Poker Tournament Results

Caesars Las Vegas Poker Tournament - WSOP Circuit Event

Jason Newitt

Tournament Report

Poker Aficionado J.D. Newitt Wins Gold Ring at Caesars Palace Longtime tournament insider earns his biggest payday yet -- $71,439 on the World Series of Poker Circuit Las Vegas, NV - Jason 'J.D.' Newitt has been a familiar face on the poker tournament scene for years. As a consultant and public relations specialist, Newitt has traveled around the world attending many of poker's most prestigious events. While doing so, he has become accustomed to seeing other top players in the spotlight. This time, Newitt took center stage. He won the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which is part of the World Series of Poker Circuit. In doing so, Newitt proved once and for all he is every bit as talented as those players he often deals with on a daily basis - names and faces every poker fan would recognize. Perhaps this victory will be the start of a new career for Newitt. A lesser known fact is, prior to getting involved in poker, Newitt worked on several television productions. Most notably, he was an editor on the hit series, 'That 70's Show.' In fact, his early affection for poker found its way onto the studio set one day, prompting a sort of 'butterfly effect' which ignited greater celebrity interest in poker. Four years ago, triggered in part by some of the games where Newitt played, 'That 70s Show' stars Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson, and Laura Prepon entered in the 2004 World Series of Poker. Scores of movie stars, sports figures, and celebrities have since discovered the excitement of tournament poker. As the eleventh event on this year's Caesars WSOPC schedule, this tournament attracted a strong turnout of 491 players. The total prize pool came to $238,135. After 482 players were eliminated during initial levels, the final nine players began play with John Curtis in the chip lead with 340,000. J.D Newitt was close behind with 319,000. Louis Lee was in third place with 271,000. All remaining players had 148,000 or less. Two former WSOP gold bracelet winners were made final table appearances - Men 'the Master' Nguyen and Reza Payvar. The exact starting chip counts were as follows: Seat 1: Sam Petitti 100,000 Seat 2: Louis Lee 271,000 Seat 3: David Fox 56,000 Seat 4: J.D. Newitt 319,000 Seat 5: Reza Payvar 57,000 Seat 6: John Curtis 340,000 Seat 7: Trevor Thomas 143,000 Seat 8: Allan Booth 74,000 Seat 9: Men Nguyen 148,000 Opening blinds were 4,000-8,000 with 1,000 antes. No one could have possibly predicted the lightening-fast pace which followed. Clocking in at mind-blowing time, one hour and 27 minutes, this was the quickest final table of any Circuit event (anywhere) held this year. (Note: The all-time WSOPC record was set at Harrah's New Orleans in 2006, where one final tabled lasted just an hour and 10 minutes) 9th Place - On the third hand of play, short-stacked David Fox was eliminated when he moved all-in with K-Q before the flop. J.D. Newitt woke up with A-K and called the raise. The final board showed 8-6-3-2-K giving Newitt top pair. Meanwhile, David Fox hit the rail as the ninth-place finisher. The Texan collected $4,763 in prize money. 8th Place - The chip lead would change five times in the next hour. The first time was when Trevor Thomas doubled up against John Curtis, leaving J.D. Newitt as the king of the mountain -- at least temporarily. A few hands later, two former WSOP champions went head to head, with Reza Payvar taking a tough beat. He moved all-in pre-flop with pocket queens and was called down by Men Nguyen in the big blind, showing the J-7 of spades. Normally, flopping a queen here would be a good thing for Payvar. But in this case the flop came K-Q-10, with two spades. Nguyen not only had a spade draw, he also was drawing to an outside straight. A nine of spades on the turn gave Nguyen his flush, with a redraw to the straight flush. Payvar desperately needed the board to pair. But a harmless three fell on the river, ending the night for the former WSOP event winner. Payvar won his gold bracelet in Limit Hold'em back in 2000. Eighth place paid $7,144. 7th Place - Hand number 17 was memorable. The chip lead changed for the second time when John Curtis broke two players. It started when Allan Booth (K-9), Sam Petetti (K-Q), and John Curtis (Q-Q) went to war in a three way pot. When five low cards hit the board, Curtis took 300,000 in chips with his pocket ladies. Curtis had more than enough chips to cover both his opponents. By virtue of chip counts, Canadian player Allan Booth was awarded seventh place, which paid $9,525. 6th Place - Also busting out, Sam Petetti ended up in sixth place. The financial advisor from central New Jersey collected $11,907. Curtis' position atop the poker mountain lasted only one hand. On deal 19, Men Nguyen was dealt J-J and re-raised all-in against Trevor Thomas, with the A-K of clubs. Thomas called. When the final board showed 10-2-2-8-7, Nguyen scooped the pot. Nguyen held the only spade in his hand and seized the 190,000 pot when four spades fell. For the first time in the tournament, Nguyen was the chip leader. Meanwhile, Trevor Thomas was down to less than 100,000 in chips. 5th Place - Next, Louis Lee made a move when he was dealt A-K and had Trevor Thomas covered. Thomas was all-in with A-7 suited. The final board showed J-J-10-3-Q, giving Lee a Broadway straight. Thomas, a sales executive for Las Vegas' Ferrari dealership ended up in fifth place, which paid $14,288 - not quite enough to buy a 512 Testarosa. 4th Place - Chip lead change number four took place when Men Nguyen took a serious blow. He re-raised all-in before the flop with A-Q suited only to get called by John Curtis, with A-K. Instantly, Nguyen realized he had overplayed his hand. A king on the flop only added to Nguyen's anguish. 330,000 in lost chips later, Nguyen was down to just a few thousand in his stack. He went out shortly thereafter on the 25th hand of play. The six-time WSOP gold bracelet winner collected $16,669 for fourth place, 3rd Place - About an hour into play, J.D. Newitt made what turned out to be both a risky and momentous decision. He semi-bluffed -- by making an all-in bet on a straight draw -- with K-4 after the flop came 5-3-2. John Curtis had Q-2 (for a pair of twos) and saw through the move. He called. Curtis ended up making the correct decision, but was flustered to see a 6 come on the turn, completing Newitt's straight. Chip lead change number five thus eliminated John Curtis, an airline manager from Staten Island, NY. He flew off with $19,051 in prize money. 2nd Place - When heads-up play commenced with a sizable gallery watching, J.D. Newitt enjoyed a formidable chip advantage over Louis Lee -- 1,238,000 to 261,000. But there would be no more chip-lead changes. Before the two players could settle in their seats the tournament ended in exhilarating fashion. On the tournament's final hand, Newitt was dealt 10-9. Lee was dealt 10-7. After the turn showed 10-7-4-2, Lee moved all-in (with two pair). Newitt called (with one pair). It appeared as though Lee might double up. Then, a nine rained down on the river, destroying Lee's dreams of staging a comeback, and making a champion of Newitt. Tens over nines bested tens over sevens, and the latest event at Caesars came to a close. As runner up, Louis Lee collected $38,340. Lee lives in the Dallas suburb of Plano. He also took second place in the main event at last year's United States Poker Championships in Atlantic City. 1st Place - J.D. Newitt received first-place prize money totaling $71,439. He was also presented with the WSOP Circuit gold ring, awarded to all event champions at this year's series. Prior to this victory, Newitt's biggest tournament win had been an Omaha High-Low event at The Venetian. With this win at Caesars, he now has $100,000 in winnings for the year.