Meet the fearless poker phenom, Punnat Punsri, the Thai tornado tearing up high-stakes tournaments worldwide and one of the latest additions to Natural8’s Team Hot. Punnat has been dominating the live tournament scene around the world, with multiple wins in Asia and the US, racking up over $8 million in tournament earnings.
Rise To Fame
While Punnat had a couple of cashes from 2014 and 2017, his breakthrough year came in 2019 when he won the KRW 1,980,000 No Limit Hold'em Championships Event at APT Seoul for over $50,000. He followed that up with a strong performance at the APT Taiwan finale, finishing 4th in that event, before winning the ₫65,000,000 No Limit Hold’em High Rollers event in APT Vietnam to truly announce himself as part of the live MTT scene.
Since then he’s gone from strength to strength, making his debut at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2021, cashing in four events, and regularly appearing PokerGo tour events taking place in Vegas.
He has amassed over $8 million in tournament earnings at the time of writing, which places him at 18th in the Global Poker Index Ranking and at the top of Thailand’s All-Time Money List. With his next closest competitor on Thailand’s All-Time Money List nearly $6 million in winnings behind, we can’t see him being dethroned anytime soon!
Biggest Accolades
After winning the APT event in Korea back in 2019, Punnat has gone on to win a number of prestigious tournaments. In January 2022, he won two PGT High Rollers back-to-back, winning the Venetian High Roller #1 on the 5th of January, then following that up with a win in the Venetian High Roller #2 on the 6th. He earned over $250,000 for those tournament wins alone.
That year he made two final tables at the WSOP, coming 3rd in the $50,0000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller 8-Handed event for just under $600,000 and finishing runner-up in the $1,979 Hall of Fame Bounty event for $170,000.
Just a few months after the WSOP, Punnat would achieve his greatest win to date, when he won the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event at the Triton Poker Super High Roller series in Cyprus. He won $2,600,000 for his efforts and beat the likes of Wiktor Malinowski, Henrik Hecklen, and Jason Koon at the final table.
While his other wins have certainly been impressive, it was this victory that cemented Punnat as a veritable high-stakes MTT crusher.
With over $3.75 million in tournament winnings in 2023, there is no slowing him down. After a successful WSOP where he cashed in eight events for over $250,000, we expect Punnat to make an appearance at the next high roller series, wherever that may be.
Summary
We’re thrilled to welcome someone as successful as Punnat to our Team Hot crew, and we can’t wait to see what he will achieve as part of our team. The next time you’re watching a super-high roller tournament, look out for Punnat, as he’s well worth learning from!
If Punnat’s success has inspired you to improve your poker game, we have a number of strategy articles available to read on our Natural8 blog. These articles are written by professionals who want to take your game to the next level, so make sure you check them out!
Image Source: Pokernews.com
