On October 27th, one man made history at Foxwoods, the site of the World Poker Tour’s World Poker Finals. In the days leading up to the WPT’s televised championship event, a series of preliminary tournaments have been held. Winning a preliminary tournament three years in a row by taking another one down in 2008 was poker writer, talk show host, and Poker News Daily contributor Bernard Lee, who captured victory in a $600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Shootout for nearly $23,000.
Lee was the chip leader entering final table play and never looked back. He bested a field of 330 entrants en route to a win in three straight years at the World Poker Finals. In 2006, he took down a $5,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event. One year ago, he emerged victorious in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament. Lee has logged four final tables in major tournaments during the 2008 calendar year.
In addition to his poker skills, Lee may be more well-known for his book, “The Final Table.” Volume I of this wildly successful book came out in July and Volume II is slated to be released in time for the holidays. “The Final Table” is a compilation of hands from live tournaments, either played by Lee himself or another well-known poker pro, that were run as part of a column that appeared in the Boston Herald. Next to the description of each hand is analysis. After hoards of fans kept asking Lee if he sold past versions of his popular newspaper column, he decided to author a book and “The Final Table” was born.
Lee hosts “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” on Rounder’s Radio and 1510 AM The Zone in his hometown of Boston. The show airs live at 6:00pm ET on Tuesday nights and repeats at 3:00pm ET on Wednesdays and 2:00pm ET on Sundays on Rounder’s Radio.
His poker accolades include a 13th place in the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event, cashing for $400,000. That tournament was won by Australian Joe Hachem, who burst onto the poker scene and became the third straight WSOP Main Event champion to represent PokerStars.
His $5,000 buy-in tournament at the World Poker Finals in 2006 was worth a healthy $368,919. His win one year later at the Connecticut casino earned him an additional $239,143. He made the final table and finished sixth in a $1,000 buy-in preliminary event at Harrah’s Atlantic City in 2006 for just over $11,000 and finished fourth in the $5,000 buy-in Circuit Championship at Horseshoe Council Bluffs for $37,965. In a $1,060 buy-in event at Caesars Indiana in April, he landed in second place to Dale Robinson, taking home over $40,000 for his efforts.
In addition to authoring a monthly article right here on Poker News Daily, Lee also produces content for ESPN’s Poker Club. You can also find him teaching up and coming poker minds as an instructor at the popular WPT Boot Camp. Lee resides outside the metropolis of Boston, Massachusetts with his wife and has two children, ages five and three. He ran in the Boston Marathon in 1999 and 2000 and also enjoys playing golf and tennis.
Lee has several more chances for big scores on the felts of the Foxwoods World Poker Finals. Here is the remainder of the schedule. All times are Eastern:
Saturday, November 1 at 10:00am: $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Sunday, November 2 at 10:00am: $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Monday, November 3 at 10:00am: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em
Tuesday, November 4 at 10:00am: Final Act $10,000 Championship Qualifier
Tuesday, November 4 at 6:00pm: Final Act $10,000 Championship Qualifier
Wednesday, November 5 at Noon: Day 1A $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Wednesday, November 5 at 6:00pm: Final Act $10,000 Championship Qualifier
Thursday, November 6 at Noon: Day 1B $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Friday, November 7 at Noon: Day 2 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Saturday, November 8 at Noon: Day 3 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Sunday, November 9 at Noon: Day 4 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Monday, November 10 at Noon: Day 5 $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Championship
Tuesday, November 11 at 5:00pm: WPT Final Table
