It has been a meteoric rise for Jesse Lonis in the poker world over the last two years. The American pro has racked up numerous accolades on his poker resume, and now can add a Triton Super High Roller Poker Series title to the list, taking down the $50,000 seven-max event at Sporting Monte-Carlo.
“I never gave up, which was good. I didn’t quit, or just get it all in. I just kept doing my normal thing, stabbing and it worked out. Obviously you never know when you’re going to win, so I just came in and played my best,” said Lonis to reporters.
Along with the trophy, he pocketed $1,502,000 in prize money to take his total tournament earnings up to $13.7 million. Although his biggest score remains the $2.3 million he pocketed for one of his two bracelet wins at the WSOP, Lonis has managed 12 other cashes of a quarter of a million dollars or more, all of which have come in the last two years.
The event drew a field of 125 entries to set the total prize pool at $6.25 million. The top 20 players all cashed for at least $81,000, and top names that made a deep run to cash in the event included Alex Kulev (eighth), Pieter Aerts (ninth), Wiktor Malinowski (11th), Dimitar Danchev (12th), Orpen Kisacikoglu (13th), Stephen Chidwick (14th), Michael Soyza (17th), David Yan (18th), and Jonathan Jaffe (20th). Pieter Aerts, fresh off a $2.2 million side event win three days earlier, finished ninth for another $150,000.
28 players came back for the final day, with Punnat Punsri in the chip lead. He also held the lead when the final table began, but Lonis was right on his heels after a strong comeback from the short stack.
Mario Mosbock fell at the hands of Punsri in sixth place, and he remained busy by busting Daniel Rezaei in fifth place.
The hot streak continued when Punsri took out Leonard Maue in fourth place, but Lonis then scored a timely double up to sustain his tournament run. Punsri was on fire and couldn’t be stopped when he took out one of the top high-stakes professionals in poker by sending Dan Smith home in third place. Smith added $650,000 to his career totals, which now sit at $56.4 million. That’s good for sixth on the all-time money list.
The heads-up final had the stacks at 3:1 for Punsri over Lonis before cards got into the air, but Lonis scored a double up over the player from Thailand to gain the advantage.
The stacks were nearly even the next time the final two players got all of their chips into the middle. Lonis held A-9, and he had the A-3 of Punsri covered and dominated preflop. The board changed nothing, and Punsri earned just north of a million to take his total tournament winnings up to almost $18 million.
Punsri picked up 935 POY points for the runner-up finish, which vaulted him into fifth place in the 2024 standings heading down the homestretch with 17 final tables and nearly $5 million in earnings. In addition to several other high-stakes final tables, he also won the $50,000 event at Triton Jeju last March for $2 million.
Lonis, however, banked 1,122 POY points. The New York native now has 8,402 for the year, which is good for second place. He only trails Spanish poker star Adrian Mateos, but will need a big score or two in the final months of the year to overtake him.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY |
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | $1,502,000 | 1,122 |
| 2 | Punnat Punsri | $1,021,000 | 935 |
| 3 | Dan Smith | $675,000 | 748 |
| 4 | Leonard Maue | $556,000 | 561 |
| 5 | Daniel Rezaei | $446,000 | 468 |
| 6 | Mario Mosbock | $350,000 | 374 |
| 7 | Anson Ewe | $262,000 | 281 |
The Triton Super High Roller Poker Series in Monte Carlo is hitting the mid-way point with tournaments running from Nov. 1-14 on the shores of the Mediterranean. Stay tuned to Card Player for recaps throughout this marquee tournament series featuring the best poker players in the world.
Photo Credit: Triton Super High Roller Poker Series