This Poker Pro Has Been the World's Best Tournament Player in 2025
When you think of players who have dominated the tournament circuit in 2025, several names come to mind.
Seth Davies has over $12 million in live poker tournament cashes this year. Michael Mizrachi won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event and the Poker Players Championship this summer. But one player has dominated more than anyone else, and it isn't either of the two aforementioned poker legends.
The player we're referring to has been a consistent crusher at the highest level the past few years, not just in 2025. Many of his peers consider him one of the most feared players in the game. Calling him the best tournament player in the world is far from an outrageous statement, especially considering he isn't just a one-year wonder. But his best year has been this year, and it's just so happened to be a better year than anyone else at live tournament poker.
The Best Poker Tournament Performer in 2025
So, who exactly are we talking about? Upstate New York's very own, Jesse Lonis, a 30-year-old superstar who began his rise to prominence in 2021 and hasn't since shown any signs of slowing down. He has over $12.7 million in cashes this year, according to The Hendon Mob, most in the world.
Not even Mizrachi, who won $10 million in the Main Event, can match his 2025 earnings. Davies, who is also having a career year, is a close second on The Hendon Mob's 2025 money list with $12.3 million in cashes. But he's cashed in far fewer events than Lonis since January, and 93% of his earnings in 2025 have come in just four events.
Lonis, on the other hand, can only attribute 57% of his earnings this year to his top four scores. He's been the most consistent high roller throughout the year, and he's won in various tournaments all around the world, including the WSOP, PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT), Triton Poker, and the PGT in Las Vegas.
Lonis has already racked up 48 live tournament cashes this year with over a month remaining. He's won nine tournaments in 2025, in five different venues. His consistent performance from January until present shouldn't come as a suprise to anyone who has followed his meteoric rise the past five years. He's been on an upward trajectory every year of his career, beginning in 2018 when he recorded just $3,089 in live tournament cashes.
Every year since, he's increased his previous year's earnings, going from four-figure cashes in 2018 to five-figures in 2019, and then six-figures in 2021 before reaching seven-figure earnings or better every year since.
Lonis, Mizrachi, and Davies aren't the only big-time performers in 2025. Some of the usual suspects such as Alex Foxen, Stephen Chidwick, and Isaac Haxton have over $10 million in cashes, and longtime greats like PokerStars ambassador Jason Koon and Christoph Vogelsang are knocking on the door of the eight-figure mark.
There are dozens of tournament grinders having exceptional years, but none more impressive than Lonis.
