Champion James Mendoza

Stories like James Mendoza's were meant to happen last week.

The California-based pro, who is originally from the Philippines, made his debut on the Triton Poker Series during Triton ONE in Jeju, a tournament series designed for mid-stakes players to build their way up to the biggest stage. But after landing a Triton ONE Main Event cash, Mendoza stuck around for the $25,000 WPT Global Slam too and tonight took down the $25,000 buy-in tournament for a career-best $1,515,000 score.

"Coming here to Triton is already a win for me," Mendoza said. "I never expected to be playing the highest level of poker. I just started playing lower stakes in my little city in the Philippines. And now I'm here at the highest stage in poker."

In truth, Mendoza has been playing the kind of poker that suggested this was coming for quite some time. Before today, he already had $2.8 million in documented winnings, including six six-figure scores. But the step up to the Triton Super High Roller Series is still considerable, and Mendoza managed the perfect debut.

James Mendoza seals the deal

He needed to be at the top of his game to beat a final table that featured, among others, the three-time Triton champion Alex Foxen, as well as the ever-dangerous Punnat Punsri. But Mendoza got off to the perfect start in felting Punsri early at the final, and then held firm as Foxen prospered but then faded.

"I came prepared," Mendoza said, when asked of his experience in duelling with the stars. "I knew I was going to battle against these guys. I didn't come here to just have fun, or whatever. Before I came, I did a lot of studying and a lot of mental coaching, all the kind of stuff that could help me improve my game."

He also revealed in his post-game interview with Henry Kilbane that his 2025 was a memorable year both on and off the tables.

"Having a career high is very good," he said. "Maybe it's baby run-good. I'm having a first child in the next few weeks now, so it's just the best year so far. Luck, plus determination and hard work, I guess."

Ultimately, Mendoza was left to face China's Xue Song heads-up, by which point stacks were short and the rest of the 311-entry field were playing elsewhere. Mendoza's day had come.

"Battling against those giants is obviously pretty hard, but I'm confident," he said. "I've been playing for quite a while now so I feel like I could battle. And here I am. I proved myself."

TOURNAMENT ACTION

The first hold'em event of the Super High Roller Series in Jeju brought with it the usual enthusiastic field. The corresponding event, carrying the name of the tour's title sponsor, was the one that shocked everyone in March year when its entry numbers shot past 300. And of course it did it again this time around, with 311 entries creating a $7.775 million prize pool.

With three days to play it out, the schedule was clear: watch the field grow on Day 1, watch it shrink on Day 2, then find the winner on Day 3.

The bubble played out either side of a tournament break on Day 2, with two players at risk ahead of the pause, but surviving, leaving the first player all-in afterwards staring into the abyss.

On the cheery side: Ren Lin's pocket kings held against Punnat Punsri's AK, even though Punsri flopped two diamonds. And then Yang Zhang's two pair was enough to beat Aren Bezhanyan's middle pair when he got the last of his chips in on the river.

Hard hand-for-hand play began after the break, but it finished quickly when Josh McCully was knocked out. The Triton ONE leaderboard winner exchanged his Player ONE prize for a buy-in here, and nearly spun it up further. But he jammed five blinds with A7 on the button and got a call he was surely hoping not to hear. It came from Bezhanyan, who held pocket sevens.

Triton ONE Player ONE Josh McCully burst the WPT Global Slam bubble

The board bricked out and McCully's Global Slam adventure ended one place short of the money. The rest of the field celebrated a min-cash and then refocused their efforts to survive through the rest of the day. Only nine did it. This nine.

Alex Foxen - 17,150,000 (57 BBs)

Viacheslav Goryachev - 16,200,000 (54 BBs)

Xue Song - 11,600,000 (38 BBs)

Yan Jingyai - 11,200,000 (37 BBs)

James Mendoza - 8,150,000 (27 BBs)

Punnat Punsri - 6,900,000 (23 BBs)

Ho Bao Qiang - 3,775,000 (13 BBs)

Dai Ming - 1,525,000 (5 BBs)

Emilien Pitavy - 1,225,000 (4 BBs)

WPT Global Slam final table players (clockwise from back left): Dai Ming, Yan Jingyai, Alex Foxen, Xue Song, Viacheslav Goryachev, Emilien Pitavy, Ho Bao Qiang, Punnat Punsri, James Mendoza.

Tournament organisers rolled the blinds back to give the returning nine a bit more play, but this was still a short-stacked affair. However, the two players with sub-five-blind stacks managed a successful ladder up thanks to an early nosedive from Punnat Punsri.

Punsri has already had an exceptional time in Jeju, taking the most from a heads-up chop in the Triton ONE Main Event, and here he was again in the middle of the pack heading to another major final. His problem this time came about owing to a blind-on-blind confrontation with James Mendoza, where Mendoza just happened to be at the top of his range.

Action folded to Mendoza in the small blind and he made a 4x raise. Punsri had A9 in the big blind and defended in the most stringent manner, shoving for 23 blinds. Mendoza's plan had worked to perfection as he called with AK. The board bricked out and Punsri's tournament ended with a $155,000 prize.

Blind on blind bust Punnat Punsri

Focus now shifted back to the two micro-stacks, but both did all they could to get back into contention--with mixed results. Dai Ming's pocket fives earned him a double through Viacheslav Goryachev, but it proved to be a false dawn as he then lost with A6 to Alex Foxen's QJ after getting it all-in pre-flop. Ming won $190,000 for eighth.

Emilien Pitavy managed a double too, with AK flipping better against Ho Bao Qiang's 99. It proved to be a really critical pot for both players: Pitavy held on as Ho slid to the bottom. And then Ho got a bad beat to disappear from contention.

Ho opened from a five blind stack under the gun, then called off when Mendoza jammed his big blind. Ho would have hoped for a double, or a chop at worst, when he showed down A7 to Mendoza's A6. But a six on the flop was a cruel blow to Ho, whose supporters expressed their dismay from the rail. He couldn't catch up and was out in seventh for $260,000.

Ho Bao Qiang eliminated in seventh

Yan Jingyai has played several Triton Poker Series events over two visits to Jeju, but this was his deepest run yet. His first final table experience will not have been one to remember with particular joy, however, as he was card dead for the vast majority of proceedings, then was knocked out the first time he really took a stand.

By that point, he only had five blinds left and he raise/called off from under the gun with KJ. His countryman Xue Song did the damage in the big blind, with A4 enough to defeat Yan. Yan earned a Triton-best score of $350,000 for sixth.

Yan Jingyao recorded a career-best score

Pitavy, meanwhile, was still clinging on. And after winning another close one when he was all-in with J10 against Goryachev's AQ (a jack rivered), he then secured a really sizeable double with aces through Foxen's AK. This went all in pre-flop, with Pitavy's 16 blinds happily committed behind the best hand in poker. Foxen retained the overall lead, but Pitavy was suddenly his closest challenger.

Playing his first ever Triton Poker Series event, Goryachev had likely surpassed expectations by making it all the way to the final, even if he hadn't quite managed to prosper as he'd have liked on the last day. It's tough to stay in touch when everyone seems to be doubling through you, and the Russian duly slipped to the bottom of the counts as a result.

With only six blinds and two committed pre-flop, Goryachev called a mid-position raise from Xue Song. Goryachev had black pocket threes and the flop came 5A2. Goryachev then check-called bets after the K turn and the Q river, the last of which was for all of his remaining chips.

Xue showed him A10, which was good. Goryachev busted in fifth for $460,000.

The party is over for Viacheslav Goryachev

Though it was only a relatively small pot for Xue, it gave him the ammunition to take on the leader Foxen. And when, in a subsequent pot, he jammed on the river with the board showing 76Q3A, having called Foxen all the way, he took over the chip lead. (Xue had K9 and Foxen folded his J8.)

It was now becoming an impossibly short four-handed battle, with an average stack of 16 blinds. It was also Mendoza's time to really shine, with the winds of fortune beginning to blow in his direction.

It started, counter-intuitively, with Pitavy doubling through Mendoza holding pocket jacks to Mendoza's A7. But three hands later, the two players got all their chips in again and this time Mendoza's KQ rivered a queen to beat Pitavy's AK and knock the Frenchman out in fourth.

He would no doubt have taken fourth at the start of the day, with its prize of $584,000. But the manner of this elimination was pretty tough.

Mendoza wasn't done there, though. He then swept up the last of Foxen's stack, with K6 beating Foxen's AJ. The chips went in pre-flop and Foxen flopped an ace. But the turn and river went runner-runner to give Mendoza a straight. Foxen's bid for a fourth Triton title faltered in third, giving him $721,000.

A sad end to an up-and-down day for Emilien Pitavy

It brought us belatedly to heads-up play, with Mendoza's stack of 52 blinds sitting pretty against Xue's 13. The WPT Global Slam trophy made its way to the table, alongside the familiar Triton metalware. They were guaranteed $962,000 minimum each, but the champion would be looking at $1.515 million.

Xue made this fun. Although a succession of small pots trimmed his stack even further, almost to the nub, he went on an incredible run from one big blind: doubling first with A2 against 104, then with a pair of aces, and he then picked up red pocket queens and got nine blinds in, against Mendoza's A8.

Xue Song, beaten heads-up

Mendoza had only 40 blinds at this point, so a double would make this a match once more. But after a flop of 847 and a turn of 5, the river brought the decisive A and sealed the win.