Wayland resident Bernard Lee Wins His Second World Series of Poker Circuit Ring

Bernard Lee has been a staple in the poker community for over ten years. Early in his career, Lee earned notoriety with a deep run in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, finishing 13th for $400,000. Lee would use that T.V. time to become one of the most recognizable poker media personalities, hosting several podcasts, commentating, and becoming one of the biggest poker voices in New England.

But Lee also has a track record of impressive poker results, starting with that deep Main Event run in 2005. Lee has brushed with success at the World Series of Poker and elsewhere on many occasions, with a runner up finish in a bracelet event in 2017 as well as one previous Circuit ring. Now he can add another Circuit ring to his resume. This is Lee’s third victory in the last five months after taking down a Rio Daily Deepstack in June and another event in October.

“The first two days [of the series], I don’t feel like I played badly at all,” Lee explained. “To take a step back, when I was in Coconut Creek, which was my last WSOP event, I played four events. And I felt like I played well, but it just wasn’t going my way. I actually left early, and I rarely leave early. Went to RunGood in Council Bluffs and I played really well and actually chopped an event, so I was really looking forward to coming here.”

Lee had a tough time getting something going in the first two events here at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe though. While he had some good starts, he wasn’t able to translate them into big finishes. So, Lee decided to take some time to clear his head.

“Doug Carli and his wife Karen, we took a ride around the lake today, just to clear my head and just to enjoy the scenery,” Lee said. “I just came in this afternoon really clear headed. Got off to a great start. I doubled up right away with a set of fives versus queen-deuce on a queen-five-deuce board. But otherwise, it was just slow and steady.”

Right before the final table Lee doubled up twice with some big hands and he came into the final table second in chips. One of the pivotal moments for Lee was when Kevin Davis doubled up through Mark Treadgill with pocket fours against pocket jack, spiking a set of fours on the river to stay alive. That would give Davis a big chip lead in the tournament, but Lee would remain patient.

“He [Davis] had a massive stack,” Lee explained. “He gave away about 200,000 taking a chance against the guy I went heads-up with. And actually, at that moment I looked down and thought, oh my god, I’m the chip leader by default. That was a big moment right there.”

Lee never really relinquished the chip lead from that point. He was able to apply pressure in the right spots and seemed to make every right move against his heads-up opponent, Paul Miller.

“This was the goal,” Lee said. “The goal was to get a ring. I came here, and I said, I feel like I’m playing really well right now. Let’s go get this second ring. It happened.”

For Lee, the support of his family and friends means everything. So much in fact that he always has a picture of his kids with him on the table, something he even had with him during his 2005 Main Event run.

“The last time I won a ring, I dedicated it to my daughter, Maya” he said. “This time, I’ll dedicate this one to my son, Noah.”

For his victory, Lee will take home $11,456 and his second World Series of Poker Circuit ring.

 

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