Jason Koon Wins Big at Doug Polk's Expense on High Stakes Hybrid Day 2

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Oct 12, 2017 7 min read

Day 2 of the High Stakes Hybrid cash game on Poker After Dark was streamed live on PokerGO Wednesday evening and six players from Day 1 returned — Doug Polk, Jason Koon, Mike Baxter, Brian Rast, Dan Shak and Brandon Steven. In this new format, players buy in for $100,000 and blinds start at $200/$400, increasing three times, every 90 minutes, during the session to end at $600/$1,200. Unique from most other cash games, this one players are not allowed to re-buy or add on.

Unlike the first session on Tuesday where only one of seven players was eliminated on the night, Koon's early prediction on Day 2 that "There's gonna be some blood today" rang true, with half of the players being felted before night's end. There was plenty of action throughout with big swings for many players, especially Koon and Polk who clashed in some big pots throughout the day.

The tone of the game was set early when Rast tried to come after Polk with 4♠2♠:

Shak Falls First

Day 1's big winner Shak took an early hit from Baxter and then ran into Polk's set to make him the first to hit the rail.

In one of the early pots of the session, Koon opened to $1,200 on the button with Q♠8♣ and got calls from Baxter in the small blind with Q♣10♥ and Shak in the big blind holding J♥10♠. The flop came 9♦J♠3♠ and it checked to Koon, who continued for $2,400. After a call by Baxter, Shak check-raised to $8,000. Koon folded and Baxter called with his open-ended straight draw.

Both players checked the 4♠ turn and the 8♥ on the river gave Baxter the nut straight. He led out for $12,000 and Shak paid it off, putting him in the hole early in the game.

A little while later with blinds still at $200/$400, Steven put out a blind raise to $1,200 under the gun in lieu of a live straddle, which is prohibited in this game format. The dead raise was followed by plenty of action, and two players ended up playing a perhaps much bigger pot than they normally would have.

Polk was next to act after Steven and he three-bet to $3,000 with 3♠3♥. Koon called on the button with 5♦5♥, Shak called in the big blind with K♣Q♠ and Steven came along with J♥2♣. The flop was 3♦K♠7♥ giving Shak a pair of kings but bottom set for Polk.

Action checked to Polk and he bet $4,100. Koon got out of the way and Shak check-raised to $11,000. After Steven folded, Polk called. The 9♥ turn had Shak drawing dead, unbeknownst to him. He bet another $20,000 and Polk called. On the 9♦ river, Shak moved in for $45,600 and Polk called with his full house to put him up big early on, sending Shak to an early Day 2 exit.

Polk Gets the Best of Baxter

With blinds at $300/$600, Baxter raised to $1,700 from the cutoff with K♣9♠ and Polk three-bet to $6,500 in the big blind with A♣J♦. Baxter called and they both checked the 10♣7♣K♠ flop and the Q♦ turn, Baxter holding top pair and Polk with Broadway for the nuts. The river was the K♥, giving Baxter trips. Polk checked, Baxter bet $11,700, and Polk raised to $47,000. After calling, Baxter was left with just under the $100,000 starting stack and Polk was well above $200,000.

Koon's Comeback Commences at Polk's Expense

With Koon getting short and Polk up a lot, the tides began to change. In the second level of play with blinds at $300/$600, action folded to the blinds and Polk completed with 7♥7♣. Koon in the big blind raised to $2,500 with 8♠8♥ and Polk moved all in for $28,800 effective. Koon called for his remaining stack and had Polk in bad shape.

Polk was not happy to see Koon had him notched, but the 10♠7♠J♥ gave Polk a set to take the lead. The next card was the 8♦ to give Koon a bigger set, and Polk was drawing thin. The 6♥ completed the board and Koon got the double up.

Later, in one of the biggest pots of the night, Koon three-bet to $6,200 in the cutoff with A♠K♦ after Polk opened under the gun with A♥Q♣. It folded back to Polk, who four-bet to $16,500 and Koon called. They took a flop of J♥2♣J♦ with neither player connecting. Polk check-called a small bet of $7,000 from Koon and the turn brought the 6♠. Polk checked again and Koon checked back.

The river was the K♣, giving Koon two pair, kings and jacks with an ace kicker. Polk led out for $32,200 and Koon quickly called to take down a pot worth $113,400. After being short-stacked not long before, Koon was up to $171,000 after that hand, while Polk dropped down to $189,000.

Steven Cracks Polk's Aces to Double Up

After a raise to $2,100 from Steven under the gun with K♦K♣, Polk three-bet to $6,500 with A♥A♦ in the cutoff. Back on Steven, he four-bet to $17,700. Polk flat-called and the K♠Q♦J♦ flop brought Steven top set to take the lead. He bet out $21,700, Polk moved all in for $60,300 effective with Steven covered, and Steven snap-called.

Despite running it twice, Polk could not catch up on either runout and Steven got the double up to put him in the black, Polk taking another hit to his stack.

You can watch a clip of the hand below.

Baxter Busts

Polk opened on the button with A♣J♥ and Baxter moved all in for around $20,000 with A♥8♦. Polk called to put Baxter at risk and they decided to run two full boards. The first board of Q♦8♠J♠2♠5♦ went to Polk, as did the second board of Q♥A♠9♠5♥6♠. Baxter was eliminated for the second time in two days and play was down to four-handed.

Polk Felted by Koon in Final Hand

Another set-up hand developed in the final hand of the night with blinds at $600/$1,200 and once again, it involved Polk and Koon, two big stacks. Polk raised to $3,000 on the button with Q♦Q♣ to see Koon bump it up to $13,200 from the small blind. After Rast folded his big blind, Polk four-bet to $38,000 and Koon called. Both players had right around $150,000 behind, Koon with slightly more than Polk.

The flop came 9♣3♦2♦ and after Koon checked, Polk continued for $23,000. After several seconds, Koon announced all-in and Polk couldn’t get the chips in fast enough. Needless to say, he was highly disappointed to see Koon’s aces and they decided to run it twice.

“Man, really?” Polk let out a sigh.

The 9♦ turn on the first board gave Polk some hope and he pleaded for another diamond. “Just chop it up. Chop-chop,” but the 10♣ river was of no help. The second turn gave Polk another diamond sweat with the K♦, but it was followed by the blank 3♥ and Polk’s day was done.

You can watch the hand posted by PokerGO on Twitter.

After two full doubles through Polk, including the $371,400 pot in the final hand of the night, Koon ended Day 2 as the biggest winner, finishing up $277,000. The only other winner on the night was Steven, who booked a win of $59,700.

Rast finished the session down $36,800 while half of the players lost the full $100,000 buy-in – Shak, Baxter and Polk.

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PokerGO put out an announcement on Twitter today that the third day of High Stakes Hybrid that was scheduled for today at 6 p.m. EDT has been canceled.

You can purchase a subscription for PokerGO here to catch all the livestreamed action. Also, keep following PokerNews for the latest updates on Poker After Dark and other events streamed on PokerGO.

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• Tags Jason Koon Doug Polk Brian Rast Dan Shak Brandon Steven Mike Baxter
• Related Players Dan ShakBrian RastJason KoonBrandon StevenDoug PolkMike Baxter