Deputy Editor
Jesse Lonis and Ryan Riske were among the early tournament winners in higher-stakes events during the first weekend of the CoinPoker Global Online Poker Championship.
Lonis, playing as ‘DangerousGorilla22,’ made the biggest splash, as befitting a gorilla. He won the $5,200 High Roller Opening Ceremony, scooping $153,400. Lonis is one of the most accomplished tournament players in the modern game, racking up more than $33 million in cashes according to Card Player. He showed his skills can translate online, too.
Just shipped the @CoinPoker_OFF High Roller Opening Ceremony 5k for $153,000🏆 🦍 pic.twitter.com/Be0fI1xBMD
— Jesse Lonis (@JesseLonis) August 24, 2026
CoinPoker’s official press release noted that Lonis already had about $100,000 in cashes on the crypto site this year prior to the big win.
As for Riske, a cash game coach, he showed he’s got some tournament chops as well. He won a smaller high roller for $58,000 under the moniker “Gambl0r.” Riske is also a CoinPoker ambassador.
Other Notable Early Results and Notes from GOPC
The player who got third in Lonis’ event, ‘IloveMyHand,’ had one heck of a day. They earned $71,154 for that final table, plus they won the $530 Opening Ceremony for about $63,000.
Another player securing a massive score was ‘BlackJes,’ scooping the $150 CoinMaster BITCOIN for $52,500.
Unfortunately for the operator, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows during the opening weekend of the most ambitious festival in site history, which guaranteed $50 million. A number of players reportedly dealt with connection issues on Sunday, and CoinPoker reached to offer compensation to affected players:
If your tournament resumed and you still had any other kind of issue following that, please reach out from your registered email to support@coinpoker.com and we'll carefully review the hand histories for your account from the point of tonight's issues onwards, thank you. https://t.co/YD3Qul0wJZ
— CoinPoker (@CoinPoker_OFF) August 24, 2026
The series will continue, with plenty of huge tournaments remaining between now and the last day of play on Sept. 28. Each Sunday of September will feature a flagship CoinMillion event, guaranteeing seven figures in prizes for just $215. And the main event, with a staggering $3 million guarantee, kicks off on Sept. 6 with the first of 17 starting flights.
