Jay “WhoJedi” Newnum is to step away from the poker world in light of allegations that he stole $700 from the dealers tip jars at Foxwoods Connecticut in the lead up to Christmas.
Poker tournament photographer, and videographer, Jay “WhoJedi” Newnum, has issued a statement on his personal blog, in reaction to the allegations that he stole $700 from the dealers tips jar at a Foxwoods property.
The statement (which can be read in full below) doesn’t contain a confession, but instead focuses on his promises to not discuss the incident with anyone, mentions support for the Union President Billy Shea (who was the first person to release news of the story), and ends with his decision to step away from the poker world ‘indefinitely.’
The statement:
First, let me say that it hasn’t been easy to stay silent.
The Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge ended early in the morning on December 16th. After flying home that same day, I agreed that I would not discuss anything with anyone.
I have honored and will continue to honor that commitment, but in light of third-party reports and the subsequent reactions, I wanted to make this limited statement.
I would like to address the negative reaction against certain third parties, particularly Billy Shea, the union president who originally posted the story.
I want to state clearly that any negative reaction against him or attacks against his character has not been condoned by me.
Yesterday, I called Mr. Shea personally. We spoke at length, not about what he had posted, but instead about the reactions from the community. I hold no ill will against him, as he simply did what he felt he needed to do as union president. It was a great conversation with Billy and I do appreciate him taking the time to speak with me.
I have spent a decade as part of the poker community, and have truly come to appreciate this game and the family of people in it.
That being said, it seems for the best that I step away from the poker world indefinitely. I do want to say thank you to my family and my friends, both inside and outside of poker, who have been incredibly supportive during this time.
Finally, even though I won’t be a part of the poker world for now, I’ll still be rooting for the industry to continue to grow, expand, and improve, in all the ways that we know it can.
Jay Newnum
PokerFuse reporter Jeff Walsh has obtained court documents from the Superior Court of New London, Connecticut, that show Newnum was arrested on-site and charged with 5th Degree Larceny on December 16. Newnum then applied for Connecticut’s Accelerated Pretrial Rehabilitation, which was granted on Christmas Eve.
The story first hit the poker forums on January 8 after Billy Shea, President of the union that represents the workforce at Foxwoods Casino, Connecticut, released details of the alleged crime on the Local 2121 Union Facebook Page.
In the post Shea writes, “We had a theft in the Poker Room of tournament tip money by Jay Newmun. He was hired by Foxwoods sometime back as a live video blogger to cover daily poker tournaments. He was caught just before Christmas after video coverage was reviewed and subsequently arrested and charged with the crime of theft after he confessed to the crime.”
He also highlighted the stolen amount of ‘$700’ and then stated, “Mr. Newmun has been employed by the WPT and its imperative that they be informed of his actions and subsequent behavior.”
In the Facebook post Shea had misspelled the perpetrators surname, and also incorrectly asserted that he worked for the WPT when in fact it was the WSOP. There was a vociferous backlash in some quarters of the poker community for this, and Shea went back on to that same Facebook page to apologize for the mistakes he made in the original submission of his statement.
Shea also wrote, “Since the story broke that there was a theft of $700 of dealer tokes in the Poker Room some in the Poker community have doubted the legitimacy of this posting. I have received some very disturbing personal comments and attacks for going the social media route in dispensing this story,” whilst asserting that, “Everything pertaining to this incident, with the exception of his affiliation, is accurate and factual. Some in the poker world have asked me to take down the post because there is a lack of court documents to verify these accusations. I under no circumstance will do so because our Poker dealers have every right to factual information and information in general.”
