It did not take long for the bubble to burst. He and his wife left the tournament area shortly afterwards, with a brand new trophy to his name.
“If I make that call, I don’t win,” he said as his opponent later confirmed he had a set of tens. “It’s the folds that make the tournament,” he said, recalling a hand where he folded second set on a ten high board when an opponent four-bet all in for his entire tournament life. With this new score, he has nearly doubled his lifetime earnings as well as taken the lead in the MSPT 2023 season.
“It feels great to get this monkey off my back,” said after his win, “for so long, chasing that six-figure score, all that run bad for all these years finally paid off.” Mendoza has been playing poker seriously for 15 years, and his prior Hendon Mob cashes totaled up to just over $100,000. When the dust settled at the end of the day, it was Jason Mendoza who took down the event for his first MSPT victory and biggest lifetime score of $102,823.
A total of 613 entrants gave their best shot at the MSPT glory, but by the time Day 2 started, the field had been whittled down to 73. The MSPT 2023 season kicked off strong with the $1,110 MSPT Sycuan Main Event holding its second biggest event ever run in this location.
