The long-awaited match-up between Phil Hellmuth and his latest challenger is in the books and after a dominant performance, West Virginian high roller Jason Koon got the better of the Poker Brat to win $1.6 million.
With 100 investors each taking a piece of Koon on the Pocket Fives staking platform, it was a win for Team Koon as Hellmuth finally lost a pivotal game in the High Stakes Duel format.
Koon Catches Hellmuth’s Early Bluff
Having already beaten Antonio Esfandiari in three matches and doled out the same punishment to long-time frenemy Daniel Negreanu, Hellmuth only lost one match in High Stakes Duel III before facing Koon, to Tom Dwan, winning the rematch to stay in the game. Therefore, in for only $250,000 compared to Koon’s $800,000 and with $1.6 million to take away if he could win, all the pressure was on Hellmuth.
Both men began with a stack of 800,000 chips, playing 1,500/2,500 blinds and the match got off to a fast start, with Hellmuth winning the first pot. The initial stages saw some cat and mouse, with stacks still around level after 30 minutes of play. That was when Hellmuth struck gin on the river after his jack-eight found a runner-runner straight against Koon’s flopped two pair, which had been checked to fifth street. Koon’s river bet of 7,500 was immediately raised to 22,000 by Hellmuth, a bet that was called by Koon, as Hellmuth took a lead of 824,000 to Koon’s 776,000.
The biggest pot of the first hour of play saw Hellmuth get involved in a six-bet pot pre-flop. Jason Koon held pocket aces but it was Hellmuth who made the aggressive five-bet with queen-six off-suit only for Koon’s shove to get an instant fold.
“I guess you had the aces.” quipped the Poker Brat eventually.
“I had a five of diamonds in my hand, Phil.’ Lied Koon. Hellmuth ragged Koon on the amount of patience he didn’t have, and Koon took a lead of over 1 million chips to 565,000 chips. Over the course of the following conversation, both men discussed their actual hands and berated themselves for not getting the best out of the hand.
Hellmuth Throws Away the Advantage
It took another 40 minutes of play, but Hellmuth got back to around level in a hand where his 9♠8♦ played well against Koon’s 6♣2♥ on a board showing 8♠6♦5♠3♣. Hellmuth bet after the turn was folded intelligently by Koon, but the Poker Brat had won back almost all that he had lost, sitting behind 768,000 to Koon’s 832,000.
After that series of small pots, Hellmuth was hoping to grind his way back into the lead, and after he rivered a runner-runner straight with 8♦2♣ on a board of A♣Q♦10♠J♣9♠ against Koon’s J♠9♥ the opportunity to do so presented itself. Koon’s river bet of 4,000 was popped to 9,500 by the Poker Brat, but Koon’s re-raise to a five-figure bet saw Hellmuth literally throw the best hand into the muck.
Rather than taking the lead, Hellmuth had handed it to Koon instead.
The Poker Brat put himself in a few good positions to get it back, but each time, Koon seemed to make great reads. One pot worth 168,000 went the West Virginian’s way when on a board showing 9♥9♣2♠3♣10♥, Hellmuth’s bet of 52,000 on the river with Q♥J♣ was quickly called by Koon with A♦Q♦. Again, Koon had opened up a sizeable gap, that particular hand seeing Koon total up 1,048,000 chips to Hellmuth’s 552,000.
Koon Takes a Big Lead
With over 90 minutes having elapsed, Koon had a 2:1 lead, and it was about to get bigger. Holding only a gut shot with 7♣4♠, Hellmuth went to steal a pot on the turn of a board showing J♦8♦6♣10♣, but Koon had hit top two with J♠10♦ and the Poker Brat’s bet of 62,000 into a pot of 72,000 saw Koon call. The river of a 7♦ only gave Hellmuth fourth pair, and two checks saw Koon take it down again.
“Come on, Phil, just f**king finish this.’ Hellmuth told himself, but the momentum was going in the other direction. More chips bled away from the Californian without showdown, Hellmuth chasing a gutshot wheel draw with ace-four until Koon’s turn bet was enough after he paired up. Down to a 3:1 deficit, Hellmuth reminded himself that he still had 80 big blinds, but time was running out for him to make a push for the lead.
Double or nothing wasn’t the only option to Hellmuth, however, and after rivering trips against Koon’s flopped second pair Hellmuth elicited a fold but chipped up a little after having dropped to a 6:1 underdog. The small pots kept going Koon’s way, however, and with a 15:1 lead, only a great bluff with nine-high on the river saw Hellmuth survive, almost doubling up in the process.
Hellmuth Rages into the Night
With Hellmuth having clawed his way back up to 200,000 in chips, one pot would tip him over the edge just before Koon closed out a memorable victory. On a board of J♦J♣J♥Q♣4♠, Hellmuth – holding K♥2♥ paid off Koon’s river bet with 6♦4♦. Standing up, Hellmuth’s blow-up was building.
“Brace yourselves.” Said Nick Schulman on the PokerGO commentary, and he was – as ever – both correct and hilarious.
“This f**king guy gets away with f**king murder against me, I mean, f**ing murder. What the f**k?! Every time he makes a big raise against me, I know he’s light. He doesn’t know I know that. C’mon, what the f*ck? He cannot win that pot.”
Koon – silent throughout the rant – had won that pot.
Pacing the room, the Poker Brat was back down to 100,000 chips, admitting to himself that ‘I could have raised the turn’. Holding 1.4 million, Koon knew that if he played it right, the end was nigh and Hellmuth was beaten.
All-in soon after with A♦K♣, Hellmuth was ahead of Koon’s Q♣8♦, but only a 2 to 1 favorite and Koon took his chances to shove pre-flop, ‘spinning the wheel’ for the win.
The flop of Q♠10♣4♠ set Hellmuth behind, and the 10♦ turn kept him there. Only an ace, king or jack would save the Poker Brat and it didn’t come on the 3♠ river.
“You were smart to take a shot with queen-eight, because I was going to get it in. Great match, Jason. Wow, that was sick.”
Jason Koon was the picture of class in accepting his opponent’s hand and chatting amiably about the match.
“I ran absurdly well everywhere, all the showdowns I had set after set.”
“I thought you played really well,” admitted Hellmuth with a deal of grace himself. “I didn’t see this coming. What just happened?”
What Happens Next?
Hellmuth has the option of buying back in to take on Koon in a double or nothing rematch for $1.6 million each, but in order to cash out any money at all, Hellmuth now need to win back-to-back games, meaning he’d need to put in a minimum of $1.6 million in the next round and hope he can win two consecutive games against the mighty Jason Koon. Not an easy prospect as a hundred stakers on Pocket Fives saw fit to part with their money for.
Will it be a ‘Rumble with the Jungle’ for £3.2 million, or will the Poker Brat want to make good on his 9-2 record from 11 games and win two more to take home what would equate to his biggest tournament cash of all time? We can’t wait to find out in the next month.
This article originally appeared on PokerStake.com
