Final Table Takedown: Jason Koon

Jason Koon obtained a B.S. degree in finance and an M.B.A. from West Virginia Wesleyan College. He quit his job selling group insurance in the fall of 2008 to pursue poker full time. He has won four online weekly $1,000 tourneys, for a combined total of more than $200,000, and also has won a PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) title, for nearly $300,000. In the 2010 WPT Festa al Lago main event, he finished fourth, for $225,680. He has more than $2.5 million in career tournament cashes.

In this interview, Koon walks us through some key hands.

Hand No. 1

Key Concept: Playing hands for deception against tough opponents; breaking down preflop ranges to make better post-flop decisions.

Jason “NovaSky” Koon raises to 12,800 from the button with the 10 2. The villain calls from the small blind.

Craig Tapscott: What’s your take on the villain?

Jason Koon: The villain is a very strong player. His range is going to consist mainly of medium small pairs and Broadway hands, excluding A-K and A-Q, which he would be three-betting for value. He also will have the occasional monster, but I would typically expect him to three-bet that.

Flop: J 10 9 (pot: 38,350)

The villain checks. NovaSky checks.

CT: Why not fire at this flop with a pair and a flush draw?

JK: Two reasons. First, although I connected very well with the flop, it smashes his calling range from the small blind. By checking back, I can keep the pot a reasonable size and give myself a free card to possibly improve to the virtual nuts. Second, I checked back for deception. By playing the hand in a nonstandard way, I can potentially win a larger pot.

Turn: 3 (pot: 38,350)

The villain bets 28,000.

JK: When the villain bets the turn, I must raise.

CT: Why is that the optimal choice?

JK: The only reason for calling in this spot would be to allow my opponent the opportunity to continue to bluff. Given the fact that this flop connects so well with his preflop flat calling range, there is no need to slow-play here. The odds are that he is value-betting, and he will have a very hard time putting me on a monster hand here, since I checked back the flop.

NovaSky raises to 68,000. The villain reraises to 114,000.

CT: Does this reraise concern you?

JK: Well, now we need to consider what hands he can be playing this way, so that we can do our best to maximize our value. We can pretty safely remove jacks from his range. He is almost always three-betting and comfortably getting in 50 big blinds against me preflop with small blind-versus-button jacks. Also, tens are very unlikely, given that he is still almost always three-betting, and that we have a blocker to middle set.

CT: What else could he be holding?

JK: A set of threes or a set of nines can certainly be in his range here, and possibly J-10 suited or 10-9 suited. As for straights, he can have only one combo, K-Q offsuit or K-Q suited. All other straight-card hands are too weak to flat call me out of position. It’s also nearly impossible for him to have a flush here. The only flush that he can possibly be holding is K-Q suited. A-K suited and A-Q suited are three-betting preflop, and all other suited hands in spades are too weak for him to fl at-call preflop.

CT: So, you’re pretty happy with your hand?

JK: Very. When he three-bets, we also can deduct hands that are one pair plus straight draws. He would either be calling my raise to bluff-catch and give himself a chance to improve, or folding. Even though he doesn’t have a very large value range to three-bet me here, I was nearly certain that he was very strong when he put in 114,000 of his 300,000 stack. So, I shoved for value, expecting to be called.

NovaSky moves all in. The villain calls and reveals the K Q.

River: 8 (pot: 620,190)

NovaSky wins the pot of 620,190.

Hand No. 2

Key Concepts: Understanding showdown value; making thin value-bets.

CT: Why did you select this particular hand to break down from your heads-up battle?

JK: Well, this hand will seem very standard to most intermediate and advanced players, but it’s a good example of a couple of fundamental concepts. My opponent is a good, thinking player. We are heads up for the win, but a deal has already been made. This sometimes will make players play worse, since they have already locked up most of the money that they’ll make, but by the looks of the match, he is fighting his best for the title.

AD_84 raises to 800,000 from the button. NovaSky calls with the K 3.

JK: Optimal play when out of position against tough opponents requires being pretty tight. That said, I am getting a huge price and have a hand that plays okay out of position. King high will oftentimes have showdown value, and being suited, it will sometimes give me the opportunity to play my hand more aggressively, with the potential of draws and backdoor draws.

Flop: A 9 6 (pot: 1,700,000)

NovaSky checks. AD_84 bets 800,000. NovaSky calls.

CT: Could you have raised?

JK: There is some merit to raising, considering that sometimes I will be able to get him to fold a hand like 6-X or a weak straight draw that has decent equity versus my hand. That said, I think calling is typically better in this spot, for a few reasons.

CT: OK. Fill us in.

JK: The first reason was mentioned previously: I have showdown value. Even though I have only king high here, I am still beating a very large percentage of his range, considering that he is raising around 85 percent to 90 percent of this buttons. Also, by playing my draw passively here on an early street, I often will get less credit when I make my hand if my opponent assumes that I would have been raising most of my flush draws. The last argument for not raising is that it will be difficult for me to get my money in good if it all goes in now. Against all of the A-X hands in his range, I hold only a nine-out flush draw, which isn’t doing very well when the money goes in (around 37 percent). I do dominate other flush draws, but considering that I have some blockers to spades, it makes it less likely that he is holding the same suit. As stated previously, raising is definitely a reasonable option, but I elected to take the lower variance route. I wanted to try to make sure that when the money went in, I would be a substantial favorite against his range.

Turn: J (pot: 3,300,000)

NovaSky checks. AD_84 checks.

River: K (pot: 3,300,000)

CT: Are you now considering a value bet?

JK: This is a very easy value-bet that I see most beginners and even some intermediate players not making. Thinking about value-betting is very similar to thinking about bluffing.

CT: How so? What should players be thinking in this spot?

JK: You need to ask yourself what you’re representing. When making a bluff, we are trying to represent a made hand in order to get our opponents to fold a better hand. When making value bets, you need to ask yourself what types of bluffs you can represent and what your opponent can possibly call you with that you beat.

NovaSky bets 1,940,000.

JK: In this spot, for instance, I can represent some blown draws as well as the occasional hand that has some showdown value, but may still be trying to get folds from a better hand. So, all hands that I was defending and then check-calling — like 8-7 suited, 10-8 suited, 7-5 suited, and potentially 10-7 suited — need to be bluffing this river, since they have little or no showdown value. Since my opponent is competent, he should be aware that my range is weak enough that he needs to be firing a second value-bet on the turn with all of his A-X hands. So, if we eliminate most, if not all, of the A-X hands from his range, our rivered pair of kings has now become quite a strong hand. The combination of him not having many hands in his range that beat me and my being able to represent some bluffs makes this a very easy value-bet.

AD_84 calls and reveals the 9 7. NovaSky wins the pot of 7,180,000.