Jesse Lonis is not unfamiliar with perspiration and labor. Before becoming a professional poker player, the 27-year-old worked as a construction worker in New York City. Lonis might assist with pouring concrete for a foundation one day, and then frame or do inside work the next.
In the recent World Series of Poker Online at WSOP.com, Lonis amassed a substantial amount of chips. He won nine cashes and a WSOP bracelet for the first time. Lonis has had a remarkable year, and the former construction worker may have even greater things in store.
“Online used to be my weak point in poker,” he says. “Over the last year I really put in a lot of work and it paid off this series.”
Lonis, who now resides in Las Vegas, recently chatted with USPoker about his impressive online poker run and unusual poker career.
Rapidly traversing the WSOP Online
Lonis has won $1.7 million in live tournaments at the tables. He won his first bracelet at the latest WSOP Online by winning a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max for $73,371.
Despite the triumph, the celebratory celebration was rather restrained. He engaged in online combat while resting at home with his dog.
“My friend was watching at his house, so he called me when I won,” he says. “My fiancée was sleeping and we have a 1-year-old daughter, so I didn’t want to wake her up.”
Lonis was ecstatic to get his first WSOP gold bracelet despite the lack of a grand party. A day later, he won the $500 Tuesday Showdown on WSOP.com.
A bracelet victory nearly occurred earlier in the year. This summer at the WSOP in Las Vegas, he finished second in a $1,000 Super Turbo for $117,872. In 2021, Lonis also placed second in the $1,000 COVID-19 relief charity event, earning an additional $30,086.
Then, only three weeks after his victory, he placed second in a WSOP Online tournament. He placed second in the $500 Big 500 event, earning $44,275.
In order to enter the winner’s circle, Lonis’s efforts paid off. Numerous near-misses notwithstanding, adroit play undoubtedly contributed to the victory.
“I was playing really aggressively,” he says. “I remember a few weak four-bets that got through that really changed the momentum for me.”
From building site to poker table
Poker has been a part of Lonis’s life since childhood. His grandpa and uncle instructed him in the game. He even had some knowledge of internet poker at a young age.
“Some of my earliest memories are when I was about 10 or 11 years old and my grandmother would play on Full Tilt,” he says, “and I would take over for her on bathroom breaks.”
Later, when residing in the Bronx, the daily grind of construction helped reignite a passion for gambling and bluffing.
“I would go to the bar with a bunch of Irish guys,” he says. “One night one guy asked me if I wanted to go to a poker game with his friends. I ended up playing that game for a few months every weekend and would make more in that one night of playing then I would all week working like an animal. I knew I had to start using my brains over brawn.”
Beyond the poker life
Lonis also has victories and deep runs in the PokerGO Tour, Venetian DeepStack series, Wynn Summer Classic, and a number of other tournament series.
Lonis earned one of his career’s greatest totals in the previous year. In the $3,500 Seminole Hard Rock Lucky Hearts Poker Open on the World Poker Tour, he placed fifth and won $223,895.
Clearly, his online poker game has improved as a result of his efforts to improve it. “I get thrilled either way,” he adds, adding that he doesn’t have a set online schedule. I adore the game so much!”
Lonis takes pleasure in giving a unique viewpoint and approach to the game at a time when most players are focused on solvers, GTO, and other sophisticated training aids.
“There aren’t many players like me left,” he says. “I’m very old school for such a young guy. I’ve never studied in my life, just always been a feel player and learned by putting in the volume. It’s very rare nowadays. I think it separates me from the masses.”
Lonis is looking beyond the poker table now that he has accumulated substantial earnings and is about to become a parent. He hopes to invest a portion of his riches on a secure family life and other financial endeavors.
“I’m interested in breaking off into the business world,” he says. “Growing up poor always made me want to have it all. That’s just the mindset I have, and I want my daughter to never have to worry like I did.”
Source: www.uspoker.com
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