Three starting flights at the Mid States Poker Tour’s first stop of 2023 built a field of 613 entries at Sycuan Casino Resort near San Diego, and 73 players returned for day 2 on Sunday, Jan. 16.
The last man standing at the end of play was Jason Mendoza, and he was awarded the biggest score of his career for $102,823 in prize money. The poker player from Hammond, Indiana also took home his first MSPT title, and his career earnings now stand well into six-figure territory after 15 years of seriously playing the game.
The $1,110 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament had a prize pool worth close to $600,000. The top 63 players all cashed for at least $2,254 in prize money.
The final table played late into the night, with Mendoza claiming the top prize well after midnight for a well-earned win.
“It feels great to get this monkey off my back, for so long, chasing that six-figure score, all that run bad for years finally paid off,” Mendoza told MSPT reporters after his victory.
Mendoza defeated Alexei Racila in the heads-up final with king-high topping queen-high on the final hand. The runner-up from San Diego also took home his largest payday to date with a cash for $77,000.
A few other notables that cashed in the event included Kyna England (10th), Adam Friedman (12th), Richard Alsup (15th), Daniel Cates (42nd), and Johnnie Moreno (51st).
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded to the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Jason Mendoza | $102,823 | 840 |
| 2 | Alexei Racila | $77,000 | 700 |
| 3 | Thomas Kornechuk | $77,000 | 560 |
| 4 | Corey Peeples | $41,518 | 420 |
| 5 | Jonathan Frisch | $31,435 | 350 |
| 6 | Thomas Carlin | $23,724 | 280 |
| 7 | Haiqing Li | $18,836 | 210 |
| 8 | Scott Storres | $14,235 | 140 |
| 9 | Roberto Rodriguez | $11,269 | 70 |
The Mid States Poker Tour will continue at Bally’s Black Hawk in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado for a tournament series running from Jan. 18-29. The $1,110 buy-in main event will finish out the series from Jan. 26-29 with three starting flights.
