win the Main in Vegas or the Super Main in The Bahamas, right? I’ll get it done. It’s really just me against me, though.”
His goals are ambitious, but with renewed confidence, who’s to say he can’t do it? He’s made a run to 11th place in the 2020 online WSOP Main Event, and is playing the best poker of his life. All after not just a career-changing score, but something much greater.
“The title and nearly $400K definitely changed my life in ways that only a few truly know. So no, not a career-changer, but a life-changer for me. I feel great. Not because I won, but because I chose to fight when life was trying to knock me out, refused to drown when I was sinking, grew my wings and learned to fly before I hit the ground, and faced the storm head-on until the storm didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. That’s what I’m proud of.”
