Is This the Hottest Poker Player on the Planet Right Now?
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Punnat Punsri has been a professional for around three years. His tournament earnings in that time? Just shy of $30m.
There are few players in the world who can match the blistering run the Thai phenom is on right now, a run that has rocketed Punsri to third on 2025's GPI Player of the Year list, and he's not done yet.
As both a Triton Poker regular and QQPK ambassador, Punsri has enjoyed a summer that would be the envy of even the game's greatest stars.
In just a few months he has made multiple deep runs at the World Series of Poker, lifted a trophy at EPT Barcelona, come agonizingly close in the inaugural Triton ONE Main Event, and added yet another Triton Super High Roller Series title in Jeju.
The numbers speak for themselves. His fifth Triton title puts him alongside Phil Ivey and Bryn Kenney (who ever heard of them?), and his record on poker’s most exclusive tour is almost unfathomable, making at least one final table at every single Triton stop since 2022.
Speaking with PokerNews in Jeju, the man who is arguably the hottest player in the world right now reflected on his remarkable run, why Triton events stand apart from the rest, how poker offers refuge from life’s pressures, and his dream of bringing the game home to Thailand.
Finding a Home on the Triton Tour
From the start, it’s clear that Punsri feels his relationship with the Triton tour was a marriage made in heaven. Then again, winning the Main Event on his very first appearance at the Triton Super High Roller Series Cyprus in 2022 would help any budding relationship along.
Reflecting on his achievement this week of adding a remarkable fifth title, Punsri says, "The list of Triton winners has always been full of accomplished superstars. The first time I stepped onto a Triton tour, it was just me trying to battle with the best and maybe learn from them at the table."
"Every time I'm at a table with all these players, I try to notice what they're doing and how I could get a glimpse into what they're thinking."
"It means the world to me that I'm able to compete at this level."
Many would be content with just one Triton title, especially a Main Event victory, but not Punsri. "I think I played the first one in 2022 when I managed to win the Main. I thought I was super lucky to be able to do so, but that set an impetus for me to try and come back as an improved version at every single stop.
"Being named alongside those players and just winning all these titles, never mind the other final tables I've made, it means the world to me that I'm able to compete at this level."
A Bittersweet Debut at Triton ONE
Turning to Triton ONE, the company’s new mid-stakes tour that enjoyed a hugely successful debut in Jeju this month, Punsri says, “I’m a proud ambassador for both QQPK and Triton ONE in the sense that they created a tour that bridges the gap between the mid-stakes and the high-stakes players, while still incorporating all the elements of the main.”
“It was great to see a lot of players who might not have had the chance to play a Triton Super High Roller Series get the same experience that I had the first time, being in awe of the atmosphere and surroundings.”
Speaking on the Triton tour, at which he attends every stop, he says, “Triton is the best at running tournaments in the world in terms of how they count hands, how they balance tables, and how they facilitate everything to give players the fairest and most professional experience.”
His first taste of Triton ONE, however, proved bittersweet. Although Punsri captured the largest prize from the first-ever $8k Triton ONE Main Event, banking $1,205,775 following a heads-up deal with eventual winner Joshua Gebissa, he admits it “still stings a little bit not to close it out.”
“The Triton ONE Main would have meant a lot for me if I won it, because a lot of Thais had access to it and participated. I also wanted to win it for my Triton family,” he says. On the strength of the inaugural event, he adds, “Maybe the ONE Main is even harder to win due to the size of the field.”
The Thai star could not dwell long on the narrow defeat, however, as he remains in contention for the prestigious Triton Player of the Year award, currently led by Artur Martirosian.
“I used that second-place finish as extra motivation to do well at the Super High Roller Series, knowing a win would put me back in contention for Triton Player of the Year,” he says. Just days later, he delivered on that goal by taking down the $50k No Limit Hold'em 7-Handed, a victory that put him firmly back in the race.
Poker as a Means of Expression
Punsri's pathway into the game came from his childhood, where he enjoyed playing card games that required skill with friends and his dad in Thailand.
His passion for competitive poker, though, truly took root when he moved to the UK to study. “When I went to Bristol for the first time, I was a bit of an introvert, so I wanted to find an activity I could do. There was a local casino, so I went there and played some cash games for money for the first time, and I just fell in love with the game.”
"Poker has always been a way for me to express myself."
“I tried to notice why the same people were winning, what they were doing well. Back then, there weren’t resources to study like today, so it was all about intuition, card sense, and lateral thinking.”
There's a real sense that Punsri finds the game almost therapeutic. "Poker has always been a way for me to express myself," he explains. "Even now, when I have problems outside of poker, I resort to the game to compete and perform well."
It’s been a remarkably rapid rise to the top for Punsri, who only began seriously considering poker as a career after the pandemic. “I played cash for many years, but I really started playing tournaments after COVID. Part of the reason I went to Vegas was to prove to people that poker isn’t just luck, that it can be a career.”
Bringing the Game to Thailand
He’s thoughtful when asked what goals remain on his poker bucket list. The absence of a WSOP bracelet is the only real gap on a résumé that already includes titles at Triton, the EPT, APT, PGT, and more.
“Winning a bracelet has always been one of my lifetime goals. I still go for it every year, but if I don’t win one, it doesn’t bother me as much as it once did.”
“I think I’ve learned so much by not winning,” he reflects. “I value this Triton title so much now that if I had won my bracelet when I finished 2nd and 3rd in my first full World Series, maybe I’d have become complacent and not even come here.”
"I want the next generation to play without hiding their passion."
These days, Punsri’s ambitions stretch far beyond the felt. His nation of Thailand is hugely important to him, and as the country’s runaway number one player, he feels a responsibility to help the game grow at home.
In July, Thailand made headlines by joining a growing list of countries to officially recognize poker as a mind sport. It’s a milestone, but Punsri knows there is still plenty more work to do.
“One of my life goals is to make poker tournament play legal in Thailand, in a way that could become an international hub for poker. That would mean foreign investment, tourism, job creation, but it requires the right regulations and governing body,” he says.
“To make it a reality for young people in Thailand to play freely back home would be a dream come true. Even five or ten years ago, people didn’t understand poker as a career, but I want the next generation to play without hiding their passion.”
*Photos courtesy Triton, Drew Amato, Enrique Malfavon & Spenser Sembrat
