World Series Of Poker: Jason Koon Nearly Makes Two Final Tables On Same Day As Sponsorship DealHigh-Stakes Pro Runs Deep In Two Events Simultaneously On Day Of Sponsorship Deal Announcement |
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Sitting 10th on poker’s all time money list with more than $32.6 million in career tournament earnings, Jason Koon is familiar with success. But even Koon couldn’t have envisioned the Sunday he had at the 2021 World Series of Poker.
While playing $30,000 worth of tournament buy-ins, he essentially final tabled two bracelet events simultaneously, cashing for a combined $118,834, on the same day it was announced he would become an ambassador for one of the largest online poker sites in the world.
The West Virginia native barely survived day 1 of the $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller event on Saturday and came into Sunday’s day 2 as the second-shortest stack in the field with just nine big blinds. He was able to run up his chips and make the unofficial final table of nine. Unfortunately for Koon, he busted just shy of the official final table and took home $79,834.
Earlier in the day, Koon spent one of his breaks down to the hall in the Rio Convention Center where he was announced as the newest sponsored player for GGPoker.
Koon joins poker legend Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, and Dan Bilzerian as representatives of the site. According to the press release surrounding the announcement, Koon will focus on “strengthening the poker room’s security and game integrity efforts, as well as acting as an advocate for high roller, VIP, and high-volume players.”
“I’m really excited to join GGPoker, particularly so soon after they’ve taken a leading role in the poker world,” said Koon. “I’m also thrilled to be in a position to help with game security and player advocacy, making GGPoker an even better place to play our favorite game.”
Until last July, Koon was a member of team partypoker. He signed a sponsorship deal with the site in 2017 and spent nearly four years representing the brand before the two parted ways a few months ago.
With the addition, GGPoker is reversing the trend that PokerStars was setting a few years ago when they were letting go of several high-profile sponsored pros, including Negreanu. The sponsored team features four players in the top 50 of poker’s all-time money list and a combined tournament earnings of more than $135 million.
GG making a lot of good moves recently, @JasonKoon is a brilliant player & a fantastic human. Very inspiring guy https://t.co/qadHhunTp4
— Erik Seidel (@Erik_Seidel) October 4, 2021
After wrapping up his media appearance, Koon headed back to the Amazon room to return to his eventual ninth-place finish. But once he was back in his seat, Koon decided that playing one tournament wasn’t enough for him.
The West Virgina native and former track and field standout hopped on his mobile device and entered the $5,300 no-limit hold’em online freezeout. And while he ran deep in the live event with a five-figure buy-in, he was running just as deep on the virtual felt.
Right around midnight, Koon reached the unofficial nine-handed final table of the $25,000 buy-in at nearly the exact same time he final tabled the $5,300 online tournament.
About an hour later, Koon put a cap on a very successful day at the WSOP when he lost a flip with Q-J against Calvin Anderson’s 9-9 to finish sixth in the online event for $39,000.
For more from the 2021 World Series of Poker, check out Card Player’s WSOP tournament landing page which features results, recaps, and player interviews.
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