Not to sound too morbid, but once Jason Koon is ready to leave this earth he will want to bequeath a great many things for his children, and in a few days, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet may be amongst those many, many trinkets.
Koon ranked #9 in the All-Time Money List for live tournaments currently leads the final nine players in a misted window of a $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Poker Players Championship. The event attracted 407-entrants like robin nests attract cuckoos, and courtesy of the $10m GTD, Koon stands to collect $1.8m if he can put eight more players into their graves.
Koon is the most experienced WSOP practitioner at the final with double-digit final tables appearances. The closest the West Virginian has come to winning poker’s top prize came in 2012 when he finished runner-up to Leif Force in a $3,000 Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha Mix.
As you would expect, we have a final table testament to the price tag.
Shankar Pillai is attempting to win his third bracelet after winning a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em in 2007, and the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em reserved for bracelet winners in 2019.
Christian Rudolph is making his fourth final table and was runner-up to Michael Addamo in a €25,000 No Limit Hold’em in the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE)
Aram Zobian finished sixth in the 2018 WSOP Main Event, and Chris Hunichen makes his fourth WSOP final table, including a runner-up finish to Nadar Kakhmazov in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em at the 2017 WSOP.
Here are the final table chip counts.
Final Table Chip Counts
- Jason Koon – 7,863,055
- Shankar Pillai – 6,875,234
- Christian Rudolph – 5,544,188
- Aram Zobian – 4,405,440
- Chris Hunichen – 4,175,274
- Aleksejs Ponakovs – 3,883,951
- Aliaksei Boika – 3,297,276
- Paulius Plausinaitis – 2,905,555
- Brunno Botteon – 1,750,027
And those payouts.
Payouts
- $1,800,290
- $1,332,097
- $979,138
- $719,700
- $529,005
- $388,837
- $285,808
- $210,079
- $154,416
Nick Maimone Wins Event #69: $1,500 Marathon No Limit Hold’em
Former high stakes star, Nick Maimone, is a WSOP bracelet winner.
Maimone conquered a field of 1,438 entrants after more than 13 hours of play. The philanthropist poker pro had earned $2.2m playing live, with close to half of that coming in 2016 when he won the $25,000 High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in 2016 for a million bucks, beating Sean Winter and Dario Sammartino, three-handed.
Maimone has two previous cashes in the GGPoker Series, finishing 446/12757 in the $400 COLOSSUS and 24/3247 in the $8,000 No Limit Hold’em Asia Championships. In 2009, Maimone got down to the final three tables of the WSOP Main Event finishing 15th.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
- Nick Maimone – $302,4722*
- Diego Bittar – $228,212
- Giovani Torre – $165,613
- Nikolay Motsenko – $120,186
- Sebastian Sikorski – $87,219
- Ermo Kosk – $63,295
- Murilo Nascimento – $45,933
- Erik Lemarquand – $33,334
- Bert Stevens – $24,190
- Also receives a $15,00 WSOPE package