Jesse Lonis Goes Full Gorilla to Take Down Event #1: $5,100 Pot-Limit Omaha

Jesse Lonis came into the final table of the first event of the 2025 PGT PLO Series II second in chips, but after going full gorilla mode, closed out Event #1: $5,100 Pot-Limit Omaha in just over an hour to claim the first-place prize of $175,000 plus 175 PGT points. 

Despite the quick finish, the day couldn't have started any worse for Lonis as his early aggression handed Artem Maksimov and Josh Arieh early doubles. Combine that with an earlier double from short-stack Isaac Haxton, and it looked like a long day was in store here inside the PokerGO Studio, but Lonis had other plans. 

With the doubles all around him, Anthony Hu was left on the short stack and got the last of his chips into the middle with single-suited pocket jacks from the big blind, only to run square into the single-suited pocket aces on Haxton on the button. An ace on the flop sealed Hu's fate, and he was out the door in sixth place for $36,500 and 37 PGT points. 

Haxton now looked in prime position to eat into the chip lead of Lonis, but the tables quickly turned in Lonis's favor. In a three-bet pot pre-flop with nearly 3,000,000 chips already in the middle on a board of , Haxton moved all in for his last million in chips and was snap called by Lonis with a covering stack. 

Haxton tabled the nut flush draw but was well behind Lonis's flopped set of threes, and when the final three in the deck hit the felt on the turn, Haxton was out the door in fifth place for $43,800 plus 44 PGT points. Meanwhile, the roller coaster of a first level for Lonis was just about to take off. 

A few hands later, Maksimov found himself all in for the big blind on a flop of for approximately a million chips with just a pair of sevens, only for Lonis to table six-four for a straight, leaving Maksimov looking for runner-runner to stay alive. The turn fell a blank, Maksimov was out the door in fourth place for $58,400 plus 58 PGT points, and Lonis ended the first level with over fifty percent of the chips in play. 

With his massive chip lead, Lonis picked up the aggression again as Rheem and Arieh tried to put up a fight, but the deck would continue to smash Lonis in key spots. Arieh was the first to take a stand and got all two million of his chips into the middle with on a flop of , which was the equity favorite against Lonis's . 

However, when the turn landed, the king of diamonds Lonis made two pair, leaving Arieh looking for a straight or flush on the river, which failed to materialize, leaving Arieh to collect his belongings and head to the payout cage in third place for $76,700 plus 77 PGT points.   

From there, Lonis then made a hero call on the river with pocket aces correctly to leave Rheem with just over 20 big blinds, setting the stage for the tournament's final hand. 

On the final hand, Rheem potted to 450,000 from the button and Lonis called. The flop fell , Lonis checked, and Rheem continued for 300,000. Lonis check-raised to 775,000, and Rheem called to see the hit the felt on the turn. Lonis potted and Rheem called all in for just over two million tabling for the jack-high flush. 

Lonis tabled for the nut-flush, and Rheem hit the payout window in second place for $106,000 plus 106 PGT points before the river completed the board.

Event #1: $5,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Final Table Payouts

Lonis Moves Into Top Ten on 2025 Season Leaderboard

In addition to taking the lead for the PGT Passport and player of the series with the win, the 175 PGT Points also propelled Lonis into the top ten on the 2025 Season Leaderboard as he now tops 1,500 points on the year to become the ninth player to cross that threshold in 2025. 

Lonis is now 15 points shy of Andrew Lichtenberger for 8th place on the leaderboard and 141 points ahead of John Wasnock, who sits in tenth place with 1,360. Rheem remains in 5th place on the season leader board after adding 106 PGT points to his season total and now sits at 1,849, with the top four remaining unchanged, with Alex Foxen picking up 18 points in Event #1 to extend his lead at the top.

Haxton picked up 44 points to eclipse the 1,000-point mark on the season and moved from just inside the top 40 to 31st place, sitting 31 points behind Shaun Deeb for 30th place. 

2025 PGT Season Leaderboard - Top Ten 

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