It’s become common in the poker community over the last half-dozen years, for players to talk about the newest young internet poker sensation, and his or her seemingly unbelievable online accomplishments, but if recent rumors are true, than the term “young internet poker sensation” may have just been permanently redefined beyond all imagination.

According to recent pieces from such sites as OnlinePoker.net, RakeTheRake.com and the Cake Poker blog, it is very possible that an 8 year-old computer prodigy from India, playing under his Uncle’s account and usually on a borrowed computer in the hotel his mom cleans, recently won 22,912,500.38 Indian Rupees- or approximately $500,000 US- by taking down a major online poker tournament. 

The child, Aashish Nanak, according to his mother has been adept at using the computer since a very young age and indeed even started designing his own websites by the age of 4, however it wasn’t till he was 6, that he made the fateful decision to get into poker (maybe he took a few years off to travel or something). 

Two years of moderate success later, and suddenly Aashish’s- by all accounts- previously poor family is $500,000 richer, that is assuming they can win the court case against the online poker site, which apparently has confiscated the winnings from the uncle for breaking their terms of service.

It all makes for a pretty fascinating, ongoing story, one that usually at this point would be concluded with a “for more information” type sentence, but in this case there really isn’t much more to go on.  Besides the above listed sites (and a few others) which seem primarily to source each other- and the forums that have begun lighting up- more details on this story, like which site, which court, and which paper this story came from, seem sadly and suspiciously lacking.  However if it is true, man, how sick is that?