2015 WSOP Player to Watch - Mark Newhouse

8 years ago
Beats odds to final table two WSOP MEs in a row, but no farther than 9th
22:38
29 May

The Mark Newhouse story is both incredible and a bit upsetting at the same time. Making it to the final table of the WSOP Main Event two years in a row in this day and age of over 6,000 runners is an achievement almost beyond compare.

Newhouse accomplished the feat in 2013 and 2014, earning $733,224 and $730,725, respectively. While many a player would be ecstatic at those results, Newhouse was obviously disappointed when a semi-bluff with a pair of 10s saw him bounced from the table in 9th place yet again last year.

Part of the problem may be the four-month delay in final table action that the WSOP instituted in 2008. While it leaves the final nine players plenty of time to work on their game in the interim while waiting for November, it may also work against some who happen to be running good or in the proper frame of mind in mid-July when the final table is formed.

While only Newhouse knows if he would rather the WSOP Main Event play on instead of employing the four-month hiatus, it's obvious that he could have done no worse had action continued without the wait. There's arguably too much time for preparation and studying, perhaps leading to anxiety and nervousness that players manage to avoid if the event keeps rolling along like just about every other tournament.

That's not to imply that Newhouse necessarily fell victim to anxiety and didn't actually welcome the respite. Just sayin' that the way it played out certainly makes one wonder.

In any case, the 30-year-old Newhouse has cashed in eight WSOP events since appearing on the live tournament scene nine years ago. Other than the Main Event final tables, he also final tabled a $3,000 Limit Hold'em event in 2006, earning $56,470 for 5th place in the process, the Hendon Mob reported.

Newhouse landed in-the-money in the 2011 Main Event as well, with a 182nd place finish good for $47,107. His best cash to date was topping the field at the 2006 Borgata Poker Open in a $10,000 Championship Event that made Newhouse a millionaire when he took home $1,519,020 in first place prize money.

Incidentally, all WSOP ME final tablists will win at least $1 million in 2015, as the payout structure was changed a bit. The odds of Newhouse landing there again are astronomical, but poker players and fans will be watching.


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Charles is a Chicago native and long time poker player who dusted off his journalism degree and began writing about poker following the events of Black Friday in 2011. He has written for a number of leading poker websites, offering his insights and expertise on subjects ranging from online poker leg...Read more

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