Three Bad Beats Dooms Jason Koon in Heads-Up Match for the Ages at $100K SHRB
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Joao Simao ran red hot, three times sucking out with his tournament life on the line, to defeat PokerStars ambassador Jason Koon in a marathon, back-and-forth heads-up match for the ages to win the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl on Monday for $1,100,000.
Although he didn't come out victorious, Koon became just the third player ever to reach $70 million in live tournament cashes. The heads-up battle brought about some epic hands between two of poker's biggest stars. In the end, it was Simao who rallied twice from massive deficits, winning one of the most epic heads-up matches in recent memory, to conquer the 23-player no-limit hold'em tournament at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.
Epic Heads-Up Match
The 10th edition of the Super High Roller Bowl featured the least expensive buy-in — it was originally $500,000 in 2015 and then $300,000 in following years — and also the smallest field. But the event was not short of juicy hands, and it started Saturday on Day 1 when Daniel Negreanu made a brilliant fold with a set of kings against a flush.
Day 3 started directly on the money bubble with five players remaining. Jun Obara, a Japanese high roller, was the bubble when his QxJx couldn't outflop Simao's A♣2♣. Simao would take a sizable chip lead right up until Koon busted Nick Schulman in fourth place for $200,000. That just about tied up the score, with Sam Soverel a distant third.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joao Simao | $1,100,000 |
| 2 | Jason Koon | $650,000 |
| 3 | Sam Soverel | $350,000 |
| 4 | Nick Schulman | $200,000 |
Soverel, the start-of-day chip leader, would move all in with 10♦10♣ and get looked up by Koon's A♠8♥. The board ran out K♥9♥7♥3♥8♠, giving Koon a winning flush and Soverel a third-place finish for $350,000.
Koon would begin heads-up play holding nearly a 2:1 chip advantage, and there would be no chop deal reached despite first and second having a $450,000 payout disparity. He'd quickly further extend that lead before being one card away from finishing the match off in lightning speed fashion.
Simao called an all-in bet with Q♠9♥ preflop for about 12 big blinds, but was in bad shape against K♣9♦. The flop and turn came A♥J♦3♣7♠, leaving Simao drawing to just three outs to stay alive, which he'd hit when the Q♦ appeared on the river. Despite the bad beat going his way, Simao still trailed by more than 3:1 in chips. But he'd soon double up when both players flopped top pair, Simao holding the superior kicker.
Simao continued his aggression with J♦10♠, moving all in on a board of Q♦9♠A♦6♣, which forced K♥10♦ to fold the best hand. The match had completely shifted the other way, until one of the wildest hands of the match occurred.
Koon, with the blinds at 25,000/50,000, limped the button with Q♦J♣. Simao, holding Q♥10♥, raised his option to 250,000 and received a call. The flop came K♠2♥2♦, not much there for either player. But a 135,000 bet and call would ensue before the Q♠ paired both up on the turn, and it appeared the hand would end in a chop.
Both players checked the turn, and the J♥ on the river ended the chop. Simao checked, and then faced a bet of 450,000. He would go for the surprising check-raise all in for 2,325,000. Koon, who rivered the best hand, tanked for a bit before making the call with his tournament life at risk. It was the correct call and it moved him back into nearly a 3:1 chip lead.
Koon would, after that hand, begin to take over the match and had builty nearly an 8:1 chip advantage before long. The chip leader would then limp the button with K♣Q♥, setting the trap for an all in jam, which his opponents would oblige. Simao jammed with K♦5♦ and received a snap-call, only for the worst hand to again suck out when Simao hit quads.
The comeback would continue when Simao extracted maximum value from a turned pair of aces against his opponent's pocket pair. All of a sudden the stacks were nearly back to even. Simao, moments later, took control of the match when he picked up a big pot with top pair beating middle pair. He'd slowly grind down Koon's stack, winning pot after pot, mostly due to consistently flopping the best hand.
More than an hour later, with Simao still in command, Koon finally found an opportunity to make a move when he turned two pair against top pair. Simao made a pot-sized river bet that was called, and it put Koon back in front for the third time after having trailed nearly 6:1 at one point. That didn't last long as the match again shifted heavily back in Simao's favor.
Things got even worse for Koon when he turned trips only to lose to a straight on the river. But despite the deck doing everything it could to bust Koon, he kept his composure and avoided just punting off his stack. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and future Poker Hall of Famer relentlessly battled.
Koon ran so bad during most of the heads-up match that even when he turned a straight and anticipated winning a big pot, he learned at showdown that all he could get was a chop since his opponent had the same hand. But he'd pull ahead and have yet another opportunity to close it out, this time all in preflop with 10♠10♥ against A♣5♥.
Once again, Simao was bailed out with a lucky run-out, which brought him the A♥ on the turn to scoop the pot. He regained a 4:1 chip lead. Koon, one of the most difficult players in poker to tilt, began to show some frustration.
"How is he still in this tournament given how badly he's run?" PokerGO commentator Ali Nejad asked.
Koon not only refused to wave the white flag, he stepped up the aggression, showing no fear after having lost three straight times with the best hand and a shot to finish off the tournament.
The match finally came to an end more than four hours after it began when Koon limped with 5♠5♣ and then jammed to a raise versus 8♦8♣. The best hand held up and Simao was the champion for $1,100,000.
"Congratulations, man. Have a Merry Christmas," Koon told his opponent after the grueling match concluded.
Koon, with the $650,000 score, joins Bryn Kenney and Stephen Chidwick as the only players ever to reach $70 million in The Hendon Mob cashes.
Simao, a Brazilian poker legend, is closing out the year with a bang. He added $1.1 million to his resume on Monday, less than two weeks after he won his third WSOP bracelet during the World Series of Poker Paradise (WSOPP) series in the Bahamas.
*Images courtesy of PokerGO/PGT.
