The 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Event #22 $5,250 Championship that kicked off on August 13, attracted 847 entrants who had a guaranteed prize pool of $5,000,000. After three days of play, Jason Koon emerged victorious to collect $1,000,000 of the accumulated prize pool after defeating Seth Davies, a close friend of his.
Right after the victory, the champion shared that his participation in the tournament was a special moment in his life. He also added that he felt fantastic and was pleased with the end result and the amount of money he received for his efforts.
The Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open is one of the most anticipated poker events and the venue where it is held becomes a meeting point of players from all over the world.
As many as 150 players made it to the money bubble and took a part of the guaranteed $5 million prize pool. The nine players who made it to the Final Table secured a seat at Seminole Hard Rock’s The Big 4. The four events are livestreamed around the world.
As for Koon’s performance on the final table, he started Day 3 as a chip leader. His close friend, Seth Davies, who became a runner-up, started the final Day fourth in chips. Before the tournament, they were hoping and even laughing at the opportunity to make it to heads-up play between one another. It was exactly what happened and Koon said it was a surreal moment as they were actually involved in a heads-up play against each other and the trophy was sitting between them.
Koon and Davies met five years ago and used to be roommates. Davies said that Koon was not only his friend but also a mentor in life who helped him grow as a person and as a poker player. It seems he was a quick learner as he captured the WPT title in May. He also won the SHRPO Event 17 ($1,100 Six-Max NLHE) a few days ago.
The other players who formed the final table were Tim Burt, who finished third and pocketed $310,000, followed by Roman Valerstein who was sent home with $220,000 of the accumulated prize pool. The 5th ,6th , and 7th places were occupied by Tom Midena, Joe Serock, Paul Balzano. The final nine was rounded out by Ryan Fair and Zo Karim who finished 8th and 9th and collected $100,000 and $75,000, respectively.
- Author
Harry Evans
