Koon closes: Triton heavyweight extends record with 11th title

It's been two years since Jason Koon finished a Triton Super High Roller Series event with all of the chips. On Saturday, however, Koon outlasted an unsurprisingly stacked field of Triton regulars to notch his 11th title on the tour. The Triton Ambassador fought through a 108-entrant field in Event #12: $150,000 NLH to claim the title and $3,393,656 first-place prize. 

While he's still at the top of his game, poker has taken somewhat of a backseat in recent years as Koon's family life outside of poker keeps him further occupied. On the flip side, the stability at home provides him with the ability to play his best when he does find the time. 

"I'm just at a point in my life now where I'm very comfortable in myself," Koon told Triton reporters. "I have an incredible life outside poker, and what that allows me to do is sit down and feel free and play my best. At this final table, I think I did a good job of executing and I played to the best of my abilities."

Mentor vs. mentee for the title

With the field whittled down to a final table of nine players, Koon held the chip lead to start proceedings. Still, he had his work cut out for him as he had to defeat a murderer's row of final table finishers – Matthias Eibinger, Wayne Heung, Ben Tollerene, Eelis Parssinen, Phil Ivey, Wiktor Malinowski, Christoph Vogelsang, and Isaac Haxton – before he could lay claim to the title. 

The final table finishers in Event #12: $150,000 NLH. (Clockwise from top left: Eelis Parssinen, Phil Ivey, Matthias Eibinger, Christoph Vogelsang, Ben Tollerene, Wayne Heung, Jason Koon, Wiktor Malinowski, Isaac Haxton)

While it was Koon in the driver's seat, Tollerene – Koon's long-time mentor in poker – did the heavy lifting to score the first two eliminations at the final table, sending both Haxton and Vogelsang to the payout desk. With the consecutive knockouts, Tollerene's stack grew near-level with Koon's at the top of the counts. 

From there, Koon and Tollerene took turns scoring the next few eliminations. First, Koon sent Malinowski to the payout desk in seventh place. Tollerene then responded in kind by taking out Parssinen and Eibinger. With only four players remaining, Koon absorbed the remainder of Ivey's chips to take the tournament to three-handed play. When Tollerene finished off Heung, it was a battle of mentor vs. mentee for the title. 

'I'm still here doing it' 

Koon and Tollerene immediately asked to see the numbers to facilitate a deal and quickly agreed to an ICM-chop. After setting aside $130,000 to play for, Tollerene – with 62 big blinds to Koon's 46 – took the larger payout. 

In the early exchanges, Tollerene extended his lead, but Koon wasn't going away quietly and found a full double to surge into the chip lead. When the two players picked up substantial holdings, the chips went in. Koon's held a slight edge over Tollerene's , but it was essentially a flip for the title. The board changed nothing for either player and, with that, the title went to Koon. 

Jason Koon and Ben Tollerene embrace following the conclusion of Event #12: $150,000 NLH.

In the aftermath of his victory, Koon expressed nothing but admiration for his heads-up opponent. 

"I got heads up with my best pal and mentor, inspiration to be standing here," he said. "About 12 years ago, whenever I first saw an elite poker player, what it took for them to be great, it was through Ben. And honestly I never thought at that time I would have the ability to be standing here."

"It's bizarre," Koon continued. "There's been a lot of drama happen for me at this table. Some ups and downs, some big cash game pots and some big tournament wins. I just can't believe I'm still here doing it. I've been with Triton seven years now and it's incredible."

Triton Montenegro $150,000 NLH final table results

*Denotes heads-up deal

^{Images courtesy of Triton Poker}