Jesse Lonis Wins U.S. Poker Open Event With Straight Flush

Jesse Lonis is one of just eight players to have made nine or more final tables in Card Player Player of the Year qualified events. The two-time bracelet winner from Little Falls, New York has accrued more than $1.4 million in POY earnings so far in 2024, accumulating 3,339 points along the way. As a result, he has climbed into second place in the 2024 POY race standings presented by Global Poker, and is trailing current leader Punnat Punsri by just 70 points.

The latest feather in Lonis’ cap was an outright victory in event no. 2 of the 2024 U.S. Poker Open. He overcame a field of 99 entries in the $10,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em affair, scoring every knockout on the final day to earn $252,450 and his third PokerGO Tour title. The two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner now has nearly $8.6 million in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

Lonis closed the event in style, taking down the final hand with a jack-high straight flush. Check out a replay of the exciting conclusion below:

Another one. https://t.co/AWaQ8JQkyh

— Jesse Lonis (@JesseLonis) April 10, 2024

This victory saw Lonis take the lead in the USPO series-long points race with 252 PGT points. That brings his season-long total to 486, which is good for 11th on the tour’s leaderboard.

The top 15 finishers earned a share of the $990,000 prize pool in this event, with seven bagging up by the end of day 1. Lonis came into day 2 inside the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas with the chip lead. He was surpassed in the early going by Kristina Holst, but was able to keep within striking distance thanks to his K-J outracing the pocket fours of Sean Winter. Lonis flopped a straight and held from there to send Winter packing in seventh place ($39,600).

Lonis’ A-Q suited held against the A-3 suited of Victoria Livschitz (6th – $49,500) to see him edge back into the lead. He then bested A-5 with Q-J to end Joey Weissman’s run in this event in fifth place ($64,350).

Rodger Johnson got all-in for his last five big blind with pocket deuces. The small pair was counterfeited when two higher pair appeared on board by the turn, giving the knockout to Lonis’ queen high. Johnson earned $89,100 as the fourth-place finisher.

Holst was the next to fall. She moved all-in over a bet from Lonis on a K723 board holding K6 for top pair and a flush draw. Lonis called with K10 for the same pair with a higher kicker and the 9 river eliminated Holst in third place. She earned $113,850 for her strong showing in this event, the second-largest score on her tournament resume.

Lonis took more than a 3.5:1 chip lead into heads-up play against fellow bracelet winner Aram Zobian. In the final hand, Lonis limped in for 100,000 total with 97. Zobian checked with Q10 and the flop came down J87. Zobian check-raised Lonis 125,000 stab to 475,000. Lonis re-raised to 1,100,000 and Zobian called. The 10 prompted Zobian to shove for 2.4 million and Lonis, who had turned a straight flush, snap called to end the tournament. Zobian earned $163,350 as the runner-up. The 2018 WSOP main event sixth-place finisher now has more than $6 million in lifetime cashes.

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

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.

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