Like Phil Hellmuth and the WSOP, Jason Koon seems to have an affinity with the Triton series, winning a record 9th title just a few days after capturing his 8th – this one coming in the $60K Short Deck event for over $825,000. Koon came into the final table second in chips but had a difficult position at the table with the dangerous Tan Xuan to his left and the chip leader Chris Brewer one spot over.
Despite those perceived disadvantages, Jason did what he did best and continued to rake in the chips.
Early All-In Action
After losing a big pot to Tan Xuan before the official final table, Masashi Oya was one of the shortest stacks at the table and looking to rebuild. However, things went from bad to worse for the Japanese player, as the winner of the previous event, Wai Kin Yong, doubled through him with KJ against QT. Oya’s fate was decided a few hands later when his flopped trips with 76 ran into the turned full house of Tan Xuan on a Q66J board – the miracle six couldn’t hit the river, and Oya was eliminated in 7th for $140,700.
Our eventual champion Jason Koon then got involved in a big all-in confrontation, his KK coming up against the AQo of Wai Kin Young. The board ran out clean for Jason and a third king on the river sealed his victory, as he moved into 1st place.
Chip Leader Crumbles
Despite starting the final table with an overwhelming chip lead, Chris Brewer soon found himself with one of the shortest stacks at the table. He had lost a few small pots before losing a big hand when he came up against the full house of Tan Xuan. Just a few hands after that, he shoved his remaining chips with KQo, only to be called by the AJo of Koon. Brewer was unable to run down the better hand, and he was eliminated in 5th place for $226,300.
Miracle Card For Koon
As the stacks had evened out, many people thought we were in for a long final table, but the action kept coming thanks to an insane hand between the two chip leaders at the table – Jason Koon and Tan Xuan. Koon held 99, and Xuan held KK as the two saw a flop for a single raise. The KQ9 flop spelt danger for Koon, although the ever-popular JT would make a straight, so both players had to be wary with their sets.
Jason checked over to Tan Xuan who put out a c-bet of 330,000 chips, which Jason quickly called. The
hit the turn, changing nothing. Jason checked again, and this time Xuan bet 750,000. After a small think, Jason decided to shove with his set of 9s, and got snap called by the top set of Tan Xuan.Xuan had Jason covered by just 300,000 chips, and only one card could keep Jason in the tournament. The miracle
hit the river, giving Jason quads, and all but eliminating Tan Xuan from the tournament!Jason picked up the rest of his chips a couple of hands later, and with that crushing blow, Tan Xuan was eliminated in 4th place for $292,500.
Lun Loon Eliminated
One player who’s had a breakthrough performance at Triton London is Lun Loon from Malaysia. He’s put in a string of impressive performances in a variety of tournaments in this series and managed to make the final three of this event as well. However, Lun Loon was eliminated in 3rd place for $386,800 when he shoved his AJ into the AK of Kiat Lee. Loon couldn’t improve, setting up a heads-up match between Jason Koon and Kiat Lee.
Heads-Up
After that elimination, we had the juggernaut of Trtion events, Jason Koon, up against the newcomer Kiat Lee. Jason looking to win his ninth title, Kiat looking to win his first. With the chip lead, the momentum, and the experience, it was hard to look past Jason in this heads-up match.
In fact, the match played out exactly as you would have thought – Jason chipping away at Kiat Lee’s stack with well-timed aggression and making the best hand when it counted. It seemed inevitable that Jason would win, and while Kiat Lee was putting up a brave fight, he was only delaying the inevitable.
Eventually, Jason broke through, making a straight on the turn after Kiat Lee got it in with the best hand on the flop to seal an incredible 9th Triton title – his fourth in Short Deck.
Given the standard of Jason’s play, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit double figures in the very near future.
Triton London $60K NLH No Limit Short Deck Hold’em Main Event Final Table Results
Place | Name | Country | Prize (USD) |
1 | Jason Koon | USA | $828,000 |
2 | Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $598,000 |
3 | Lun Loon | Malaysia | $386,800 |
4 | Tan Xuan | China | $292,500 |
5 | Chris Brewer | USA | $226,300 |
6 | Wai Kin Yong | Malaysia | $176,700 |
7 | Masashi Oya | Japan | $140,700 |
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