» Jason 'NovaSky' Koon Interview

Jason 'NovaSky/jakoon1985' Koon, 24, is a professional tournament player who resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He started playing poker in 2005 but didn't really jump into it full time until after he had gotten his MBA in 2008. 2009 has been a massive year for Jason. In March, he won the $1K Monday on Full Tilt Poker in March for $93k and took second in the UB $200k. In April, he had his biggest score ever when he won the 2009 PokerStars SCOOP 2k Cubed for $302k and won the Sunday Mulligan. He recently finished third in the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza IV in late November for nearly $62k. He has lifetime winnings of over $900K. What caught my attention to this player was his influence on a friend of mine. He became a mentor of sorts to Vanessa 'PrincessDonk' Peng, leading her from the cash game world into the MTT world with some really nice results. I thought it would be nice to interview each of them to see both sides of the mentor/mentored relationship.

You went to college for 5 years, graduating and earning an MBA. After that you had a nice position with an insurance company. What caused you to give up that security to play poker in the fall of 2008? Are you glad you made that decision?

The next day after I had quit my job I remember waking up with a feeling of relief. I was certain that playing poker was what I needed to be doing. Although I had not had huge results yet, I was very confident in my abilities and work ethic to drive me to becoming a top tier tournament player.

Would you ever consider returning to the business world if poker didn't go well or you got bored?

Sooner or later I will certainly use my business degrees. I doubt I will ever work a "normal" job, but I would love to eventually own or partner in a few business ideas.

Are you glad you stayed in school and got your MBA? Do any of those skills or experience translate to your playing?

Any knowledge one can acquire is going to directly and indirectly benefit them in other ventures. Being in college for five years kept me sharp and forced me to stay on top of things. Playing poker for a living can sometimes leave you in a state of complacency. By developing my skills and work habits college certainly made me a stronger poker player.

Your biggest win, the PokerStars SCOOP victory for over $300k, was a fifteen and a half hour marathon. How do you maintain your focus and energy for that length of time?

Pull up the lobby and see what first place pays! In all seriousness though, I pride myself on staying in great shape. Being fit is extremely important and will help drastically in regards to focus and endurance.

What was that experience like playing such a stacked field?

Playing against strong opponents can be very fun sometimes. It challenges you to think creatively and take different lines in hands. Since your opponents are going to be making little to zero mistakes, you need to manipulate dynamics at the table and take them out of their comfort zone. Overall I would obviously prefer to play soft tournaments but winning such a tough tournament was very gratifying.

In a previous interview, you mentioned that you felt you were a good, but not great player. What makes a great MTT player?

Experience, self-control, ability to adapt, work ethic, creativity, and tenaciousness. Great players need to have all of these attributes. If you are the most talented person in the world but have major tilt issues you will never be great. Regardless how good you are we all know that poker has it's hard times. Being great at poker is so much more than ability and knowledge. The ones who are the best are the ones who are the total package.

I've heard you like HU NLHE SNG's. What about the heads up format do you like and excel at?

Well my roommate and mentor is PureCash25, one of the strongest heads up SNG players in the world. He "excels" at the game, I am still probably a middle of the road heads up player. I just enjoy the change of gears. Since I was lucky enough to live with such a great player I have just bugged him enough to the point where he has taught me. I wouldn't say that I am experienced in them yet, but have had a few days where I have "warred" in the $5500 SNG's, which was very exhilarating.

You play both online and live. Which do you prefer and why?

They both have their pros and cons. I would say overall I purely enjoy live poker more, but online will always be home to me. Live is great because there are added elements into making decisions. Not only do you need to consider everything that you would be considering online (pot odds, sizing, timing), you now have additional information like physical tells and mannerisms to help make your conclusions.

How did you meet Vanessa 'PrincessDonk' Peng?

I believe I met Vanessa through CardRunners.

How and why did you convince her to leave the cash game world behind and focus mainly on tournaments?

I certainly wouldn't take credit for completely convincing her to leave cash for tourneys. I just immediately could tell that she was a very bright, hard working player and would have success playingMTT's. Even though variance is a much great factor in MTT's than in cash, players are typically going to have a much higher r.o.i. playing tournaments.

She credits you with re-invigorating her game and being a positive mentor. What is involved in being a mentor to another player?

Wow, she is giving me lots of credit here, ha. I think overall just sharing your past experiences to help someone who is going through the same issues you have already dealt with. It is crucial to have positive influences in a game that can be so negative sometimes.

Were there particular players that mentored you as you came up in poker?

Yes. I have been very fortunate and have met some very great people in the poker world. When I was in college I met Kenny "Hixx" Hicks. He was nice enough to offer me staking and teaching. He was very influential in my early development. Nick "Purecash25" Rampone is my mentor and teacher. If it weren't for him I certainly wouldn't be doing this interview right now. He not only taught and staked me, but he also offered much needed support and guidance when I was coming up. These guys aren't only my mentors, but also some of my best friends and I feel very blessed to have met them.

Word on the street is that you recently made a new car purchase. Care to share?

Ha, certainly. I recently purchased a new Porsche 911 Carrera S. I love to drive and felt like getting myself an early Christmas present.

What are your future aspirations in the poker world?

The goal is to become a complete poker player. I want to eventually be a force in high stakes cash and learn PLO. I am going to devote the next year to knocking off some major live tournaments and climbing the cash ranks. Guess we will see how it goes!

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions, Jason. Before you go, we have several fun questions inspired by Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio.

What is your favorite fun poker phrase/slang/acronym?

I'm not big on the poker slang, but I guess it would have to be "O Hi!".

If the poker industry disappeared completely, what other career would you most like to attempt?

Probably something in investments.

If you were on death row, what would be your last meal?

Kobe fillet from Prime Steak!

When your poker career is over, what would you most like to be remembered for?

Being one of the greats and also for being a genuinely good person.