In the middle of December, Aleeyah Jadavji was the recipient of a phone call that had the potential to change her life. Jadavji was awarded a Platinum Pass as the representative of the poker media and was on her way to the Bahamas not to do live updates for PokerNews, but to play for her share of a record-setting prize pool. That phone call came at the end of a very difficult year for her.

Jadavji was one of the people who took it upon themselves to take on Jaime Staples’ Ultimate Sweat contest which would ultimately award one a person a Platinum Pass. Jadavji wanted to get healthier and lose some weight and decided to chronicle that journey. Just a few months in, she was diagnosed with cancer and had to put her Ultimate Sweat stuff on hold to focus on the cancer treatment.

Thankfully, the tumor was removed in December and Jadavji is now on the path to being rid of cancer entirely.

“I still have to do some more scans over the next several weeks once I get back to be in the clear and technically cancer-free. But I might have to do some chemo when I get back, but I’m hoping I can dodge that,” Jadavji said. “Mentally the last few weeks, even though I won the pass and everything was good, I was really down. Just feeling shitty and I just (still) don’t feel like myself.”

She says she’s feeling only about 60% of the way there, but that doesn’t mean she’s not playing the PokerStars Players No Limit Championship with anything but her best. Rather than being in the room for the start of the day, Jadavji decided to get some extra rest and took her seat halfway through Level 2. In Level 4, Jadavji was at a table that included Rainer Kempe, Davidi Kitai and Amit Makhija when she had a decision to make.

“I ran the biggest bluff of my life at the end of the last level,” said Jadavji. “I decided I needed to use my image more. The fact that I’m the only amateur at that table and the fact that I’m up against people that are capable of making plays. So I just decided to go for it.”

“In that hand, I was like ‘You’ve got the heart. You’ve got the heart. Just fucking do it.’ So I just grabbed a handful of chips on the river and check-raised and got the snap fold and I was like ‘Oh Jesus’. I couldn’t breathe the whole time,” said Jadavji.

While the bluff itself was clearly exhilirating, the player party held on Saturday night afforded Jadavji another opportunity she normally doesn’t get. After flying all day from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Jadavji got changed and made her way to the party.

“I got here and I was so wiped, but I got dressed and came down to the Platinum Pass winner’s party and it was surreal. The vibe was just so happy and welcoming and overwhelming. Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Shahade, all these people I’m normally covering and can’t really fangirl over because I’m working,” said Jadavji.

Being able to hobnob with some of her poker idols one night and bluffing them the next is just part and parcel with the experience of being a Platinum Pass winner, but Jadavji already feels like she’s won something bigger than a poker tournament.

“People are saying this is the biggest freeroll of my life, but I feel like I’m freerolling life based on how the last four months have gone.”