Jason Koon Defeats Phil Hellmuth In PokerGO’s $1.6 Million High Stakes Duel

Jason Koon’s debut on High Stakes Duel saw him facing off against all-time World Series of Poker bracelet leader Phil Hellmuth, who came into the match with an unbelievable 9-1 record on the heads-up showdown series from PokerGO. Koon and Hellmuth each put up $800,000 for this round five match of High Stakes Duel 3, making it a one-on-one clash for the largest payout yet on the show.

It took just shy of two and a half hours for the winner to be decided, with Koon seizing the lead about a third of the way through and never looking back from there. Koon, a 37-year-old poker pro from West Virginia who has cashed for more than $41 million in poker tournaments around the globe, emerged victorious to hand Hellmuth just his second loss in 11 matches played on the show.

“I had great hands. Even the hands that I bluffed, almost all of them kind of presented themselves in a natural way, so it was just one of those days where almost anybody in my seat is going to win,” Koon told PokerGO reporters. “I was ready to lose this thing quite often because of the structure. I could have been on the other end of that, where Phil just had huge hands all of the time, and that’s just the nature of poker. You shouldn’t feel bad the days that you run good, and you shouldn’t feel bad the days that you run bad. It’s just the process of it all. Today, I got to be the winner, and it’s nice to do that for gigantic stakes.”

Koon can’t cash out his winnings, however. He now moves on to round 6, which would see him play a $3.2 million match against either a new contender or Hellmuth if he decides to return. Hellmuth, a 16-time WSOP winner with more than $25 million in tournament earnings, has not yet publicly announced whether he intends to play a rematch.

Hellmuth won High Stakes Duel 1 and 2 with clean sweeps of poker superstars Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu. High Stakes Duel 3 began with another win, this time over sports commentator Nick Wright in the initial round. Wright opted not to rematch, and Tom Dwan replaced him and handed Hellmuth his first loss in round 2. Hellmuth clicked the rematch button and won, setting up an $800,000 showdown with Scott Seiver, who replaced Dwan. Had Hellmuth won this match against Koon, he could have chosen to walk away with his profits and the wrestling-style High Stakes Duel belt.

The match began with both players sitting on $800,000 each, with initial blinds of $1,500-$2,500. Hellmuth stretched a small lead before a mistimed preflop move saw him run into the pocket aces of Koon.

Hellmuth limped in from the button for $3,000 total with Q 6 and Koon three-bet to $10,500 with A A. Hellmuth limp-reraised to $32,000. Koon was more than happy to four-bet to $120,000 with his pocket aces and was probably overjoyed when Hellmuth five-bet bluffed to $260,000. Koon moved all-in for $773,000 and Hellmuth finally gave up. He slid to $567,000 after the hand, while Koon surpassed a million in chips.

“I thought you had the kings, I really did,” said Koon after a few minutes of Hellmuth’s frustrated chatter.

Hellmuth got back a good chunk of his lost chips with a rivered nut flush against the rivered ten-high straight of Koon, narrowing the gap considerably as the match entered its second hour.

It looked like Hellmuth might nearly pull back to even when he rivered the bottom end of a straight against the two pair of Koon, but a savvy move on the end saw Koon snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. On the river, Koon bet $4,000 into the pot of $17,000 with his jacks and nines and Hellmuth raised to $9,500 with his queen-high straight. Koon then turned his two pair into a bluff, re-raising to $30,000 and drawing a snap fold from Hellmuth, who would lose to any hand that included a king.

Koon soon extended his chip lead back up to nearly 2:1 thanks to a big hand he won by snap-calling the river with just ace high. Koon raised to $10,000 on the button with A Q. Hellmuth three-bet to $26,000 from the big blind with Q J. Koon called and the flop came down 9 9 2. Hellmuth bet $32,000 and Koon called. The 3 turn saw both players check and the 10 completed the board. Hellmuth fired $52,000 with his unimproved queen high and Koon instantly tossed in the chips to call.

“This is not how I saw the match going,” admitted Hellmuth.

Hellmuth stopped the bleeding by rivering trips against a larger pair but did not get his river raise paid off. He then found a well-timed move with Q-5 on an A-10-4-6 board that got Koon off of a pocket pair of nines.

It wasn’t long before Koon won another big pot. He flopped trip fives after raising preflop with A-5 and Hellmuth floated with 9-8. Hellmuth picked up a gutshot on the turn and attempted a check-raise semi-bluff. Koon wasn’t going anywhere, though, and he won another hefty pile of chips after Hellmuth check-folded the river.

A classic Helmuth tirade was unleashed when Koon raised 6-4 suited from the big blind after a Hellmuth limp and then fired with air on a J-J-J flop. Hellmuth called with king high and the two combatants checked through a queen on the turn. Koon rivered jacks full of fours and bet $36,000 into the pot of $108,000, which Hellmuth paid off.

The very next hand saw Koon raise to $12,000 on the button with Q 8. Hellmuth three-bet to $35,000 from the big blind with A K. Koon opted for a four-bet jam and Hellmuth called all-in for $103,000 total. Hellmuth was just better than a 2:1 favorite to double up, but the board ran out Q 10 4 10 3 to give Koon queens and tens for the win.

“I assume it’s going to go [one of] two ways,” Koon told PokerGO. “One, there’s going to be some very rich recreational player who wants a sweat, which is great. Or there’s going to be some super alpha person who comes from Russia or somewhere who wants to play me… but I doubt it. I just can’t really see anyone that will play me. I’m not trying to be arrogant, it’s just that it’s a lot of money to move for a one-percent or two-percent edge that you’re going to have at most against me. But my preparation was to be ready to play an optimal player. I did not play an optimal strategy today. I played a very Phil-specific strategy. But if I play another player, I will be ready to play them.”

If Koon were to win a round 6 match, he would be able to lock up his profits and claim the championship belt, as a player must come out on top in two consecutive matches after round 4 in order to be crowned the High Stakes Duel winner.

To watch a replay of the match, along with any previous High Stakes Duel episode and a massive library of other top poker content, you’ll need a PokerGO account. Sign up today using the promo code ‘CardPlayer’ for $20 off an annual subscription. ♠