In what turned out to be a series of runs, it became the last run that was the best. Powering his way to the championship of the penultimate $15,000 tournament, Jesse Lonis capped an outstanding run at the PokerGO Tour Studios in Las Vegas with a deep run in the $25,000 Main Event. Along with the victory in Event #9 of the 2025 PokerGO Tour PLO Series, which earned him his fourth cash of the series, his third-place finish in the Main pushed him to the top of the standings to take the overall championship of the 2025 PGT PLO Series.
Lonis Starts Move at Midpoint
At the halfway mark of the series, Lonis was among those with a shot at the crown, but he was looking up at several strong players above him on the Top Ten. On one of the hottest runs of his career, David ‘Chino’ Rheem was atop the leaderboard, with James Chen and Daniel Negreanu right behind him. From the halfway point of the 2025 PGT PLO Series onward, Lonis took off like a rocket.
Once the dollar value of the tournaments increased to $15,000, it seems that Lonis got serious. He was the runner-up to Alex Foxen in Event #7, a $15,000 PLO tournament that drew in 70 entrants, before Lonis broke through. He would win the final $15,000 PLO tournament of the series, taking down $308,850 and 247 all-important series points, to prime himself for the Main Event.
In the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship of the 2025 PGT PLO Series, Lonis was the only player who looked to have a chance to knock off Foxen from the top of the ladder. He would enter Day Two of the PLO Championship in second place of the sixty (60) entries and eventually made the final table.
Once Lonis took the third-place slot in the PLO Championship, the 126 points earned pushed him past Foxen and into the overall championship. Things were not over yet, however, as Foxen made a final push in the one-day Event 11, a $5000 PLO Bounty event, which closed out the 2025 PGT PLO Series. If Foxen had won that tournament, he would have bypassed Lonis for the crown. Alas, Foxen would fall short as the runner-up to Zachary Schwartz in that event.
Here are the final standings for the 2025 PGT PLO Series:
1. Jesse Lonis, 662 points
2. Alex Foxen, 633
3. David ‘Chino’ Rheem, 506
4. Bryce Yockey, 437
5. Tyler Brown, 407
6. Daniel Negreanu, 397
7. Jim Collopy, 356
8. Dylan Weisman, 324
9. Lautaro Guerra, 314
10. Dylan Smith, 305
The $25,000 PLO Championship was a boon to Collopy’s spot on the final leaderboard. As the champion by defeating Weisman, Collopy received the $450,367 first-place prize and the Event #9 trophy.
2025 U. S. Poker Open Preps for Battle
There is no rest for the wicked, the old saying goes, so the pros on the PGT must be pretty bad! Just as the 2025 PGT PLO Series concludes, the 2025 PGT U. S. Poker Open unofficially starts with satellites for the series at the ARIA Poker Room in Las Vegas. The official start of the 2025 PGT USPO will be Tuesday, when a $5000 No Limit Hold’em tournament is dealt. That will be the first of an eight-tournament series concluding on April 16 with a $25,000 Main Event.
The USPO was created in 2018 by PokerGO to (let’s be honest) generate programming for their then-fledgling streaming outlet. Since then, however, it has become a staple event on the tournament circuit, replete with notable names who have captured the title. Although it was not contested in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, David Peters was a “back-to-back” champion by winning in 2019 and 2021. Stephen Chidwick took the inaugural championship, while Sean Winter (2022) and Martin Zamani (defending champion) also won the overall championship.
After the success of the 2025 PGT PLO Series, it will be tough for the guys (and girls) to get back to only playing with two hole cards! Action starts on PokerGO on Tuesday, where all the festivities will be shown live.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)
The post Jesse Lonis Powers to Overall Victory at 2025 PGT PLO Series appeared first on Poker News Daily.
About The Author
