Jason Koon Continues Short-Deck Dominance with Triton Win for $2.84 Million
Table Of Contents
The 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju, which is comprised of six events, wrapped up Event #5: HK $1,000,000 Short-Deck Ante-Only, a tournament that drew 81 entries (37 unique + 44 re-entries) and created a HK$76,140,000 ($9,699,981) prize pool.
Prior to winning it, Jason Koon was the world’s all-time short-deck money winner with more than $3.5 million in earnings, and thanks to claiming a HK$22,300,000 ($2,840,945) top prize, that number now stands at more than $6.3 million. Short-deck poker is a variant played with 36 cards instead of the regular 52.
It was the 33-year-old’s second title on the Triton Poker High Roller Series after winning the Triton Poker Super High Roller Montenegro HK$1 Million Short-Deck for a career-high HK$28,102,000 ($3,579,836).
“I wanted to come in and just stay focused, and adapt on the fly and stick with what good strategies are. It worked out for me,” said Koon. “I had great cards, it’s really what it comes down to a lot of the time in these tournaments. A lot of good things happened to me at this final table. If anybody else would have been in my seat, it would have happened to them.”
It marked Koon’s third final table in as many days. First, he finished fourth in Event #2: HK$500,000 Short-Deck for HK$3,435,000 ($437,674), and followed it up by finishing sixth inEvent #3: HK$500,000 NLH 6-Handed for HK$2,360,000 ($300,679).
2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju Event #5: HK $1M Short-Deck Ante-Only
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Koon | United States | HK$22,300,000 | $2,840,945 |
| 2 | Paul Phua | Malaysia | HK$15,900,000 | $2,025,607 |
| 3 | Furkat Rakhimov | Russia | HK$10,440,000 | $1,330,021 |
| 4 | Jun Wang | China | HK$7,900,000 | $1,006,434 |
| 5 | Gabe Patgorski | United States | HK$6,100,000 | $777,120 |
| 6 | Richard Yong | Malaysia | HK$4,700,000 | $598,764 |
| 7 | John Juanda | Indonesia | HK$3,700,000 | $471,368 |
| 8 | Wai Kin Yong | Malaysia | HK$2,900,000 | $369,450 |
| 9 | Devan Tang | Hong Kong | HK$2,200,000 | $280,273 |
Final Table Action
Only four players returned for the final day of play, and according to updates from the event, Koon sat third in chips. He got a lucky double with ace-jack against Furkat Rakhimov’s Big Slick, and then he scored the first knockout when his pocket jacks held against Jun Wang’s queen-ten suited. Wang, who was playing in just his second tournament ever, earned HK$7,900,000 ($1,006,434) for his fourth-place finish.
With three left, Rakhimov jammed with jack-ten and ran it smack dab into Paul Phua’s ace-jack. The superior hand held and the Russian was sent packing in third place.
Early in the heads-up match, Phua doubled into a big chip lead, but Koon battled back after turning a full house when his opponent had trips. In the final hand of the tournament, Phua got it in holding ace-nine and was outdrawn by Koon’s king-queen suited.
“It was extremely tough, Paul is a great player,” Koon said of his heads-up opponent. “I had a good feeling that him and I would possibly have a showdown. He's just so, so good.”
Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju Details
Two more events remain on the 2019 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Jeju schedule in Event #6: HK$2M Main Event and Event #7: HK$1M NLH Refresh. The HK$2 million Triton Series Main Event is already underway and will be played over three days with a winner crowned on Saturday.
All the action from Jeju is being streamed live online via YouTube, Twitch and the Triton Series website with expert commentary from Lex Veldhuis and Randy Lew in English, and Celina Lin and Haoxiang Wang in Chinese.
Additionally, the Triton Poker High Roller series will return to Montenegro from May 4-16 at the Maestral Resort, Pržno for its second stop of 2019.
*Images and hand information courtesy of Triton Poker.
PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
