'An Outlier': PokerStars Pro Jason Koon Came from a Rough Rural West Virginia Upbringing
Jason Koon, who signed on as a PokerStars ambassador nearly one year ago to the day, shared details of his humble beginnings during a Q&A session at the 2025 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) at Resorts World in Las Vegas.
The high-stakes poker legend, who became a Team Pro member along with Caitlin Comeskey during the 2024 NAPT, grew up in rural West Virginia, and his childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows.
J-Koon on Beating the Odds
Koon has been one of the top high rollers in the world for the past decade. He has $69 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, which includes a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet and a record 12 Triton Poker Titles. And he hasn't been an all-or-nothing performer. In fact, he's one of the most consistent tournament players ever, evidenced by his largest cash of $3.5 million being worth just 20% of his career earnings.
But, as he explained to host James Hartigan in the private townhall-style Q&A, he didn't just wake up one day a poker champion. He grinded his way over time from the low stakes to the biggest games in the world, even though the odds were likely stacked against him.
"Living in West Virginia I was made fun of for being the poor guy," Koon said after explaining that West Virginia is the poorest state in the country. "So, it says a lot. I was the first person in my family to go to college. So, academic thinking, strategic thinking wasn't something that was taught to me. It was something that I had to learn."
Koon was born in the town of Weston, which has a population of less than 3,000 residents. His family life was anything but pleasant.
"As a kid it was frustrating. My dad went to prison when I was eight years old. I never saw him again, and I remember as a kid being like, 'I want out of this so bad, but there's no way I'm ever going to make it out.' I'm not trying to be too deep, but I'm really the only person in my familly that did."
Koon did make it out, thanks in large part to discovering poker in college. He had racked up a six-figure debt from student loans, but by the time he finished graduate school, his poker winnings had bailed him out of debt.
"I would like to say I've been responsible for all the success, but I've run really, really hot," a humble Koon said. "I've been an outlier, not just in poker but in so many situations in my life, and it's easy to sit up here and act like I had all the answers from the get-go. But I just surrounded myself with people that forced me to be a better person, and I got really lucky."
"I hate to say, I wish I could tell all of you if you work really hard you're going to play the biggest stakes in the world, you're going to be the best poker player. But I think you have to want it more than anything in the world. You have to commit your life to it, and then things have to go well for you."
Things have gone Koon's way as an adult far more so than as a youth, but he's also made his own breaks. He's battled against the top players in the world for years. He beat Phil Hellmuth for $1.6 million on PokerGO's High Stakes Duel in 2022. In 2015, he won his first high roller tournament, a $50,000 buy-in at the LA Poker Classic. Since 2016, he's cashed for seven figures 17 times.
Koon turned 40 in August, making him eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame next summer at the WSOP. He'll be among the short list of favorites for the solo induction, joining Scott Seiver, Phil Galfond, and a few others. If he doesn't reach the PHOF in 2026, it won't be long before the poker legend who beat the odds to become one of the all-time greats joins poker's most exclusive club.
