partypoker LIVE recently signed a sponsorship deal with Triton Poker for the Super High Roller Series in Montenegro and what a fitting way to seal the deal than Team partypoker’s Jason Koon winning almost $3.6 million from one of the events.
Koon triumphed in the HKD1,000,000 ($127,000) Short Deck Ante-Only Event and saw his lifetime winnings boosted by an incredible HKD28,102,000 ($3,579,914). The Short Deck format is popular in Asia but is yet to become a mainstream game around the world.
| Place | Player | Prize (HKD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Koon | $28,102,000 | $3,579,914 |
| 2 | Xuan Tan | $18,121,000 | $2,308,434 |
| 3 | Phil Ivey | $13,082,000 | $1,666,516 |
| 4 | Winfred Yu | $9,206,000 | $1,172,752 |
| 5 | Rui Cao | $6,299,000 | $802,430 |
| 6 | Peter Jetten | $5,039,000 | $641,918 |
All deuces through fives are removed from the deck so the game plays with a deck of 36 cards. Flushes beat full houses and the aces in the deck also double as a five. This tournament was played on six-handed tables and with no blinds in play, only antes to make it even more exciting.
Twelve places were paid with Hau Lim Chan being the first player to receive some prize money. Chan was followed to the cashier’s desk by Marius Torbergsen, Wai Leon Chan, Devan Tang, Paul Phua, and Sean Dempsey to leave only the final table of six in the hunt for the monster-sized first-place prize
Koon Sends Jetten to the Rail
Peter Jetten was the sixth-place finisher when his 
proved to be no match for Koon’s 
after Koon flopped a king and turned a another to send Jetten home with the equivalent of US$641,918.
Jetten gained some company on the rail by Rui Cao who committed his stack with 
on a 
flop only to see the legendary Phil Ivey had set him all in holding 
for a full house. Cao walked away with $802,430.
Winfred Yu was then eliminated in fourth-place for a $1,172,752 score. Koon raised to 600,000 with 
, Xuan Tan called with 
and Yu jammed for 3,015,000 with . Koon re-shoved to isolate Yu and it worked because Tan folded. The flop fell 
to gift Koon the lead. These cards were followed by the 
and 
to reduce the player count by one.
Koon Leads Going Into Heads-Up
Heads-up was set when Ivey crashed out in third-place. Ivey pushed all-in for 5,290,000 with the ante set at 80,000 with 
and Koon moved all-in from the button with 
to ensure he was heads-up against Ivey. The team partypoker member was far behind Ivey until the 
flop gave him an open-ended straight draw, which came in on the turn when the made an appearance. The river was the and Ivey bust for a finish worth $1,666,516.
Koon held a substantial chip lead over Tan, but winning the tournament was far from a done deal. Tan is a terrific cash game player and is believed to be cleaning up in the biggest cash games in Asia so Koon had to be fully on his game.
Tan almost managed to draw level with Koon but our hero had the final laugh and a cooler of a hand won the title for him.
Both players limped in and watched on as the flop fell 
. Tan led for 200,000 and then called when Koon raised to 600,000. Tan checked on the turn, Koon bet 1,200,000 and Tan instantly committed his 5,800,000 stack. Koon called.
Koon showed 
for a full house and Tan could only muster the 
for a straight. The meaningless complete the board and Koon was announced as the tournament’s champion, which left Ta to collect the $2,308,434 consolation prize.
Koon Shows His Class
Despite winning a massive sum of cash, Koon was gracious while basking in the glory of winning and laid praise on Tan, his heads-up opponent. Speaking to PokerNews, Koon said: “I was playing a player that was much better than I am, at least short-handed, much more experienced and really talented in cash games. I just coolered him to win the tournament and I am glad it worked out that way, because it could have been a really long night. I know he was in for the long haul, he was trying to play small pots, as he should, I definitely think he had an edge on me.”
Lead image courtesy of the excellent Danny Maxwell and PokerNews.com
Ready to join the party?
If you’re ready to jump into the action, then click here to download partypoker and get started!
If you already have an account with us, click here to open partypoker and hit the tables!
