There are a few key reasons why Jesse Lonis is currently the number two ranked poker player on the Global Poker Index.
Lonis has a seemingly insatiable appetite for action, maintaining one of the busiest schedules of any live tournament poker player for large chunks of the last three years. Since 2021, Lonis' live results have leveled up — from $864,486 in 2021, to his first $1 million year in 2022, to over $4.3 million in 2023 and then topping $7.5 million in 2024.
Some players get punched in the face, metaphorically speaking, when they increase their buy-in levels and quality of opponents. But Lonis also has a well-earned confidence that's made him a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, including a $2.3 million victory in the 2023 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha High Roller.
Four cards... and more spots to bluff
Lonis has had plenty of success in major no-limit hold'em events, but PLO has become his game of choice — and not just because he’s had success with it.
"I think it used to be no-limit as my [favorite game]," said Lonis. "The more and more I played PLO, I think I'm venturing into being more of a PLO player. I think it just fits my game way better; I think aggression pays off a lot more.
"And I don't know, there's just something about four cards and there being more spots to bluff and stuff. I still love no-limit, but I get bored. It gets boring after playing thousands and thousands of hands. So it's just good to have PLO to switch it up."
That affinity for PLO was once again on display in recent weeks during PokerGO's PLO Series, for which Lonis earned Player of the Series honors. Over five cashes, four final tables and one title, Lonis banked $799,140 in cashes, plus a $10,000 PGT Passport to push him over $800K in prizes.
$500,000 side bet
But the talk of the poker world was the extraordinary $500K in additional money Lonis won in a side bet against players like Daniel Negreanu and Alex Foxen. Negreanu spoke about the bet publicly on his podcast, 'Mania,' and several participants were revealed along the way.
"I think Sean Winter started it originally, and then they've been doing it randomly [for other PGT series], but we'd always get five or six of us," said Lonis. "This time, more and more people just kept wanting to do it and by the time we finished, we had 10.
"These guys all have a lot of money, so they want to gamble bigger than $10K or $15K, and they want extra incentive to come every day and show up. And it's great for the series itself because it has people firing more than they normally would."
The terms of the bet were simple. In all, 10 players put up an additional $50,000 that could be claimed if one of those 10 players claimed Player of the Series honors outright.
One might argue that when you're talking about a select group of players within that pool of participants in the PokerGO Studio, such a bet might be thin value — if there's any at all. But Lonis, along with the other participants, isn't the type to put down action when he thinks he's an underdog. Negreanu said that he thought he had an edge because of the re-entries. Lonis also thought he was +EV.
"I still think I have a pretty good advantage over a lot of the guys in the bet," said Lonis. "Obviously, everyone's great and anyone could win it, but I'm putting up $50K thinking that I'm profitable in this bet and that hopefully I can win it more often than lose. I mean, all those guys are great, and there's no ego between us. It's just extra motivation."
Late sweat ends well for Lonis
Lonis battled down to the bitter end of the final day of the PGT PLO series, posting a third-place finish in the $25,200 Championship Event. But as he walked out the door to the studio, Foxen was making one last push for Player of the Series. An outright win in the final $5,100 one-day turbo event would've been worth just enough PGT points to put him over the top.
Foxen ultimately finished second, allowing Lonis both relief and joy in a victory that put him at over $1.3 million in cash and prizes over the course of less than two weeks.
"It was out of my hands," said Lonis. "I just had to hope he didn't win the tournament. I kept getting updates that more people were busting, and before I knew it, it was three-handed. And then it was heads up, and I'm getting texts like, 'He's got chips,' so I'm sitting there just praying that he gets coolered or something.
"It was a sweat for sure, until I got the text that he busted in second. Then I was very, very happy."
Images courtesy of Antonio Abrego/PokerGO.
