Jason Koon continued his brilliance on the high-stakes scene with a dominant victory in the $100,000 buy-in Triton Cyprus High Roller Series Main Event for $2,451,082.
The GGPoker ambassador beat out 65 of the top high rollers in the world, including his heads-up opponent, Sam Greenwood, who received $1,923,918 as a consolation prize.
Koon has been quite impressive during the series with four final table appearances, including two titles. He also won Event #2: $20,000 No-Limit Hold’em 7-Handed for $663,000. In total, the West Virginia native has for just under $3.6 million during the series in North Cyprus with just a couple events remaining.
Emotional Poker Pro Crushes Stacked Final Table
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The Triton Cyprus Main Event final table was stacked with some high roller superstars, including Dan Smith, who finished in fifth place for $762,000. Earlier in the day, however, he engaged in a heated argument at the table with the eventual champion.
Smith, as seen in the video below from the Triton live-stream and posted by Rob Kuhn, had asked the others at the table to be quiet while he was in the middle of a hand. Koon didn’t take too kindly to his opponent’s comments.
“Buddy, I had two VIP’s, not one, but two come up to me and say how awful it was playing with you because you berated them for having a conversation at a live poker table,” Koon said to Smith.
Dan smith ask table to “get a moment”(for the table to stop talking)while thinking pre in a single raise pot. Jason… https://t.co/JfmUsoTwI8
Koon then criticized Smith for taking too long to act and told him it’s a repeated issue and referred to the tanking as “obnoxious.”
After Smith was eliminated, Henrik Hecklen took fourth place for $946,000, followed by the Steve O’Dwyer elimination in third place ($1,171,000). That set up a heads-up match between Koon and Greenwood. Both players agreed to a chop based on chip value and stack at the time. Koon was in the lead so he received the largest payout. They left behind an extra $84,000 following the chop to be awarded to the winner.
Koon’s lead was about 4-1, but he was all in and ahead on the first hand of heads-up play with Q♠10♦ on a flop of Q♥9♥J♣ against the A♦K♣ of Greenwood. The turn was J♠, no help to either player, and then Koon wrapped up the tournament title when the 7♥ appeared on the river.
Both players shook hands and Koon was brought to tears of joy. Koon, a Triton brand ambassador, will likely end up winning Triton’s Ivan Leow Player of the Year trophy, named in honor of the late Ivan Leow, the Triton co-founder who tragically passed away last year at age 39.
“I was here a little under a year ago when we lost Ivan,” Koon said, choking back tears after the tournament wrapped. “Ivan was a good friend of mine. And walking through these halls every day I feel a little bit emotional about that. Just the title of Player of the Year, it gets me emotional. I miss the guy.”
Koon’s victory brought his career live tournament cashes up to over $47.3 million, good for fifth all-time, according to Hendon Mob. He’s certainly at least in the conversation as the best player in the world right now.
Triton Cyprus Main Event Final Table Results
Place | Player | Stack |
---|---|---|
1 | Jason Koon | $2,451,082 |
2 | Sam Greenwood | $1,923,918 |
3 | Steve O’Dwyer | $1,171,000 |
4 | Henrik Hecklen | $946,000 |
5 | Dan Smith | $762,000 |
6 | Sean Winter | $595,000 |
*Images courtesy of Joe Giron/Triton Poker.