Late last year, Jason Koon wrote a note not only to himself, but also suggested “maybe some of you need to read it too.”
The message was clear, don’t let darkness and self-loathing control your life. Instead, be kind to yourself and keeping moving forward. It was philosophical, but it wasn’t just lip service. For anyone who knows him, Koon lives it every day, not only as one of the world’s best poker players, but as a devoted husband and father.
Since Koon shared his message with the world, he’s amassed more than $6.9 million in earnings according to the Hendon Mob. That includes a half dozen six-figure scores and a pair of seven-figure wins, including $3,393,656 for winning the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro $150,000 NLH 8-Handed just days before the 2025 World Series of Poker (WSOP) began.
Just over two weeks later, he won again, this time claiming his second gold bracelet. On June 11, Event #32: $50,000 High Roller – which attracted 171 entries and awarded an $8,122,500 prize pool – saw Koon overcome a stacked final table that included Viktor Blom, Brock Wilson, Ben Tollerene, and Andrew “Lucky Chewy” Lichtenberger.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jason Koon | United States | $1,968,927 |
| 2 | Andrew Lichtenberger | United States | $1,312,610 |
| 3 | Ben Tollerene | United States | $914,634 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | United States | $650,074 |
| 5 | Sergey Lebedev | United Kingdom | $471,473 |
| 6 | Viktor Blom | Sweden | $349,068 |
| 7 | Reagan Silber | United States | $263,944 |
| 8 | Aliaksei Boika | Belarus | $203,919 |
“It was awesome. 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,” Koon told PokerNews. “It was a really stacked final table. It was grueling because it was super hot and high pressure, and all the things I liked. The harder the better. I really liked it.”
The win also bumped Koon up to $66,082,381 in lifetime tournament earnings according to the Hendon Mob, which moved him third on the all-time money list ahead of Justin Bonomo ($65,611,097) and behind only Bryn Kenney ($77,225,279) and Stephen Chidwick ($66,572,758).
“I don't really pay attention to it,” said Koon, who sits atop the Hendon Mob’s West Virginia all-time money list, just $63 million ahead of Taylor Wilson ($2,808,659). “I know it's one of those things that it's pretty likely I'll be up there until I stop playing because I play all the big giants, but I do play less volume than a lot of other players.”
When Koon won his first bracelet at the 2021 WSOP in Event #11: $25,000 Heads-Up Championship, he won six straight matches – he bested Chris Brewer, Nicolai Morris, Johannes Becker, Jake Daniels, Henri Puustinen, and Gabor Szabo enroute to victory – to claim a $243,981 top prize. He did so while sporting the patch of an online site he’s since departed.
Not only that, last November during the NAPT that was held just down the street at Resorts World, Koon joined forces with PokerStars, becoming a member of their prestigious Team Pro. It was a full-circle moment for Koon, who first signed up to play online poker at PokerStars almost 20 years ago to the day.
"I honestly didn't think I would do another ambassadorship role," Koon said at the time. "I'm really loving being with my two boys and my wife, and I still play poker a ton, you know, I travel for the super high rollers, and I play cash games a bunch with my friends here in America. But, it needed to be something that I would do that was worth my time, and I'm already a pretty busy guy."
"The team at Stars, a lot of the people here I've known for a decade or more, and we have just aligned for so many reasons."
He added: “The team at Stars, a lot of the people here I've known for a decade or more, and we have just aligned for so many reasons. One, being a part of North American poker is so exciting.”
Well, that alignment paid big dividends not only for Koon financially thank to his bracelet win, but also in exposure for PokerStars on poker’s grandest stage.
“See, you got some advertising,” Koon joked when asked about his new sponsor’s faith in him. It was another feather in the cap for PokerStars for the summer after announcing a deal with PokerGO in which the online site sponsored coverage.
In other news, the 2025 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame were recently released and included Phil Galfond, Nick Schulman, and Scott Seiver, all first-time nominees after turning 40 and becoming eligible.
Why wasn’t Koon on the list? Well, he’s not 40, and least not quite yet. He will actually hit the big 4-0 on August 14, meaning come next summer he’ll be eligible and no double be on the crowded list of nominees.
“I would love to be honored to be a part of that,” Koon said when asked if PHoF is on his mind. “You know, it's not something I've really considered as a possibility, but the career has gone pretty well, so we'll see what the people in there think.”
In another fun story involving Koon, on Day 1 of Event #46: $250,000 Super High Roller, a tournament that drew 63 entries, he made a special gift to Seth Davies.
“I just have this funny denim jacket that's got sharks all over it, and Seth's nickname is Shark, and every time he sees me wearing it, he's like, ‘Man, I've got to get a shark jacket.’ And I told him I said, ‘When you win a really big tournament, I'll buy you the shark jacket.’ And he won a big tournament last month, so I had to buy him one.”
https://twitter.com/crichards1995/status/1934333444873748851
The big win Koon referenced was when Davies took down the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro $50,000 NLH 8-Handed for $1,490,741. Two days later, he’d finish runner-up in the $200K Triton Invitational for what was then a career-high $4,190,000. Little did anyone know that less than a month later, Davies would top it by winning the 2025 WSOP $250K Super High Roller for $4,752,551 and his first gold bracelet.
After his victory, Davies addressed the gift, which will no doubt become his lucky jacket.
“He showed up in Korea and he had just gotten that jacket. 'Shark' is the nickname that he kind of gave me, and he let me borrow it. I couldn't wear it on the final table because it was so hot up here, I just couldn't wear a jacket, but you know that was super cool and it actually means a lot to me.”
When it comes to the hottest poker players in the world right now, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone on more fire than Koon and Davies – and the year is only half done!
For those wondering, here is what Koon said in full back on December 20, 2024:
The darkness you carry inside is lying. It’s tricked you into believing it’s a superpower. When you mess up, the shame and anger you feel towards yourself burn a memory into your mind so that you will never repeat the same mistake. For this reason, your self-loathing creates a mirage that its existence is a part of who you are, and you can’t be you without it. It’s your secret weapon, your edge! The truth of it all is it’s nothing more than a parasite. Sucking you dry, stealing your presence, and forcing you to burn energy that could be spent on building a flourishing existence for you and your loved ones. Fight the darkness, be kind to yourself, and keep moving forward.
For more on Koon, follow him on X at @JasonKoon.
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