Jason Koon has just won the first major high roller event of the year after defeating representatives of poker’s best breed in the inaugural PokerStars Championship Bahamas $100,000 Super High Roller. Koon and his opponents made history over the past three days, marking the beginning of the PokerStars Championship era.
The tournament’s winner collected a first-place prize of $1,650,300, accompanied by a shiny PokerStars trophy. Commenting on his victory, Koon said that he was glad to finally win a $100,000 buy-in event. The player had previously won $25,000 and $50,000 high rollers and was utterly happy last night to emerge victorious in the inaugural PokerStars Championship Bahamas Super High Roller.
Seven players returned to the Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis Paradise Island Bahamas Casino on Sunday, all secured with a portion of the $5,239,080 prize pool and all eying the first-place prize. UK’s Charlie Carrel entered the final table as the chip leader.
Defending champion Bryn Kenney, who won the PCA $100,000 Super High Roller at the same host venue last year, was among the finalists. The player started final-day play as the short stack and never improved. He was quickly eliminated by Koon in 7th place for $275,060.
The eventual winner took the chip lead shortly after as Carrel lost some of his chips to Daniel Dvoress and Byron Kaverman.
Connor Drinan was the next to leave the final table. He busted after he lost and all-in confrontation against Carrel. Drinan’s share of the overall prize pool totaled $340,540. Kaverman, Dvoress, and Daniel Colman left the tournament in that succession, scooping $445,320, $576,300, and $759,660, respectively.
That left Koon and Carrel heads-up. Two-handed match started with Carrel holding two times more chips than his final opponent. The young Englishman extended his advantage over the duel’s earlier stages but then lost momentum to Koon. Play on Sunday kicked off at noon local time and it was around 7 pm that the name of the winner became known.
Carrel collected $1,191,900 for his second-place finish. The player was denied another chance to win a major high roller after finishing runner-up to Leon Tsoukernik in the EPT Season 13 Prague €50,000 Super High Roller that took place last month.
Of his final opponent, Koon said that he seemed a really incredible and humble guy. The winner also praised Carrel’s composure and cheerfulness during the heads-up match.
The three-day $100,000 Super High Roller kicked off the first ever PokerStars Championship festival. The event drew 41 unique players and 13 re-entries for a prize pool of $5,239,080.
