From being born in India, to earning a B.A. in computer science, to owning a coffee shop in San Francisco, Chandrasekhar Billavara has certainly taken an interesting path in life. In 2007 he added World Series of Poker bracelet winner to give his story even more spice.

Billavara first began playing poker in 2005 when he was invited to a home game. After getting a little experience under his belt, he was also invited to a second friend’s home game, and between the two games, he learned the basic strategies.

“It’s a good game, a fun game. And the reason I love it so much is because I really respect the folks that come to play with us,” Billavara said. “It’s fun, there’s nobody who gives you a hard time on a bad beat. They take it like men, and that’s why I like it so much. It’s a social thing, and I get my training.”

Most players would tell you that from that point they progressed to playing in casinos or online, but not Billavara. The home games were his only experience until he headed to Las Vegas to try out the World Series of Poker.

His first attempt at the tournament wasn’t too successful. He went out on his third hand of the game.

Disappointed, he was planning to just head home and give up on a tournament glory. First he took out his anger on the craps table.

“I threw some money down, and I kept doubling up, doubling up, and then a friend of mine called me, so I took my money down, spoke to him for five minutes, counted up my money and I realize, ‘Oh! I have $3,200.” I took it and ran!” Billavara said.

He headed back to San Francisco, but after thinking about his craps win and realizing he’d won his initial $1,500 buy-in back, he decided to use another $1,500 from his winnings to head back to Vegas again for Event 49, the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event.

With more than 3,000 participants in the event, the odds were not in favor of Billavara doing any better this time than he did the first time around. However, not only did he make it past the third hand this time, he went all the way to the final table and a win.

“And here I am with a bracelet in my hand. And $200 left over!” he told PokerListings.com after his win.

Of course, along with that $200 from his leftover craps winnings, he also took home $722,914 for the win.

His big plans for the money included paying off some of his mortgage, but it’s the bracelet he really plans to put to use once he’s back to his usual home game.

“Now, I will look at them and say, ‘Are you trying to bluff me? Are you crazy?’” he said jokingly. “Look at this gold bracelet on my wrist! You want to try and bluff me?”