In what turned out to be another marathon affair, Jason Koon emerged victorious in Heat 2 of the partypoker Premier League VII last night at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and also took possession of the overall lead.
Heat 1 on Wednesday, at 236 hands, proved to be the longest heat in the history of the Premier League and, from the start, it seemed Thursday’s combatants – Jonathan Duhamel, Phil Laak, Vanessa Selbst, defending champion Dan Shak (all in their first heat), Dan ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Brian Rast, Scott Seiver and Koon (all playing their second heat) – looked like they wanted to challenge that not-even 24 hour old record. It would take 43 hands for the first elimination to be made and, once it came, it was in a dramatic fashion.
Shak and Cates went to battle pre-flop with all the chips going to the center and Shak at risk for his tournament life. He was in fantastic shape, however, as his pocket Aces were an overwhelming leader against Cates’ K-9. That situation completely turned on the flop, though, when Cates was able to catch two pair. After not seeing the turn or river provide a board pair or another Ace, the defending champion was left muttering to himself as he departed the heat in eighth place (0 points).
Soon after Shak’s departure, Selbst – who had bled chips around the table – would also find herself headed for the exit at the hands of Rast. Those two eliminations brought the table down to six, with Seiver holding down the lead (the beneficiary of some of Selbst’s chips) and Cates holding second place.
Koon would get into the game in a monumental hand that had drama on every street. With a 4♦ 7♦ K♦ flop on the felt, Seiver would bet out 32,000 in chips which Koon immediately popped to 78K and Seiver calmly made the call. On a 9♠ turn, Koon suddenly moved all in and, just as quickly, Seiver made the call. When the hands were revealed, it was obvious why both men were betting so aggressively: Koon had hit a set with his pocket Kings, but that was vanquished by Seiver’s 10♦ 8♦ for the flush.
With one card to come, Koon was in some difficulty. He held approximately a 23% chance of taking down the hand, but he needed the case King, a four, a seven or a nine to be able to top Seiver’s flopped flush (ten outs). When the river 7♣ hit the table, Koon had found his miracle card to make a boat to take down the massive pot and the chip lead along with it.
Koon would maintain that lead for about a dozen hands until Cates and Duhamel decided to test each other. On a 6-5-J-9-Q board, Cates would push all in on a bluff with absolutely nothing (Cates held a 7-4) and Duhamel would nearly beat him into the pot with enough to call. Showing down his 8-7 for the turned straight, Duhamel would scoop in the chips and take the lead while Cates fell to the basement of the leaderboard as the players took a dinner break.
Following some sustenance, the six remaining players came back with a vengeance. Cates doubled up through Duhamel almost immediately, then Seiver took over the lead by a wide margin after battling Koon, Laak and Duhamel for a 291K chip pot. Cates doubled again through Duhamel, his A-K outracing Duhamel’s pocket tens on an A-6-8-8-6 board to put Duhamel on life support. Duhamel fought back within ten hands, however, doubling through Koon’s pocket Queens when Duhamel’s iffy Q♣ 5♣ stunningly found a flush by the river on a 7♣ Q♠ 5♦ K♣ 3♣ board and getting a second double when his pocket eights outran Laak’s A-Q.
The frenetic pace continued as Duhamel surprisingly climbed back into the chip lead. He would knock Laak out, his pocket Kings staying ahead of Laak’s pocket nines and, after taking another pot off of Seiver, Duhamel was in a dominant chip lead with five players left. That would last all of seven hands, however, as Cates got a double through the former World Champion (his A-K outpipping Duhamel’s A-10) to move atop the ladder.
It would take another 21 hands, but Seiver would then go on the attack and supplant Cates atop the standings after Seiver eliminated Rast in fifth place. Cates would never get back into the battle, eventually dropping out in fourth, as Seiver and Koon were within 30K in chips of each other and Duhamel a wide distance back. Seventeen hands later, Duhamel’s stirring run was cut down by Koon, his pocket sixes outlasting Duhamel’s A-J, to set up the heads up match between Seiver and Koon.
Seiver held a 300K chip lead at the start of heads up action, but Koon was able to grind his way back into the lead over a 45-hand battle. On Hand 228, the chips went to the center with Koon’s A-8 overmatching Seiver’s Q-8 and Seiver’s game on the line. The Q-8-J flop immediately switched the tables to give Seiver the lead, but an Ace on the turn reversed that situation. Looking for one of the two Queens remaining in the deck, Seiver instead saw a six hit the river to fall in second place and lock the win up for Koon.
1. Jason Koon – 14 points
2. Scott Seiver – 11 points
3. Jonathan Duhamel – 9 points
4. Dan Cates – 7 points
5. Brian Rast – 5 points
6. Phil Laak – 3 points
7. Vanessa Selbst – 1 point
8. Dan Shak – 0 points
In addition to banking the Heat 2 win, Koon also assumed the lead in the overall standings:
1. Jason Koon (2 of 4 heats played) – 17 points
2. Dan Cates (2/4) – 16 points
3. Jeff Gross (1/4) – 14 points
4. Scott Seiver (2/4) – 11 points
(tie) Dan Colman (1/4) – 11 points
6. Jonathan Duhamel (1/4) – 9 points
7. Sorel Mizzi (1/4) – 7 points
8. Brian Rast (2/4) – 6 points
Friday’s Heat 3 action will bring Koon back to the table for a third consecutive day as he looks to extend his Premier League lead against Gross, who is also looking for a second heat victory. They will be joined by Duhamel, Mizzi, Shak, Laak, Selbst and Colman when the cards hit the felt later this afternoon.