Jesse Lonis Lives in Beast Mode
He came from nothing and is determined to not give anything back that he's earned.
Jesse Lonis is a beast – on the felt, metaphorically and digitally. In short order, the New Yorker built himself into the number one ranked tournament player in the world, earning $21 million and growing into a feared presence in high rollers. Lonis said it best himself in a tweet, “I don’t cash tourneys anymore, I either win or bubble.”
He’s adopted a gorilla as his avatar, and he’s been putting in work so far in 2025. Before the 2025 World Series of Poker, Lonis terrorized the Triton Super High Roller Series in Montenegro. He won two events, took fourth twice and pocketed $4.8 million.
“I felt especially locked in during Montenegro,” Lonis said. “There was something about that place – it was beautiful and everything felt right. I played my best poker and made all the right reads.”
His results this summer are a big misleading. He’s cashed for $923,212; he won two more high roller events and added seven more WSOP cashes to his record. But when one plays the biggest events in the world, the swings are substantial.
“It may seem like I’m up this summer, but I’ve bricked a lot of the bigger buy-ins – the $250k, the $100k PLO and the $100k No Limit, so I’m down a little bit,” Lonis said. “Even though I ran bad in the big stuff, I got most of it back and recovered in the smaller stuff.”
While Lonis lives a jet-set lifestyle now, he grew up much differently. “I think we're all products of our environment,” Lonis said. “Having that adversity I had my whole life helps now because I care about it more.”
“I’ve done a lot of winning. I still want to keep winning and winning because I know how it feels to be broke,” he said. “I don’t want to go back.”
Lonis’ motivation to not go broke comes in the form of his three young daughters. “Being a father creates discipline,” he said. “Off the table, I can’t have any leaks. I’m always thinking about them. Every day I come in with my mind sharp, knowing that I have to get it done for them.”
Lonis knows his style leads to an all-or-nothing result, but it’s a measured risk. “With my style, if I make it deep, I’m going to have a lot of chips.”
“While it's been some rough sailing, I liked my spots in the high rollers, still feel sharp and the summer isn’t over yet,” said Lonis.
He added, “You know, I can't complain after making $5 million a week before WSOP started.”
Photos courtesy of PokerOrg.