Jason Koon Wins Ninth Triton Title, Overtakes Negreanu on All-Time Money List

Amid a busy final flourish of events at the 2023 Triton Poker Series London, Jason Koon won the top prize of $828,000 as he overtook Daniel Negreanu on the all-time money list. Conquering Event #16, the $60,000-entry Short Deck event, Koon put himself clear at the top of the list of Triton Poker Series multiple event winners, too. The West Virginian has won an incredible nine titles, including five in the previous year.

Brewer Bursts the Bubble as Haxton Bricks Out

With eight players kicking off the final table of Event #16, the $60,000 buy-in Short Deck event, it was a dramatic penultimate tournament of this year’s London-based series. Sometime before the bubble burst, Phil Ivey was unlucky to run into quads!

The 🐐 @philivey is ready for some action but ran into quads in short deck. 💉🩸 pic.twitter.com/3IGDkdGacl

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 10, 2023

Chris Brewer was the man to burst the bubble as he eliminated fellow American Isaac Haxton, who shoved with ace-king only to lose to Brewer’s queen-jack of clubs, which paired the queen to send Haxton home with nothing.

Brewer, by contrast, was looking imperious on 4.8 million chips as the last eight gathered, with Jason Koon (3.2m) his nearest challenger. Canadian player Daniel Dvoress might have been a big threat with chips, but he lost out in eighth place for a cash of $111,000 instead, further cementing Brewer’s chances.

Next to go was Masashi Oya, as the Japanese player earned $140,700 in seventh place. Oya hit trips on the Q-6-6 flop with seven-six in his hand, but was overtaken eventually by Xuan’s pocket jacks which turned another to give him a full house. Wai Kin Yong had won the previous event on the TPS schedule, but this time could only cash for $176,700 in sixth place.

Brewer Falls, Koon Hits One-Outer

Having come into the finale as the chip leader, American Chris Brewer would have been gutted to earn just $226,300 in fifth place. Brewer lost to Lun Loon’ pocket kings, then gave away some more to Chinese player Tun Xuan’s full house before Koon knocked him out with ace-jack against Brewer’s king-queen.

The Chinese player Tan Xuan left in fourth place for $292,500 in incredible circumstances, as a board of K-Q-9-7 looked to be sending the American home. Xuan held pocket kings, and the chip advantage, getting Koon to commit with pocket nines. Amazingly, however, as Koon stood up, the case nine landed on the river for one-outer quads to see the West Virginian survive.

Xuan took it well, but it was a devastating blow to his stack and minutes later, he was on the rail. Losing the last of his chips to Koon, the momentum looked to have irretrievably shifted towards the last remaining American player in the tournament.

Loon Leaves, Koon the King

Three-handed, Lun Loon was the next to go, earning $386,800 when he ran into Wai Kiat Lee, who himself has an excellent record not only in Triton events but mixed game tournaments in general at high stakes. Loon’s ace-jack lost to the dominating Lee’s ace-king, and it seemed an important pot at the time, giving Lee almost the same stack as Koon going into the final battle.

Koon built his way into a lead, and having grabbed the advantage was never going to let it go easily. All-in with a suite king-jack, he was behind as the final hand started to play out, Lee holding ace-queen, but by the turn, Koon had made a straight and that was good enough to give him his latest Triton title and $828,000 top prize.

With his latest major tournament title, Koon’s lifetime earnings in tournaments creeps past the $51 million mark, and in doing so, overtakes Daniel Negreanu by around half a million dollars. That isn’t as much as it sounds at the nosebleed buy-in levels those two men play at, but it’s impressive nonetheless, as almost all of Koon’s success has come in the past decade.

Wow, just wow 🤯. No words can describe 🇺🇸 @JasonKoon's achievements. Koon strikes again as he lands his 9th Triton title 🔱🏆. With 4 Short Deck titles under his name, he proves that he's the short deck king! Congratulations again, Jason 🥳🎉! pic.twitter.com/JBZ2QJkOIE

— Triton Poker (@tritonpoker) August 10, 2023

“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever one-outered anyone in a tournament,” Koon said to reporters after lifting the final trophy of his successful trip to London. “I just accepted my fate and got up. I played one of the best short deck players in the world heads-up. There was a three-or-four-year span when I was off the grid playing the biggest short deck games in the world; I don’t think that it’s just pure luck I’ve won four short-deck titles.”

With a late turbo Short Deck win coming for Phil Ivey in London, Koon’s record haul of nine is four clear of the 10-time bracelet winner Ivey’s five. Both men seem destined for greatness whenever the next Triton Poker Series rolls around.