Koon Hands Hellmuth His Second Defeat on High Stakes Duel II

Summary

• Jason Koon outclassed Phil Hellmuth in Round 5 of High Stakes Duel III for $1.6M
• Hellmuth’s aggressive strategy didn’t work in his latest match
• Hellmuth has the option to challenge Koon to a rematch

Round 5 of High Stakes Duel III didn’t turn out well for Phil Hellmuth after it gave him his second loss on the show, courtesy of Jason Koon.

The “Poker Brat” once again adopted an aggressive play style during the match on December 7 but Koon launched an effective counterattack with some amount of luck which all worked to his advantage.

Koon Dominates Round 5 of High Stakes Duel III

Round 5 of the latest series of High Stakes Duel saw Koon putting in $800,000 as buy-in. Hellmuth wasn’t required to do the same after winning his previous match against Scott Seiver for $800,000 which went directly into the pot. Had the “Poker Brat” won against Koon, he would have had the option to decline a rematch and take the $1.6 million prize.

 

Hellmuth is well-known for claiming surprise victories. Just when you thought he could not win, the 16-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet champion would just do his thing and ultimately shatter your expectations. This had been the case when he emerged victorious against Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu on the same show. But the exact opposite happened in his latest match as Koon outclassed him all throughout, ending the game in less than two-and-a-half hours.

The “Poker Brat” had gotten off to a bad start in Round 5 of High Stakes Duel III. Less than an hour into the match, he lost nearly 40% of his starting stack to Koon after engaging in a pre-flop raising battle. While he managed to recover at some point, Koon was just unstoppable.

After two hours, Koon was already ahead by a significant margin. The 7-1 chip lead proved insurmountable as the high-stakes pro kept getting great hands that were too difficult to beat, while Hellmuth seemed stuck on the other end. On the final hand, the “Poker Brat” pushed all of his remaining chips in the middle with ace-king versus the queen-eight of Koon.

The GGPoker ambassador’s poker hand improved to a pair after a queen showed up on the flop. Hellmuth was unable to find any help on the turn or river, and just like that, the game was officially over.

Will Hellmuth Agree to a Rematch?

Before his match against Koon, Hellmuth had a 9-1 record on High Stakes Duel, losing only to Tom Dwan. That becomes 9-2 now after Koon dealt him his second defeat.

Koon cannot take the money just yet as he still needs to win two straight matches. Hellmuth can challenge Koon to a rematch, but if he decides otherwise, Koon will face a new opponent.