Jason Koon is one of the most successful poker players on the planet. His trophy case is overflowing with 31 outright tournament wins and 16 seven-figure scores. He’s won a mind-numbing $66 million in tournaments in just over a dozen years, good for third on the all-time money list.
With a bankroll like that, Koon doesn’t bother with events under $25,000, and given his run this summer in high rollers, he’s earning quite the hourly rate.
Hot Streak
It started in May with $500,000 in cashes at EPT Monte Carlo, but that just proved to be a warm up for the Triton Montenegro series, where he won two events to extend his tour record to 12 (nobody else has more than five) and banked a total of nearly $4 million. Then Koon returned home to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker and earned his second bracelet, taking down the $50,000 high roller to pocket another $2 million.
While his first bracelet came in the already prestigious $25,000 heads-up event, his second required a near-perfect effort against a murderer’s row of a final table that featured Andrew Lichtenberger, Brock Wilson, Viktor Blom, and good friend and former roommate Ben Tollerene standing in his way.
“It was awesome,” Koon said after winning. “I only play the big ones, so if I was going to get lucky to win one, it would be in a pretty prestigious event. But that was amazing. It was a really stacked final table. It was grueling because it was super hot and high pressure, all the things I liked. The harder the better. I really liked it.”
“It was nice to get three-handed with my buddy Ben just three weeks after we were heads-up in the giant Triton tournament,” he later added. “People have asked if the second bracelet felt better, but they both felt good in their own way.”
Slow Grind
Koon is entering the second era of his career. He’s one of only three American Team PokerStars Pros, and somehow also an ambassador for rival Triton Poker, which is a testament to the level of respect he has earned from the poker community, both players and operators alike.
More importantly, he’s a father of two boys under five years old. Koon came from humble beginnings himself, had a rough upbringing, and now travels the world and competes in the largest events in luxury resorts, but only when he wants to.
“Being a parent makes me have to utilize my time better. I don’t have hobbies anymore,” Koon explained. “My hobbies are my job and to keep myself healthy. I had to cut the fat on all the lazy stuff I was doing in my life.”
“It’s really important for me to raise my sons. They’ll live in much better circumstances than I lived through. I have a great appreciation for everything that we have and understand that things like this don’t come easy. Most people don’t have these opportunities.”
How did he get here? By rolling his sleeves and outworking everyone around him. He famously traded personal training for coaching from Chris Moorman in 2012, stayed in the lab, and he’s never looked back.
“I got to where I am with determination and work ethic,” he said. “I know I have a great understanding of how much effort it takes to be really good at poker. I work hard, very hard. I think about poker and look at poker every day. Even days that I don’t play. It’s a game that rewards people who stay sharp and are constantly learning, and luckily for me, I really like it. So, it falls right into place.”
Koon also acknowledged the absurd sums of money that are won on the high roller circuit.
“It’s easy to become detached from what most people are going through, but I keep myself grounded. I never forget where I came from and stay close with my community back home.”
But what if things fell out of place? What if Koon decided to quit poker tomorrow?
“I would spend more time with my wife and kids,” he said. “My passion project would be philanthropy based in West Virginia. I’d like to help people suffering through the opioid crisis, that’s something I’m passionate about.”
- Photos by PokerGO, Card Player, Drew Amato