Poker Tournament Results

Jess Yawitz

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (September 17, 2005) Another day down, another champion rises to the challenge at Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City. Event five of the 2005 Borgata Poker Open came to a conclusion late in the evening on the second day of the $1,000 buy-in tournament with St. Louis, Mo. Jess Yawitz capturing his first Borgata bracelet and a first prize of $121,210.

Having started playing a little over a year ago, some might be surprised by Yawitz's success, but he proved his win earlier this year at the World Poker Open in Tunica, Ms. was no fluke with this stellar victory.

Yawitz's game was in top form as he outplayed York, Pa.'s John Lakatosh for the title. Lakatosh, who calls Borgata his "home away from home," played the best he could with the cards he was dealt, but simply couldn't withstand Yawitz's strong run of cards at the end of the night.

For Yawitz, his favorite part of the game was the key reason for his success. "I've always had an interest in probability, so I like to gamble and play the odds. I'm sure people have read books and all, but for me, this game is so simple and yet so complex. At some level, this is appealing to me. Where else can you explain a game to someone in fifteen seconds and still have to spend a long time teaching them how complex the game really is?" Lakatosh, who collected $66,470 for his efforts, cited his experiences in sales as the reason for his success. " A career in sales is possibly the best training for poker. I've been in sales for the last thirteen years, meeting thousands of people and learning to read their facial expressions. When you talk to them, determining whether they're going to buy something or not is almost the exact same thing as playing poker."

The tournament’s third place finisher, Warrington Pa.’s Michael Candido collected $33,235 and was possibly the most intriguing story of the event. Candido won his entry into the $1,000 buy-in by winning a $100 satellite the day before. This professed home-game hero explained that his work in real estate gives him an edge over other players. “It’s an action thing. I think that’s the correlation for me. It’s all about risk. There is such an adrenalin rush and plus, you’re working for yourself. There are big risks, but there are big rewards if you hit.”