Jesse Lonis cannot be stopped this spring.
The 29-year-old American poker pro has cashed for more than $7.3 million across 14 in-the-money finishes since the start of March, including a dozen final-table finishes and five titles. The two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner from Little Falls, New York has been particularly hot on an extended European trip this May, which has yielded more than $6.3 million in cashes alone.
The latest and largest triumph saw Lonis defeat a field of 180 entries in the 2025 Triton Poker Montenegro $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em main event to capture his third Triton title and a career-high score of $3,446,298. The massive payday increased his lifetime earnings to more than $22.1 million.
"It's emotional, I'm trying to hold the tears back," Lonis told Triton staff after closing out the momentous victory. "I wanted to come out here and perform. I'm away from my family for a long time and I told them I was going to make it worthwhile."
This was Lonis' second title of the series, having also won the $40,000 mystery bounty event for $619,000 and $800,000 in bounty payouts. Lonis has cashed in five of the ten completed events so far at the prestigious high-stakes festival, with those scores accounting for $5.6 million of his $8.4 million in total Triton earnings.
Prior to his huge run in Montenegro, Lonis made three final tables and won one title at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo series. Before that, he took down two titles and made five more final tables in events around Las Vegas in March and April. With two previous final-table showings under his belt ahead of his extended spring spree, bringing his final table total to 14 on the year, Lonis is the clear leader in the 2025 Card Player Player of the Year race presented by Coin Poker.
The Triton Montenegro main event paid out $18 million in prize money thanks to the massive turnout to the Maestral Resort & Casino. The top 31 finishers all earned a share, with big names like Aleksejs Ponakovs (19th), Espen Jorstad (12th), Leon Sturm (11th), and Alex Foxen (10th) running deep but falling just short of the final table.
Lonis was out in front when the last nine converged onto a single felt, with two-time POY award winner Stephen Chidwick hot on his heels and defending champion of the Triton Montenegro main event Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, towards the top of the middle of the pack.
Final table set for Event #10 $100K NLH Main Event at Triton Poker SHRS Montenegro 2025.
Nine players return for one of the most prestigious titles of the series. @JesseLonis, Stephen Chidwick, Kiat Lee, Mikalai Vaskaboinikau, Santhosh Suvarna, Ramin Hajiyev, Christoph… pic.twitter.com/Gi22Pls94U
— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) May 23, 2025
Two-time bracelet winner Artur Martirosian (9th - $389,000) was the first to fall, with his pocket kings cracked by the A-K of Vaskaboinikau. Four-time Triton champion Fedor Holz (8th - $470,000) soon followed, with the German's A-9 being rundown by a surging Vaskaboinikau, who rivered a pair of sevens with 9-7 to snag Holz's last few big blinds.
Santhosh Suvarna, a two-time bracelet winner with one title on the Triton circuit, was sent to the rail in seventh place when his A-8 suited was unable to hold up against the K-9 suited of Lonis, who flopped a nine and held from there. Suvarna walked away with $643,000 for his efforts.
Chidwick grew his career earnings to $66.6 million thanks to the $879,000 he locked up as the sixth-place finisher. The UK tournament superstar's pocket queens were outflopped by the pocket deuces of Vaskaboinikau, who spiked a set before getting the money in. Chidwick was unable to regain the lead from there and headed to the payout desk to collect his latest massive score.
Ramin Hajiyev, a two-time Triton champion, was the next to collide with the Vaskaboinikau buzzsaw. Hajiyev's last chips went in with pocket nines leading A-5. The board double paired by the river, with Vaskaboinikau making fives full on the end to eliminate Hajiyev in fifth place ($1,159,000).
Super High Roller Bowl winner Christoph Vogelsang earned his 11th seven-figure score as the fourth-place finisher. The German ran K♣Q♦ into the A♦K♥ of two-time Triton champion Kiat Lee. The better hand won and Vogelsang was sent packing with $1,463,000.
Despite scoring that knockout, Lee was the next to hit the rail. The recent $30,000 turbo event winner battled it out with Lonis and Vaskaboinikau for a while before falling in third. His A♦7♥ was bested by the 10♥8♥ of Lonis, which improved to a pair of eights to drag the pot and eliminate Lee (3rd - $1,807,000). This was the largest score yet for the Malaysian high roller.
Lonis held more than a 4.5:1 chip lead over Vaskaboinikau when heads-up play began. The last two discussed a deal before opting to play on. A double for the short stack led to another round of negotiations, which this time resulted in a deal that locked up $3,321,298 for Lonis and $2,927,702 for the reigning champion looking to go back-to-back. The title and $125,000 in prize money were set aside to play for.
The final hand of the tournament arrived on the first deal after the two shook on their agreement. The chips went in with K♦10♣ for Lonis and Q♣J♣ for Vaskaboinikau. The board came down 8♦7♦6♠2♣9♠ and Lonis' king high was enough to earn him the title. Vaskaboinikau walked away with more than $2.9 million after a valiant run at a title defense after taking down the $125,000 main event at this stop in 2024 for more than $4.7 million.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Payout | POY Points |
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | $3,446,298 | 1,680 |
| 2 | Mikalai Vaskaboinikau | $2,927,702 | 1,400 |
| 3 | Kiat Lee | $1,807,000 | 1,120 |
| 4 | Christoph Vogelsang | $1,463,000 | 840 |
| 5 | Ramin Hajiyev | $1,159,000 | 700 |
| 6 | Stephen Chidwick | $879,000 | 560 |
| 7 | Santhosh Suvarna | $643,000 | 420 |
| 8 | Fedor Holz | $470,000 | 280 |
| 9 | Artur Martirosian | $389,000 | 140 |
Photo credit: Triton Poker.
