Jason Koon Crowned High Stakes Duel 3 Champion

With no challengers stepping up to face him, Jason Koon is crowned the High Stakes Duel 3 champion. Koon wins the $1,600,000 in prize money that he played Phil Hellmuth for and takes home the High Stakes Duel championship belt.

Koon defeated Hellmuth in High Stakes Duel 3 Round 5. Hellmuth elected not to rematch Koon, which opened the door for a new challenger to step up to the plate. The 30-day window passed with no one challenging Koon, meaning Koon is crowned the winner and will walk away as the champion.

After Hellmuth defeated Scott Seiver in High Stakes Duel 3 Round 4, Hellmuth and Seiver were set to square off again in a rematch for Round 5. Seiver backed out, and that opened the door for Koon to step in.

In early December, Koon and Hellmuth took to the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas and each had $800,000 on the line. Koon took the lead early and rode that lead to victory over the 16-time WSOP champion. Hellmuth, who had won two High Stakes Duel belts previously, opted not to continue on and face Koon for a $1,600,000 buy-in, and that ultimately led to time elapsing before Koon was awarded the victory.

During the 2022 PGT season, Koon finished third on the leaderboard behind only Stephen Chidwick and Phil Ivey in the points race. Koon went on to win the season-ending PGT Championship for $500,000. A couple of months before that, in October, Koon won the 2022 Poker Masters $50,000 finale for $666,000.

What’s Next for High Stakes Duel?

With Jason Koon crowned the winner of High Stakes Duel 3, the series will move on to High Stakes Duel 4 and reset to the $50,000 buy-in level of Round 1. With each round, the buy-ins double.

In order to win the High Stakes Duel championship belt, a player must win three consecutive matches in the first four rounds. Starting with Round 4, a player must win two consecutive matches.

Stay tuned to PGT.com and PokerGO on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to learn about who the new contenders will be.

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