A Buddhist poker player from Halifax just won US$671,240 by finishing third in a tournament in the Bahamas, and he’s planning to give his profits to charity.

After putting up just $500 to enter the tournament online, Scott Wellenbach ended up at the final PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event hosted at the Caribbean country. Event commentators had taken to calling the 67-year-old player “the people’s hero” and the “pride of Nova Scotia.”

“It’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling at the moment,” he told PokerStars during its livestream event, after he lost his last hand to player David "Chino" Rheem, who went on to win the tournament. “I was very lucky, very fortunate at this tournament … the poker gods were smiling.”

Whether he came in first or fifth, he had previously promised to donate his winnings to charity. In the past, he’s donated his prize money to Doctors Without Borders and Oxfam – which aims to alleviate global poverty.

Jason Dean Ross, one of his long-time friends and poker buddies from Halifax, was “rooting for him” and had hoped he would have won the massive top prize of US$1.6 million.

“He’s a super nice guy … he loves the game of poker,” Ross told CTVNews.ca over the phone.

Even if Wellenbach had come in fifth he was still guaranteed to take home at least US$396,880.

Wellenbach and Ross have been friends for eight years and Ross said they spent nearly every day playing Texas Hold ‘Em skills at the Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax.

But charitable giving is nothing new for Wellenbach.

After coming in 17th at the European Poker Tour in Barcelona in 2017, Wellenbach said he donated his $72,000 in winnings to several Buddhist nunneries in Nepal and Tibet.

Then this past Christmas, Wellenbach donated to a charity bingo tournament which Ross had organized to raise money for people with special needs and mental illness, Ross said.

Ross said his friend's Buddhist faith is part of why he donates his winnings.

'He doesn't live above his means': friend

“I think it’s great,” Ross said, praising his friend’s charitable giving. “He doesn’t live above his means.”

Ross said his friend competes in the hundred-thousand-dollar competitions because “he enjoys the people that he meets. He really enjoys the conversation at the poker tables.”

Wellenbach’s wife passed away several years ago and Ross said playing poker helps him still connect with people -- over the green felt.

When Wellenbach isn’t playing poker, he's spending time with his girlfriend and lives a modest, simple life in Halifax. The poker player has spent the last 30 years translating Buddhist teachings from Sanskrit and Tibetan, Ross said.

Wellenbach has made it to the top level before. This marks his eighth time he’s made it to the PCA event, Ross said.

Despite being significantly older than a lot of his opponents, Ross said he wasn’t worried about his friend’s skill.

“He definitely doesn’t play like his age … I think it’s because of all his online play,” Ross said. “Because not a lot of old guys play as much online poker.”

In the same post-loss interview with PokerStars, Wellenbach said he doesn't regularly travel for poker but after his third-place win, he told himself: "Hey, maybe I can make it in this world with some study and practice."

But Ross laughs at his friend because he still relies on getting messages and updates through a flip phone.

“Geez, man. I think it’s time for you to get a smart phone,” Ross recalls telling Wellenbach.