Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Jason Sagle grew up with the life-long dream of becoming a police officer but after a few different career paths has found himself making a handsome living playing poker.
After graduating from high school, Jason attended college where he volunteered as a member of the police auxiliary and got a taste for what life would be like as a cop. After he finished college, however, Sagle found himself considering a change in plans after his best friend turned him onto the lucrative possibilities of a career as an insurance agent. A job opening took him to Barrie, Ontario, and it was around this time that Jason began to play poker at a nearby casino.
After a few years spent balancing poker with the insurance game, Jason realized that he was making more money on the felt than in the office. In an interview with PokerListings.com, Jason remarked that making the jump to the professional level was a risk at the time: "I didn't really have a big bankroll or anything. I had two kids so I just decided to try it."
Playing mostly at online poker rooms at the time, Jason loved the fact that he no longer had to go the office everyday because it meant a lot more time with his family. It took a little time and hard work to get the ball rolling once he started relying solely on his poker game to pay the bills, but after about six months without any serious income, he took down a few bigger online tournaments and from there he was on his way.
Jason Sagle, an aggressive player who's not shy
Jason Sagle is an aggressive player who likes to make himself known at the table. An imposing presence physically as well as psychologically, Sagle is not afraid to push chips in with nothing. At the North American Poker Championship on Season 5 of the World Poker Tour, Jason showed a perfect example of the kind of fearless play to which he's partial.
In a heads-up pot with John Lam and with the blinds at $60,000/$120,000, the flop came 6s-Qh-3s and Sagle bet out a substantial $160,000. Lam quickly called, and the 9c on the turn prompted a $480,000 bet from Jason. Lam called again, and the river brought the 9s, a scary card as it could complete a flush, trips or even a full house. Sagle announced all-in and put the action squarely on Lam.
John took his time thinking through the hand, and it was obvious he had at least a part of the board. After a few minutes he reluctantly mucked his cards only to be left mortified when Sagle turned over his holdings; Kh-5d for king high. He had missed the flop, turn and river yet had continued firing into an opponent who seemed intent on calling him all the way down.
Sagle would eventually finish second in the tournament, although most who watched the match would argue that he should have been the winner. In one of the most pivotal suck-outs in WPT history, Soren Turkewitsch was all-in while heads-up with Sagle, with Jason's A-9 in great shape against Soren's A-3. A flop of 5-9-2 left Soren needing to draw to the inside straight to survive. A four on the turn did just that, nailing the four-outer for Turkewitsch and absolutely crippling Jason Sagle in the hand that by all rights should have won him the tournament.
For a player who was anything but shy about speaking his mind up to that point, Jason displayed remarkable discipline and even managed to claw his way back into the tournament before finally being eliminated. Despite the loss, Sagle showed a mature realism towards the fickle nature of the cards, and proved he definitely has the fortitude to take a horrible beat and not lose his head.
Jason Sagle has played, and cashed, in several World Series of Poker events as well as many smaller buy-in tournaments. He still lives in his hometown of Sudbury with his wife and children and although most of his poker is played online, after taking second place in the WPT North American Championship and the $676,000 prize that went with it, he plans to enter more big buy-in events in the years to come.
