Diego Ponce Poker Player Profile: Career, Earnings & Major Results
Diego Ponce is a Mexican professional poker player whose rise on the international tournament circuit accelerated dramatically with a 19th-place finish in the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event. Ponce earned $360,000 for that run, which remains the largest recorded live tournament cash of his career.
The Main Event breakthrough was followed by tournament victories in Australia and another six-figure final table in Las Vegas. He won the Super High Roller at the 2025 Poker Palace Spring Championships in Sydney, captured a title at the 2026 Aussie Millions, and finished seventh in a major $3,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the 2026 Wynn Summer Classic for $157,082.
As of August 2026, The Hendon Mob lists Ponce with more than $844,000 in live tournament earnings. His results remain relatively young compared with established professionals who have been recording tournament cashes for decades, making the speed of his progression one of the most notable parts of his career.
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Who Is Diego Ponce?
Diego Ponce is a Mexican tournament poker professional who is also listed in poker databases under variations of his fuller name, including Diego Ponce de Leon Silva and Diego Poncedeleonsilva.
The Hendon Mob lists his nationality as Mexico and his residence as Mexico City. His tournament record is primarily built around No-Limit Hold'em, with results spanning the World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT), Aussie Millions, Wynn Summer Classic and other international festivals.
Ponce has also represented WPT Global. PokerNews identified him as a WPT Global ambassador during his victory at the 2026 Aussie Millions.
His emergence has been unusually rapid. Before the summer of 2025, Ponce had yet to record the kind of result that makes a player widely recognizable outside a regional poker community. Within roughly a year, he had made a deep WSOP Main Event run, won two live tournament titles and reached another major final table worth more than $150,000.
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Diego Ponce Quick Facts
Name: Diego Ponce
Also listed as: Diego Ponce de Leon Silva and Diego Poncedeleonsilva
Nationality: Mexican
Residence: Mexico City, Mexico, according to The Hendon Mob
Primary discipline: No-Limit Hold'em tournaments
Largest live tournament cash: $360,000
Best WSOP Main Event finish: 19th in 2025
WSOP bracelets: 0 as of August 2026
WSOP Circuit rings: 0 as of August 2026
WPT Main Tour titles: 0 as of August 2026
Major individual tournament titles: 2025 Poker Palace Spring Championships Super High Roller and 2026 Aussie Millions Event #7
Live tournament earnings: More than $844,000 according to The Hendon Mob as of August 2026
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From a Corporate Career to Professional Poker
Ponce did not begin his adult career as a full-time poker professional.
In a 2025 interview with Roberto Martínez on the CREATIVO podcast, Ponce discussed studying industrial engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey and building a career in the corporate and financial world. His professional background included work involving derivatives at a bank and later research-and-development tax consulting at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
That background is relevant to his development as a poker player because mathematics, financial decision-making and risk management became recurring themes in the way he discussed the game.
Ponce said he first played poker at 18 while visiting friends in Montreal. His involvement became more serious during the COVID-19 pandemic, when he began playing regularly online. He said the money he earned from poker during that period helped pay for an exchange program in Paris.
Paris also provided one of his first experiences with structured poker study. Ponce described taking poker classes that incorporated hand analysis and solver work rather than relying entirely on experience at the table. He also studied modern poker strategy independently, including Michael Acevedo's Modern Poker Theory.
Poker remained a serious side pursuit while Ponce continued working professionally. In his August 2025 interview, he said he had left his position at PricewaterhouseCoopers roughly three months earlier to pursue poker professionally.
The timing proved significant. His biggest tournament result had arrived only weeks before the interview.
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The 2025 WSOP Main Event Breakthrough
The defining result of Ponce's early career came in the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas.
The $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em World Championship drew 9,735 entries and generated a prize pool of more than $90.5 million. Ponce survived deep into the tournament and reached the final 19 players.
That accomplishment placed him within striking distance of the nine-player final table in poker's most recognizable tournament.
Ponce ultimately finished 19th for $360,000, the largest live tournament cash of his career.
His final hand came against Spanish professional Leo Margets. Ponce moved all in with pocket jacks and ran into Margets' pocket queens. The stronger pair held, ending Ponce's Main Event run.
Although he missed the final table, the result immediately changed the scale of his tournament résumé. A player whose earlier recorded live results had been comparatively modest now had a $360,000 score from one of the largest and most competitive poker tournaments of the year.
The result also established Ponce internationally. Deep Main Event runs receive considerably more attention than ordinary tournament cashes because the event combines a large field, a $10,000 buy-in and the WSOP world championship title.
For Ponce, 19th place became the performance that moved him from an emerging Mexican tournament player to a name followed across the international circuit.
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Ponce Wins His First Recorded Live Tournament Title
Ponce continued traveling after the WSOP breakthrough and found his first recorded individual live tournament victory in Australia.
In October 2025, he won the Super High Roller at the Poker Palace Spring Championships in Sydney. The victory paid A$70,000, approximately $46,000 at the time.
The payout was much smaller than his WSOP Main Event score, but the result added something the Main Event run could not: a tournament championship.
Winning in Sydney also began a successful stretch for Ponce in Australia. He had already cashed in the WPT Australia Championship in 2025, finishing 25th for $11,243 according to the World Poker Tour.
His return to Australia in 2026 produced an even larger title.
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Diego Ponce Wins at the 2026 Aussie Millions
Ponce captured one of the biggest victories of his career at the 2026 Aussie Millions Poker Championship at Crown Melbourne.
He entered Event #7, a A$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament that attracted 342 entries. Ponce reached the final table with the chip lead and eventually defeated China's Weiran Pu heads-up for the championship.
The victory paid A$179,665. The Hendon Mob records the result at approximately $128,000 in U.S. dollars, while contemporary reporting rounded the payout to approximately $130,000.
Ponce entered heads-up play with a substantial chip advantage after eliminating Josh Chen in third place. The final hand came when Pu moved all in with pocket sixes and Ponce called with pocket tens. Ponce's larger pair remained ahead through the river, securing the trophy.
PokerNews described the victory as the second live tournament title of Ponce's career at the time.
The result was important for more than the payout. His WSOP Main Event performance had already demonstrated an ability to survive deep into an enormous championship field. Winning at the Aussie Millions showed that he could convert another international final-table opportunity into a title.
It also extended the strongest period of his live career into a second calendar year.
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Another Six-Figure Score at the 2026 Wynn Summer Classic
Ponce added another major result during the 2026 summer tournament season in Las Vegas.
The $3,500 No-Limit Hold'em event at the Wynn Summer Classic attracted 1,722 entries and produced a final table that included Joseph Cheong, Scott Bohlman, Jack Corrigan, Nazar Buhaiov and eventual champion Sebastian Henao.
Ponce finished seventh for $157,082.
That payout became the second-largest recorded live cash of his career, behind only the $360,000 from the 2025 WSOP Main Event and ahead of the U.S.-dollar value of his Aussie Millions victory.
The sequence of those results is significant. Ponce's breakthrough was not followed by a long gap between major scores. Within about a year of his Main Event run, he had produced three results worth approximately $128,000 or more.
For an emerging tournament professional, that repeated success across different casinos and countries provides a stronger résumé than a single isolated deep run.
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Diego Ponce's WSOP and WPT Record
Ponce has not yet won a World Series of Poker bracelet.
As of August 2026, the WSOP player database lists him with zero bracelets and zero WSOP Circuit rings. It also records multiple WSOP cashes, including his 19th-place finish in the 2025 Main Event and several cashes during the 2026 WSOP.
His 2026 WSOP results included appearances in the money in No-Limit Hold'em events such as the Millionaire Maker, Monster Stack, Freezeout and Deepstack.
The World Poker Tour also lists Ponce without a Main Tour championship. His recorded WPT Main Tour cash came in the 2025 WPT Australia Championship, where he finished 25th for $11,243.
That distinction is worth making because Ponce's association with WPT Global does not mean he has won a World Poker Tour Main Tour title. Sponsorship or ambassador relationships and official tour championship records are separate parts of a player's résumé.
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How Much Has Diego Ponce Won Playing Poker?
The Hendon Mob listed Diego Ponce with more than $844,000 in live tournament earnings as of August 2026.
That total will change whenever new results are added.
His largest recorded cash remains the $360,000 he earned for finishing 19th in the 2025 WSOP Main Event. His seventh-place finish at the 2026 Wynn Summer Classic added $157,082, while his 2026 Aussie Millions victory was worth A$179,665, approximately $128,000 in U.S. dollars in The Hendon Mob database.
Those three tournaments account for a substantial percentage of his recorded career winnings and illustrate how quickly his live résumé developed after his WSOP breakthrough.
Ponce's earnings also place him among the higher-ranked Mexican players in The Hendon Mob's national tournament database, although those rankings can change whenever players record additional cashes.
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Diego Ponce's Playing Style and Approach to Poker
There is not enough independent evidence to reduce Ponce's playing style to a simple label such as loose-aggressive or tight-aggressive.
His public discussions about poker do, however, provide insight into how he approaches the game away from the table.
Ponce has described a study process built around mathematics, modern poker theory, solver analysis and structured review. His background in industrial engineering and finance also fits naturally with subjects he has discussed publicly, including risk, variance, bankroll management and decision-making under uncertainty.
He has spoken about studying Game Theory Optimal concepts while also recognizing that live poker requires adjustments based on the specific opponent and situation.
His 2025 CREATIVO interview also emphasized the importance of mental and physical preparation for tournament poker. That matters in multi-day events such as the WSOP Main Event, where technical knowledge alone does not eliminate the demands of long sessions, changing stack depths and sustained pressure.
Rather than defining Ponce by one table image, the available evidence supports describing him as a study-oriented modern tournament player whose approach incorporates mathematics, solver-based strategy and disciplined preparation.
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Ponce's Growing Profile in Mexican Poker
Mexico has produced accomplished international professionals including Juan Carlos Alvarado and Ángel Guillén, and Ponce's results have moved him rapidly up the country's live tournament earnings list.
His position within Mexican poker is distinctive because much of his résumé has been built in a short period.
The 2025 WSOP Main Event supplied the breakthrough. His first Australian title demonstrated that the Main Event run was not his only strong result. The 2026 Aussie Millions victory gave him a recognizable international trophy, and his Wynn final table added another six-figure score against a large Las Vegas field.
Ponce has also become more visible away from tournament result pages. He has appeared in long-form interviews discussing poker strategy and his transition from corporate work to professional play, while his own online content has documented parts of his tournament schedule and WSOP experience.
That combination of results and public visibility has made him one of the more recognizable members of the newer generation of Mexican tournament professionals.
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Diego Ponce in 2026
As of August 2026, Ponce remains an active tournament player.
His 2026 schedule has included events in Canada, Australia, Mexico and Las Vegas. His most important results of the year are the Aussie Millions title and seventh place in the Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 No-Limit Hold'em event.
He also returned to the World Series of Poker and recorded multiple cashes during the 2026 series.
Ponce still has major milestones available to him. He has not won a WSOP bracelet, WSOP Circuit ring or WPT Main Tour championship, and his largest cash remains the 2025 Main Event result rather than a tournament victory.
That gives his profile a different character from a veteran player whose major achievements are already established.
Ponce's career is still developing.
What is already clear is that the 2025 Main Event was more than a single large payday. Since that breakthrough, Ponce has won tournaments internationally, produced additional six-figure results and continued competing across major live poker series.
For readers following the next generation of Mexican tournament professionals, Diego Ponce has become a player worth tracking.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Diego Ponce
Who is Diego Ponce?
Diego Ponce is a Mexican professional tournament poker player. He is best known for finishing 19th in the 2025 WSOP Main Event, winning a 2026 Aussie Millions event and reaching the final table of a major 2026 Wynn Summer Classic tournament.
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How much has Diego Ponce won playing poker?
The Hendon Mob lists Diego Ponce with more than $844,000 in live tournament earnings as of August 2026. The figure can change as he records additional tournament results.
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What is Diego Ponce's biggest poker cash?
Ponce's largest recorded live tournament cash is $360,000. He earned it for finishing 19th in the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event.
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How did Diego Ponce finish in the 2025 WSOP Main Event?
Ponce finished 19th out of 9,735 entries in the 2025 WSOP Main Event and earned $360,000. His final hand ended when his pocket jacks ran into Leo Margets' pocket queens.
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Has Diego Ponce won a WSOP bracelet?
No. The World Series of Poker lists Diego Ponce with zero WSOP bracelets as of August 2026.
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Does Diego Ponce have a WSOP Circuit ring?
No. The WSOP lists Ponce with zero Circuit rings as of August 2026.
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What tournaments has Diego Ponce won?
Ponce's recorded individual live titles include the Super High Roller at the 2025 Poker Palace Spring Championships in Sydney and Event #7, the A$2,500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament, at the 2026 Aussie Millions.
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Did Diego Ponce win an Aussie Millions title?
Yes. Ponce won Event #7 at the 2026 Aussie Millions after defeating a field of 342 entries. He earned A$179,665 after defeating Weiran Pu heads-up.
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Has Diego Ponce won a World Poker Tour title?
No. The World Poker Tour lists Ponce with zero WPT Main Tour victories as of August 2026. His recorded Main Tour cash is 25th place in the 2025 WPT Australia Championship for $11,243.
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Is Diego Ponce a WPT Global ambassador?
PokerNews identified Diego Ponce as a WPT Global ambassador during the 2026 Aussie Millions. Sponsorship and ambassador relationships can change, so that status should be reverified when this profile is updated in the future.
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Where is Diego Ponce from?
Ponce is Mexican. The Hendon Mob lists Mexico City, Mexico, as his residence.
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Is Diego Ponce still playing poker?
Yes. Ponce remained active throughout 2026, including appearances at the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker and Wynn Summer Classic.