With six-figure pay-days from high roller competitions at the Aria ($514,000 and $273,000), and the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in Florida ($ 1million) this year, online poker ace Jason Kroon is proving that he is just as formidable in live tourneys as he is online….and he illustrated that again this weekend in taking down the $25,000 buy-in World Poker Tour Five Diamond High Roller at the Bellagio for a first prize of $412,800.
Kroon bested a field of 43 mainly tough professional players including online high stakes expert Ben Tollarene in the competition. Tollarene made the final table, but busted out at seventh.
When Jan-Eric Schwippert was eliminated at third for $134,160 it looked as if Spanish ace Adrian Mateos would take the winner’s spoils; he had a 4 to 1 lead on heads up opponent Kroon and was enjoying an excellent run.
However, as so often happens in poker, making the game that much more exciting, Kroon started a come-back challenge that saw him reel in Mateos and finally overtake and eliminate him at second for $247,680.
Other final table cashes included some big names in the game:
Anthony Zinno $ 82,560
Grayson Ramage $ 61,920
Claas Segebrecht $ 51,600
Ben Tollerene $ 41,280