Jesse Lonis Wins PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas High Roller at Resorts World

Jesse Lonis is having his best year ever on the live tournament circuit in 2023. The poker pro from Little Falls, New York’s latest conquest saw him emerge victorious in the $10,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em super high roller event at the PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas at Resorts World. Lonis bested a field of 59 entries in the high-stakes affair, earning $174,550 for the win.

This was his fourth live tournament title of the year, with 11 final-table finishes and more than $4.1 million in scores across 55 cashes in 2023.

This most recent title run saw Lonis secure his seventh-largest tournament payday ever. Five of his top seven scores have been earned this, including his top three biggest cashes. That trio is headlined by the $2.3 million he earned as the winner of the World Series of Poker $50,000 pot-limit Omaha event, which also saw him land his second career bracelet.

Earlier in the year, Lonis took down a $10,200 buy-in event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $367,400, which is the second-highest figure on his resume.

“It feels like the Triple Crown,” Lonis said to PokerNews’ bloggers after coming out on top. "I got the one in the Bahamas, the WSOP, and now this one. So it’s nice. It feels good, obviously. I feel like I’m playing good and everything’s aligning pretty nice, and running good too. So it feels good to win this one.”

Lonis earned 300 Card Player Player of the Year points for his most recent win, bringing his total for the year to 4,447. As a result, he has surged up the standings and into 22nd place on the 2023 POY leaderboard presented by Global Poker.

This tournament played out over three days inside the Resorts World Las Vegas, which officially opened nearly two-and-a-half years ago. The strong turnout resulted in a prize pool of $572,300 that was split up among the top eight finishers. Two-time bracelet winner Shannon Shorr (8th – $22,890) and John Morgan (7th – $28,615) had hit the rail late on day 2, leaving just six contenders for the start of day 3.

The final showdown on the Las Vegas Strip began with David Stamm in the lead and Lonis in fourth chip position. Lonis busted three-time bracelet winner Jim Collopy in sixth place ($37,200) to add to his stack early. Two-time bracelet winner Sam Soverel (5th – $48,645) soon followed, with his A-7 suited bested by the K-Q of Richard Green.

Despite earning that knockout, Green was ultimately the next to fall. He lost a preflop race with A-Q against the pocket tens of David Stamm, and then ran pocket fours into the pocket tens of Sergio Aido. He ended up getting the last of his stack in with Q-10 against A-J suited for Aido. Both players flopped a pair, but Aiso’s aces remained best by the river and Green was eliminated in fourth place ($62,955).

Aido’s last 24 big blinds went in on a three-bet shove from the small blind. Stamm, who had raised from the button, called with A-K to have Aido’s K-10 dominated. Neither player improved and Aido was sent home with $82,985 for his third-place showing.

With that, Stamm took 2,100,000 into heads-up play with Lonis, who had 800,000. Lonis was able to edge his way into the lead and then pull away in time for the final hand of the event. Stamm raised on the button with 55 and Lonis three-bet shoved from the big blind holding K10. Stamm called and the board came down 886310 and Lonis rivered tens up to secure the pot and the title. Stamm was awarded $114,460 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Joe Giron / Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd.

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