It took three hours, but Jesse Lonis won his latest poker trophy and some extra savings for his two young daughters after defeating David Stamm in the $10,300 Super High Roller as part of the 2023 PokerStars North American Poker Tour Las Vegas at Resorts World. Lonis came out on top of the lengthy heads-up battle to win $174,550, just one of several six-figure scores this year for the young poker star.
The Super High Roller event, which kicked off the return of the NAPT after a 12-year hiatus, drew 59 players for a prize pool of $572,300. Shannon Shorr (8th – $22,890) and John Morgan (7th – $28,615) fell on Day 2 before six players returned on Day 3, including high stakes regular Sam Soverel (4th – $48,645) and Spanish crusher Sergio Aido (3rd – $82,985).
$10,300 NAPT Super High Roller Final Table Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (IN USD) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jesse Lonis | United States | $174,550 | |
| 2 | David Stamm | United States | $114,460 | |
| 3 | Sergio Aido | Spain | $82,985 | |
| 4 | Richard Green | United States | $62,955 | |
| 5 | Sam Soverel | United States | $48,645 | |
| 6 | Jim Collopy | United States | $37,200 | |
| 7 | John Morgan | United States | $28,615 | |
| 8 | Shannon Shorr | United States | $22,890 |
The New York native’s latest victory comes at the tail end of a year that kicked off with a win at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) for $367,400 and included a bracelet win at the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in $50,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for $2,303,017.
“It feels like the Triple Crown,” Lonis told PokerNews in a winner’s interview. “I got the one in the Bahamas, the WSOP and now this one. So it’s nice. It feels good, obviously. I feel like I’m playing good and everything’s aligning pretty nice. And running good, too. So it feels good to win this one.”
“You Can Have the Trophy, I’d Rather Have the Money”
The Day 3 field shrunk rapidly with the quick eliminations of Jim Collopy, Soverel and Richard Green, who had a rollercoaster day that saw him doubling up Stamm and Aido before falling in fourth for $62,955.
Aido was next to fall as he three-bet jammed with king-ten only to run into the ace-king of Stamm, who held up to enter heads-up play with a formidable chip lead over Lonis.
Stamm, a retired tech businessman from California with more than $1.4 million in live earnings, couldn’t hold off the young poker star who was motivated by some earlier beats he took in the tournament.
“It was really tough in that aspect,” Lonis said. “I just kept trying to stay the course because I would take a few big coolers, but I wasn’t getting frustrated. I just kept playing my game and just knowing that eventually I would hold in the big spots and just kept the course. And I didn’t really make any mistakes that I remember, which is rare in tournaments. So I feel like I really played my A-game and made some really sick hero calls in this one. And I think I folded correctly a lot. So it was a real battle. It was a test.”
But Lonis was motivated by more than bad beats. While he battled for the win behind a reflective pair of aviators and a Puma bomber jacket, he was thinking about his wife and two daughters at home here in Las Vegas.
“When I was heads-up, I was telling him [Stamm], I care about the money. I told him, ‘You can have the trophy, I’d rather have the money.’ And everything is just preparing them for the future and everything. So obviously the money is just very important. That’s why we play this game and go crazy at times. But it feels amazing, and they’re definitely my biggest motivation, for sure.”
Jesse Lonis Is One Of Poker’s Newest Stars
Intuition Pays
While Lonis came out on top in “probably the longest heads-up I’ve played,” he credited Stamm as being a tough opponent.
“We’ve played quite a few times in the last couple of years and I know he’s actually pretty studied up for an older gentleman,” he said. “He studies the game like these young kids do. He’s definitely studied more than I have. He’s not a bad player. He understands the spots. He’s always asking if he’s doing the right thing, but he plays pretty good.”
Lonis had joked earlier at the final table that he’d “never studied a day in my life.” How does he manage to stay competitive at poker’s highest levels without hitting the lab?
“I understand the game pretty good. It’s a volume game. It’s like anything. If you play every day and practice every day, you’re going to be great. And I’ve always just had the confidence to play against anybody. So I think that helps just that I look at everyone equal no matter who they are … I guess I’ve got good intuition too. I can read situations pretty well and know when it’s time to go and when to fold.”
A celebration will have to wait as Lonis wasted no time hopping into $5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha with many of the opponents he faced in the Super High Roller.
That wraps up the PokerNews live reporting team’s coverage of the $10,300 Super High Roller, but be sure to check out the NAPT Las Vegas portal for coverage of other events.