Jesse Lonis Captures Gold Ring with Wife By His Side
PokerNews is in town to live report both the $3,250 High Roller and $1,700 Main Event here at the World Series of Poker Circuit Thunder Valley, but that is just one of the gold ring events that will have played out by the end of the series.
In Event #2: $400 NLH Knockout One-Day, 195 runners created a $44,850 prize pool that was paid out to the top 30 players. Among those to get a piece of it were Ken Jorgensen (21st - $475), Alon Eldar (20th - $475), Arish Nat (12th - $744), Tyler Koher (8th - $1,134), Rian Mullins (5th - $2,577), and Kelly Giannetti (3rd - $4,805).
In the end, 24-year-old Jesse Lonis of Little Falls, New York beat Patrick Testoni in heads-up play to win the title, $11,062 first-place prize, and his first gold ring.
“I have come close to winning a few times, but this is my first straight up victory, so it was nice to finally get the victory and a ring,” he said after the victory with his wife nearby. “The other players were great, but I started to feel very confident once we got down to four-handed because of my big chip lead that made able to put a lot of pressure on.”
Lonis, who plays poker for a living, added: “I am just doing the tournament grind and it is tough to win, but when you seal them it’s nice.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Hometown | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | Medford, Oregon | $11,062 |
| 2 | Patrick Testoni | Santa Cruz, California | $6,835 |
| 3 | Kelly Giannetti | Davis, California | $4,805 |
| 4 | James Mendoza | Glendale, California | $3,448 |
| 5 | Rian Mullins | Evanston, Illinois | $2,577 |
| 6 | Soutong Saeturn | N/A | $1,892 |
| 7 | Benson Xu | N/A | $1,448 |
| 8 | Tyler Koher | N/A | $1,134 |
| 9 | Haixia Zhang | Los Gatos, California | $908 |