July 2005 Archives

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping
Part 3--Shuffle Up and Deal
Part 4--A picture is worth 105,800 chips
Part 5--In the money
Part 6--The biggest laydowns
Part 7--Making it to Binion's

Part 8--Stepping into history
by Bernard Lee

Day 8: Thursday, July 14th
Before I went to bed, I walked down to the hotel's front desk to arrange rooms for my family and friends who were flying out and put the rooms on my bill (that's the least I can do for them). I went to sleep fairly early and awoke after about 7 hours. Although I probably should have tried to get more sleep, I was incredibly anxious-- not only to play Day 8, but also to see my family and friends who were flying in.

While waiting for everyone to arrive, I called the Boston Herald to answer their interview request. "Hello Bernard. I’m not sure if you remember, but we bumped into each other on Day #1, the reporter said. "Oh, yeah that's right. Small world, huh?" I replied. He told me that he had been following me from the beginning. As I survived day after day, he regretted not asking for my cell phone number. But, honestly, who would have ever guessed I would make it this far. We spoke for about 45 minutes about the week, how I qualified for the WSOP (PokerStars, of course!) and my family.

Just after I finished the interview, Charlie Tillett from my home town poker game called to say he was in the hotel lobby. As I helped Charlie find his room, he said "I've got something wild to show you," as he handed me today's Boston Globe. "Look at page A3." There it was. An entire story of me at the WSOP wrapped around a picture of me at the poker table. Charlie relayed the process of how he actually found the article. "When I looked in the Sports and then the Local section and couldn't find your article, I gave up. So, I just started reading the paper like I normally would. I read the front page. Then, I turned the page and BOOM, there you were. I nearly fell out of my seat." How COOL! Just as I finished reading the article, Bob Howe and Sasha Papalilo (work colleagues) called to tell me they had arrived and already checked in. "Charlie, thanks for the article. I’ll call you in a little bit. See you soon." I went to Bob’s and Sasha's room to make sure they were all set. They told me how excited they were and how everyone back at work was rooting for me.

Next, my younger brother, Ken, called. He and my Dad were in a taxi near the hotel. I went down and met them in the lobby. As I arrived downstairs, I could see my brother and Dad walk into the lobby. I high fived Ken, then gave my Dad a huge hug. "Thanks for coming Dad. It means a lot to me." My Dad responded, "I'm so proud of you son. But don't worry about us. You just stay focused on your job at hand." Thanks, Dad. (I won't bore you with the sappy details, but, sons and fathers around the world understand -- you can only imagine the emotion.) After wiping away a few tears, we traveled up to their room. I showed them the newspaper article and we talked about the day's activities. I let them get cleaned up and told them I'd see them soon.

As I walked back to my room, I felt so happy seeing my family and friends who had journeyed all the way from Boston, NY, and Los Angeles. I did not want to let them down! And heck, we were going to Binion's. Wait a second. Binion's. Uh, how do I get to Binion's? I haven't been there in years. Oh boy. I called DooJin Kim (my college roommate) and asked him to get directions and ultimately drive us there. "No problem, Bernie. I'll have it all set up by the time we have to leave." I also gave him everyone's room number and asked him to organize the whole gang for a 1:00pm departure. This gave us plenty of time before the 3:00pm start. Thank you, DooJin, for all this work you did. I really would not have been able to make it without you.

I went back to my room to make my daily routine phone calls. First, I called my wife and kids. Katie asked if I had gotten enough sleep, was I drinking enough water and eating enough vegetables? (When you are married to a doctor, you get these questions fairly regularly.) Noah told me about the little construction trucks at work in his sandbox. I can't wait to get home to give my entire family a huge hug. But, I had to tell them again, "Daddy's got a little more work to do. I'll be home soon. I love you!" Katie assured me that she would follow along on the blogs and Noah told me, "I love you Daddy."

When I called my buddy Dave, he reminded me to keep my head on straight and keep doing what I had been doing. We discussed that today was the last day I needed to make it through, because if I made the final day there would be no more tomorrows. "One more day. Let's get out of today." Max reported his usual detailed analysis. My 770K in chips was 22nd out of 27 players left. This position and strategy was familiar by now. I still had more than 20 times the big blind, so I wasn't too short stacked. I needed a good break within the first few hours for me to survive. Strangely enough, it gave me confidence that I was only about 40% of the average stack again. Because I survived the last two days starting with a short stack, I truly felt I could do it again. My table draw was fairly good again since the two players I had not played with before -- Mike Matusow (chip leader) and Shahram "Sean" Sheikhan (the short stack), were both to my right.

After taking a shower and getting dressed, I met my gang in the hotel lobby. DooJin had already organized the group and we all drove to Binion's. Upon our arrival downtown, we met up with Rich Korbin, PokerStars' Marketing Director. Yesterday, I had asked Rich if we could get just a couple of extra hats for my group. I did not want to ask for too much. Instead, Rich arrived with bags of clothes -- more than I could have wished for. "I brought shirts and hats for your entire entourage." Entourage? Hmmm...I never thought I would have an entourage. Everyone thanked Rich for the goodies and I thanked Rich for taking care of everyone. PokerStars really knows how to treat people right.

We headed upstairs to the tournament room. As we walked down the hallway, people started to recognize me and the other players. In some ways, I felt like I was entering a boxing match with my "entourage" leading the way. I was one of the first people to arrive at the room. One by one, the others entered the "ring." But instead of an antagonistic atmosphere, it was extremely collegial, almost like a fraternity (a co-ed one with Tiffany Williamson). We were the final 27 players in the world still competing in the 2005 WSOP Main Event. I shook hands and wished good luck to practically everyone. Special handshakes and hugs went to John McGrane, Joe Hachem, Tommy Vu, Conor Tate, Steve Dannenmann and Johnny Howard. These were the players that I knew the best since I had played with them the longest. If the poker gods did not choose me to win, then at least have one of these gentlemen take the title.

As Thursday was a very long day for Bernard, we've broken up this section into two parts. The remainder of this day's story will appear Monday, August 1st

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping
Part 3--Shuffle Up and Deal
Part 4--A picture is worth 105,800 chips
Part 5--In the money
Part 6--The biggest laydowns

Part 7--Making it to Binion's
by Bernard Lee

Day 7: Wednesday, July 13th

Ring! Ring! Ring! My wake up call at 9:30am actually rang -- the first time this week. I slept long enough to hear it -- 8 whole hours and I feel great. I opened the curtains to see another sun filled morning. My cell phone buzzed to say I had 9 new messages-- all were from family and friends across the country congratulating me on making it to the next day. It was heartening to know that many people back at home were following my progress via the Internet. As always, I called for my daily analysis from Max. He informed me that my 377K in chips was once again about 40% of the average chip stack. On Day 7, I would begin 52nd out of the remaining 58 players. However, my table draw was once again fairly good. Even with my short stack, I was not the lowest chip stack at the table and two others had chips within 100K of me. The only slight worry was that I would have two outstanding pros at my table -- Kenna James and John Juanda -- both whom I had watched play on TV and had tremendous respect for their play. Well, at least I didn't have to figure out a new strategy -- same as yesterday, "I still had more than 20 times the big blind, so I'm not too short stacked. I need a good break within the first few hours for me to survive." As we were ending the conversation, Max informed me that PokerStarsblog.com had written a short piece about me and my family. I quickly checked on-line and couldn't believe that a picture of my kids and wife were now on the Internet. I immediately called my wife and told her about the website. She looked it up and couldn't believe it herself. "Honey, tell the kids I love them! This week has been incredible. Thank you for giving me the chance to live out my dream. I told you that this could happen one day and that day is now!" She told me how proud and happy she was for me and wished me good luck.

As I finished my morning shower, my cell phone had already received two additional messages -- one from another friend, while the other was from the Boston Globe. The reporter wanted additional reactions of making it through Day 6 and what I would expect on Day 7. I called him back and spoke for approximately 15 minutes. However, I repeated my mantra that I have proclaimed since the beginning. "My goal is to get out of each day. I can't make it to Day 8 until I get out of Day 7." In my pre-tournament thoughts, my third and final goal was to make it to Binion's (the final 27 players) since 2005 would be last year the WSOP would be held at this historic casino. If I made it out of today, I would accomplish that goal.

After eating a quick breakfast, I drove to the Rio to meet Matt for my interview with ESPN. As he escorted me into the interview room, I saw that they were setting up the cameras, a poker table and chips. When I sat down and saw my face on one of the television monitors, the surreal-o-meter went off the chart. I can't believe that the TV show that I had watched repeatedly over the last couple of years was going to interview me. This was unbelievable! Matt asked a lot of questions about my background, my week's experience so far, and how I was doing, but I had to hold back the tears when he asked me about my wife (especially about her recent surgery), my kids and the family pictures. Originally, I was worried that this interview would not allow me to concentrate on the task at hand. However, after the fact, I realized that it helped distract me from any potential nervousness.

About 10 minutes before we were to start the day, my college roommate, DooJin Kim, who had visited me earlier in the week, called my cell phone. He had to leave on Sunday, but said that he would come back if I was still in the tournament on Wednesday. "Bernie, you are doing great! Do you still want me to come out?" I couldn't have asked for anything more. I had been alone for the last few days and to have someone to talk to during the breaks and dinner would be fantastic. He booked a flight after work and would get to Vegas around 7pm. I was determined to not make his flight for naught and promised him I would survive at least until then. However, I definitely had some work to do. I needed some luck, and my good luck charm came by just as we were about to begin. ESPN's Norm Chad came by and stuck out his arm. "This is the best jacket I have," joked Norm. To me, it did not matter which jacket he had on. As I had done all yesterday, I rubbed his jacket sleeve for good luck. And once again, I was rewarded...

Less than an hour into the first level of the day (blinds were 8K and 16K, ante 2K), I caught KK (again) in mid position. A player in early position raised to 50K. "I'm all in," I proclaimed. With no hesitation, one of the big stacks to my left called me. Uh! Oh! He called so fast. Did he have Aces? Everyone folded to the original raiser, who thought about it for a couple of minutes, but eventually folded. I flipped over KK, anxiously awaiting the big stack's hand and I was very relieved to see 44. However, it's far from over -- I was about an 80 to 20 favorite. So anything could still happen. So, as I had done all week, I got up with my pictures and watched the flop intently. However, the flop was huge for me - KQ3. I knew with no flush or straight draws, he needed runner runner 4s and when the turn brought a 3, I let out a scream that could be heard throughout the room. I didn't even see the river. I had doubled up early again and had approximately 700K in chips. The original raiser had JJ and would have tripled me up had he called -- Oh well!

On this day, my thanks go out to two of my work colleagues -- Todd Mirasola and Steve Paul -- who were there during the morning to celebrate with me. Kenna James, who was a true gentleman while we played, congratulated me on a well-played hand. Kenna, thank you, too, for taking the time to discuss the poker world with me while we were playing. I truly appreciated it. I was once again back in the tournament. As I was organizing my chips, my cell phone went off 5 separate times. I finally stepped away from the table to answer Mark Hanna's (my original WSOP partner) call. "Nice double up buddy." How did he know? Was he here? "No, Bernie. I'm following on the blogs." Technology is amazing! Everyone who called had just read my double up on the blogs and almost instantaneously called to congratulate me. Unbelievable!

I called my wife at the break to tell her that things were going well. She answers the phone and exclaimed, "I know how you're doing. We are all here following you on the web. Keep it up, honey! We miss you and love you!" Wow, even my wife is getting into this by reading the blogs. She told me that she was most impressed when the PokerStars blogger reported that at 4:52pm, he saw Bernard Lee "in an all out sprint" to the bathroom -- 'It was so you" she said. This is phenomenal, I thought!

Regarding my cards, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. I did knock out a short-stack using JJ vs 99 and maxed out my chip stack at around 1.1 million in chips around 6pm. The tournament director's decision was to continue onward and not stop for dinner. I'm glad that we didn't have to take an hour plus break just to eliminate 3-4 players. Good decision, Johnny. And, at my final table for the day (I had been moved from my original table), there were three notable personalities: First was my mentor from the beginning of the tournament, Tuan "Tommy" Vu. Once again, thanks for everything Tommy. Second was John Juanda, who moved to my table later and sat two to my left. He was severely short stacked when he arrived, but in true John Juanda fashion, he scratched and clawed until he was caught trying to steal the blinds and finished 31st. In the short time he was at the table, it was a privilege to play with one of my idols, as he was a true competitor and sportsman. Thank you, John, for being so amicable to an unknown and I hope to see you at future tournaments. The third was John McGrane, a fellow from England, who knocked John Juanda out of the tournament. John McGrane also played while severely short stacked and said that he was just holding on for dear life to get to 36th and the next money level ($274,090 to be exact). We exchanged stories about our new little babies and I continued to encourage him that he could do it. What a great guy! And when it was announced that the 37th player was eliminated, I hugged him and told him, "You did it!" The smile on his face was more than enough to explain the jubilation he was feeling. However, he was not done. Shortly thereafter he would TRIPLE UP when his AQ spiked an Q on the flop and it held up vs John Juanda's 84 vs Connor Tate's TT (Connor was a quiet honorable guy who I had the pleasure of playing with for a couple of days). Now, McGrane was right back in the tournament. Around this time, Nolan Dalla came over with a note from the Boston Herald, requesting an interview later tonight or tomorrow morning. Finally, amidst all of this chaos, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that DooJin had arrived.

When the final player was eliminated at 9:40pm, my chip stack had dwindled to 770K in chips. But who cares? I was ecstatic. I was going to Binion's. Goal #3 -- CHECK! The ESPN cameras came over and asked me for a final sound bite. Begrudgingly, I agreed. I described my three goals, how I had now accomplished them, and how ecstatic I was to be going to Binion's. Finally, I looked into the camera with my family pictures telling my kids that Daddy was not coming home just yet. I had a little more work to do. Next, I went over to John McGrane. I hugged and congratulated him for not only making the next money level ($304,680), but also going to Binion's and the final 27. Then, I jumped over the ropes and celebrated with my college roommate, DooJin. It's announced that we will start tomorrow at 3pm. I can't believe it! I'm going to Binion's tomorrow! I just can't believe it!

As I'm bagging up my chips, my cell phone started to ring non-stop. One of the calls I immediately recognized -- it was my father. We had not spoken all week about the tournament because he and my mother had disapproved of me leaving my wife at home so soon after surgery to go play in a "poker tournament." But, he told me that he had been following me on the internet and was very proud of me. (Sorry folks, this was another misty eyed moment!). To my surprise, he told me that he and my brother, Ken, would be flying out first thing in the morning and would arrive in Vegas around 11:30am. Another call came in from a work colleague, Bob Howe, telling me that he and another colleague, Sasha Papalilo, would be flying in around 10:30am. Finally, one of my local poker game buddies, Charlie Tillett, would be arriving around 10:00am. Wow! This was so cool. Not only am I going to Binion's, but also I'm going to have 6 people cheering me on. As if this wasn't enough, while DooJin and I were walking back to the car, someone ran after me down the hallway. I thought I must have forgotten something at the table. However, it was a teenager asking me for my autograph. "Are you sure? I haven’t done anything yet," I told him. "Please. You never know. I think you can win," he replied. As I signed the brim of his cap, I told him I would do my best to make that signature worth something one day.

I called home and my wife answered -- it was 1:15am in Massachusetts and she was awake breastfeeding our baby girl, "You made it. Congratulations! Do you know that several people are coming out to see you?" Yes I do. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping
Part 3--Shuffle Up and Deal
Part 4--A picture is worth 105,800 chips
Part 5--In the money

Part 6--The biggest laydowns
by Bernard Lee

Day 6: Tuesday, July 12th

I woke, once again, well before my wake-up call. Only fours hours of sleep. ARGH! I tossed and turned for 30 minutes, trying to arrange the heavy curtains so as not let even the slightest ray of sunlight into the room. It was no use. I could not fall back to sleep. As I sat up in the bed, something felt different today -- a kind of unusually bad feeling. I was overcome by the thought that I would get knocked out today. To erase these feelings, I decided to get up and start my usual morning calls. I spoke with my wife and son, Noah. He told me, "Daddy, I love you. Please come home soon." I lost it. I started crying. My wife was worried about me, but I told her I'm okay. She knew that the lack of sleep was taking its toll. I told them I love them, I will be safe and will see them as soon as I can (but hopefully not too soon). Next, I spoke with Dave (my motivational coach) and he could hear in my voice the trepidation I felt ever since I awoke. "Are you okay? Is there anything wrong?" he asked. I told him how the lack of sleep might be affecting my psyche and that I couldn't go back to sleep despite my best efforts. "You've made it past over 5434 people and you need to realize how well you have played to this point," encouraged my eternally positive friend, Dave. "Concentrate on the strategy that has gotten you to this point--focus on getting through the day." Thanks, Dave. This truly helped me through a tough morning.

It was still relatively early so I decided to go out for a short run to wake myself up. As I began to run, negative thoughts continued to swim in my brain. After half a mile, I noticed a covered bus stop in the distance with a gentleman slouched on the bench. I did not think anything of it except as another obstacle to run around. As I approached the bus stop, I saw the gentleman lean over and grab a beer bottle. Suddenly, I realized he was about to throw it -- At me! "Hey," I screamed as I darted away. "Ehhh, get away from me," he bellowed, as he put down the bottle, snickering to himself. In my short look at the gentleman, I saw his glassy and dilated eyes and guessed he was either still drunk from last night or high on drugs. My heart almost skipped a beat. Strange thing, though -- instead of being angry or scared, I started laughing out loud. The whole morning I had worried about getting eliminated from the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Then, all of a sudden, my life flashed in front of my eyes. I realized that I easily could have been on my way to the hospital. Instead, I headed back to the hotel, happy to be safe (as I promised my wife) and unharmed. Heck, I'm actually very wide-awake now, due to the adrenaline rush. I jumped in the shower and felt ready for the day.

I called Max for today's low down. He explained that my 143,000 (143K) chip stack was ironically 143rd of the 185 players remaining -- 40% of the average stack. But, I still had more than 20 times the big blind, so I'm not too short stacked. I need a good break within the first few hours for me to survive. As I departed for the Rio, I kept thinking, "That was a morning to remember!"

As the dealer dealt the first hand of the day, I kissed my family pictures, hoping for a good start. In the first round, I won two blinds uncontested and one decent size pot with AK, bringing my chip stack to 179K as they raced off the 500 chips. Good start, but with 164 people left in the tournament, I held only half the average chip stack. I needed a big hand soon, but I couldn't panic. In previous tournaments, I had taken unnecessary chances earlier than I needed to, either getting caught or becoming pot committed and, ultimately, getting knocked out of the tournament. So, I kept saying to myself, "Be patient. It will come." Just as the break was ending, ESPN's Norm Chad came over to say hi. I gave him a status report and he wished me luck. Boy did I need it! Especially after having Jason Lester (5th place in the 2003 WSOP Main Event and a player I truly respected) move to my table. Thankfully, he sat down to my immediate right and at least I could try to avoid any major confrontations with him. However, all of a sudden, the big hand came. The blinds were 3K and 6K, ante 1K. After an AK vs AK chop and a decent pot where I knocked out a short stack with KK vs JJ, the hand I had hoped for arrived. I was dealt KK in mid-late position. Two people limp in front of me. With 30K already in the pot, I decided to pick up the pot right now, and raised to 50K. Everyone folded to the Big Blind, who declared, "All In!" The limpers folded and it was up to me. My heart raced as I realized that he had me covered and if I lost, I would be out of the tournament. "Well, if it's my time, it's my time. I call." As I flipped over my KK, he shook his head as he flipped over his AQ suited -- I'm about a 67 to 33 favorite. I quickly stood up with my family pictures and rubbed them for good luck. All I kept thinking was No Ace! No Ace! Here comes the flop...(no A)...turn...(no A)...river...(no A). YES!!! No Ace (Sorry I don't remember the exact cards)! I let out a huge yell! I apologized for my scream to Jason and the players to my left: a young man named Kevin McCarty and a very pleasant and friendly Australian named Joe Hachem. There was the double up I had been waiting for and now I had around 410K chips. I was right back in this thing. As I began to stack my pile of chips, I felt someone peering over my shoulder. It's Norm Chad. "Hey, nice pot." I told Norm that he needed to come by more often, as he was becoming my good luck charm.

Luckily, a bit more luck visited me. Shortly after Norm left, I ran into another big hand against a gentleman who was fairly short stacked, but I would still love the chips. My AcJc was up against his KJ. This time I thought, No King! No King! Here comes the flop Kc Q 8c. ARGH! King! But then I realize that I still had 15 outs (9 clubs, 3 Aces and 3 Tens) -- I'm still about a 55 to 45 favorite. As I rubbed my family pictures, the turn brought an unhelpful 4d, which brought me to about a 35 to 65 underdog. The river...2c! YES!!! Now that was a hand made for ESPN! That is a classic back and forth hand that I don't wish on anyone. Once again, I turned around and who do I see -- Norm! I rubbed his jacket sleeve for luck and this became a ritual for the rest of the tournament. This hand allowed me to go into the last round before dinner break with 486K in chips and only 102 of us players remaining in the contest. During the break, a gentleman approached me asking if I had moment. He was a reporter from the Boston Globe and wanted to get a quick interview for tomorrow's newspaper. He informed me that I was the sole remaining player from Massachusetts and that a story featuring me would run in tomorrow's paper. Now this was becoming unreal.

Entering the next round (blinds were 5K and 10K, ante 1K), I felt great. I had gotten the hands I hoped for -- now I just needed to survive. And, survival truly was the key descriptor for this round -- my most memorable of the tournament-- not for any big wins, but for two huge laydowns that kept me alive. The first hand was against Kevin. I was in early position and I picked up KK again! I raised about 35K. Now, it is important to note that Kevin had watched me play solid hands all afternoon and knew I would not raise in early position with nothing. He raised me, but, as my instinct told me, raised an unusual amount, just 60K more. Why only 60K? If he wanted me gone, a larger bet such as an all-in bet was a lot more threatening than 60K. He seemed very calm -- almost too calm. The rest of the players folded to me. I kept thinking, "What a weird bet. He seems so calm and relaxed." He really wants me to call. He must have a really good hand, maybe even a great hand! Does he have Aces? I thought about it for another minute and looked down at my KK. Could I really lay this down pre-flop? Maybe I'm over thinking this? If I double up here, I will have close to a million in chips and be in a great position. But, I kept thinking, what a weird bet amount. I looked down one more time, let out a deep sigh, and decided to follow my gut feeling and do the unthinkable -- lay down my KK! I showed Kevin my hand and told him, "I know you have Aces, so I'm going to lay this down." His protruding eyes told me I was right! As he picked up his jaw off the table, he flipped over his Aces. I jumped out of my seat thankful that I had made the best laydown of my life. As I returned to my seat, Norm showed up again. I replayed the hand for him and proceed to rub his "lucky" jacket sleeve again. Jason and Joe both told Norm, "It is the best laydown I have ever seen in a tournament." I'm not sure about that, but I thanked them for their kind acknowledgement. Also, thank you Kevin for showing me that I was right -- it gave me a ton of confidence in my play for the rest of the day and allowed me sleep that night. As for the other laydown, it seems almost anti-climactic after the last one, but in short, I raised 35K in mid position with QQ. Kevin called me and then Joe re-raised 125K more. After everyone folded, I quickly folded my QQ and Kevin folded his 33 and Joe showed his KK. 2 for 2! Not a significant money-making round, but still the most memorable round of the tournament for sure.

The rest of the night was fairly uneventful. I played very few hands and ended with 377K in chips with only 58 players left. I want to thank Jason Lester for his conversation and kind words. It was truly an honor to play next to him for most of the day. He deserved better when an unbelievable hand crippled him, leading to his eventual elimination from the tournament -- KK vs K8 and the flop came 882. Kevin never recovered from the KK laydown, as he kept staring at my chips thinking that they should have been his and was eliminated shortly thereafter. Thanks also to my work colleague, Todd Mirasola, for flying in to watch me tonight. I had been alone out here in the desert for the last few days and it definitely helped to see a friendly face in the crowd. Finally, Joe and I got to know each other pretty well as we talked about our families and background throughout the day. He was a very solid player as we played a few hands back and forth against one another, but ultimately, we both survived Day 6. We congratulated and wished each other the best for the rest of the tournament. As I was bagging up my chips, a gentleman named Matt inquired about my availability tomorrow morning before the continuation of the tournament at noon. "Bernard? Hi, I'm Matt from ESPN. Do you have some time tomorrow morning to do an interview?" Who me? I was wondering if Matt might have the wrong guy. He assured me that it was indeed me he wanted to interview. After I agreed to meet with him at 11am, I kept thinking how increasingly surreal this whole week was becoming. I headed back to the Rio to get some well-deserved sleep.

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping
Part 3--Shuffle Up and Deal
Part 4--A picture is worth 105,800 chips

Part 5--In the money
by Bernard Lee

Day 5: Monday, July 11th
After sleeping my requisite five hours, I initiated my pre-tourney routine: I called my wife and told her, "I'm sorry. I love and miss you and the kids to death. But, I truly hope that I have to reschedule my flight home tomorrow morning." To do this, I would have to make it out of the day. Once again, survival was my primary focus. Afterward, I spoke with my two buddies from home to get inspiration and analysis of my table. Max, my analyst man, told me that my 105,800 chip stack was 205th of 566. Slightly above average -- not great, but not bad. Today, I had to survive the elimination of only 6 more people in order to make it "into the money" (560th made $12,500) and bring home the largest cash prize of my poker career. My only previous cash prize was in January 2005 at the WSOP Circuit Tournament $500 NL Hold’em where I placed 22nd out of 650 for $1570. Six more people -- I knew I could do this. Making the money was my second goal of my WSOP week. Max analyzed my table in much greater detail than yesterday since, clearly, the stakes were getting higher. Both of us felt that I had drawn a pretty good table again. Not many big stacks at the table and mine would actually be the third largest. Additionally, no famous professionals. But, Max did Google everyone's name and gave me as much information on each player as possible. (By the way, thanks again, Max, for all this support -- I am incredibly lucky to have such great friends at home.) After taking copious notes, I shoved my "analysis" sheet in my back pocket and prepared to head off to the Rio. Overall, I was pretty happy with the table draw and I felt I knew each player pretty well. Finally, Max warned me that my strategy should be to play hand for hand until I got to 560 -- and did I ever!

When I entered the main room, I could feel the antsy anticipation among the players. This feeling turned to impatience. To eliminate six people, it took over an hour. After each hand, the dealer stood up to indicate that the hand was over. Only when all dealers were standing could we play the next hand. You can only imagine the chaos and the time it took for us to get through just one hand. The deal only made it around the table once. Fortunately, during this round, I got a few hands to grab the blinds and take down a pot to increase my chips to around 120,000. Finally, the "Bubble Boy" (the last guy to not make the money) was eliminated and the room broke out into applause and joy. We had all made it to the money. Goal #2 -- CHECK! I congratulated all the players on my table and especially the gentleman next to me who had said as we started the day, "All I want to do is finish in the money and I can go home happy!" Well, congratulations my friend, you just did it! However, I did feel for the 561st finisher, even though I didn't even know the person because I have personally felt the pain. I was "Bubble Boy" at the New England Poker Classic's Main Event back in April (finished 36th and they paid 35 spots). It was one of the most devastating feelings I've ever had in poker. However, he or she shouldn't feel too horrible; it was announced that the 561st place finisher would receive a free entry into the 2006 WSOP Main Event. Well done, Harrahs! I hope this will start a trend.

Well, let's get back to playing. I was off to a nice start and ready to resume play. Just as I was rereading my "analysis" sheet, the floor person asked for the big blind at our table. I looked down and realized it was ME. UGH! I had felt thoroughly prepared for my particular table, and now it was for nought. Oh well, the best laid plans...

In the time it took me to walk to my new table on the other side of the room, a few more people were already knocked out. It was truly amazing! Now that all of us had made the money, "all-in" announcements flew from every corner of the room. I knew that this happens at tournaments, but I never imagined it this fast. In the same amount of time it took to eliminate the first 6 people of the day, the next 100 players were dismissed! At the end of the first level, the WSOP was already down to 461 and that meant $14,135.

As for the cards, Monday was the day I knew had to come sooner or later. After two fairly positive days, a see-saw day arrived. Based on my past tournament experience, I knew I had to keep my head on straight. I could not lose patience or control on a day like today. Overall, as I reflect back, I'm very proud of the way I handled myself. I started out the day by knocking out one player with KK vs 33. Then, I was re-raised by the Big Blind while I was holding AK (I was in mid-late position). I thought he had either JJ or QQ, and since I had a lot of chips, I decided to take a flop. Of course, the flop came Q J 7 and after he bet, I had to muck my hand -- he told me later he had QQ and flopped a set. Then, I won a decent all-in pot with AK vs AQ. Then, lost another small all-in (he was very short stacked) with AK v AA. And then, I took out a short stack with my only true suck out of the tourney TT v AA when a ten hit on the turn. Overall, a crazy wild ride. And, I accomplished my goal for the day -- I survived!

During this roller coaster Monday, I actually had some fun, meeting some really neat people. At my new table, the gentleman to my right used a unique card protector -- a small globe. As we got to talking, I learned that his name was Steve Dannenmann -- he was a very friendly and funny guy. I kept telling him that I was focusing on getting out of the day. He kept telling me to focus, not on the day, but on each level. Thanks, Steve for the advice. It helped a lot. I also met Johnny Howard (real nice guy, we had a lot of great conversations during the tournament), who got on a roll and finished the day near 1 million in chips. Both these gentlemen were involved with my most memorable hand of the day, and I didn't even play in it. Let me explain. I was in the small blind with Qd 2d and five (yes, that's right, five) people had called the big blind. I thought about calling, with great pot odds and only half a bet to see a miracle flop, but thought better of it and mucked. Big Blind checked his option and we had a six-way pot! Then, it happened. A miracle flop - Q Q T. ARGH! All I kept hoping was that someone had the case Q with a better kicker to make me feel better about my fold. Turn 8. Only two players were left, Johnny and Steve. River was a blank and Steve pushed all-in and Johnny called (he was a huge chip leader at the table). Steve shows TT for a Tens boat and Johnny shows J9 for a straight. This was great for Steve at this stage of the tournament. Thank goodness I mucked! I would have been gone from the tournament.

Additionally, during the dead time (hands are played a lot slower during this stage of the tournament and I did not play a lot of hands after the dinner break), I got to know more of the Rio staff (Nolan, Greg, Sara, Beverly), the tournament directors (Johnny and Jack -- both of them did a phenomenal job!) and ESPN's Norm Chad and cameraman Adam. All of these people helped me through this stressful, yet enjoyable day, and, for that matter, the entire week. Thanks to all, I can't wait to see you again!

Finally, the night came to an end around 1:30am. I finished with 143,000 chips and there were only 185 players left. I scanned down the payout sheet. We had all guaranteed $39,075! WOW! That was a lot of money. As we start bagging our chips, Tommy Vu, who had become somewhat of a mentor to me and was at my table for a second day, gave me some extra encouragement, telling me that I played "real solid." He advised me to keep focused and thought I could go far in the tournament. Thanks, Tommy, for the encouraging words.

I'm off to sleep.

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping
Part 3--Shuffle Up and Deal

Part 4--A picture is worth 105,800 chips
by Bernard Lee

Day 3: Saturday, July 9th
I had fallen asleep around 5am. At noon on Saturday, I woke to the buzz of my phone (I had it on vibrate for most of the week). I had 5 messages -- all from friends who were following me on the internet. Most were telling me how happy they were that I was off to such a good start and to keep it going. I would try my best! $67,150! What a start! I had a fairly relaxing day -- went for a quick run, had lunch with DooJin and his friends, went back to my room to review my notes, had dinner with some friends from Boston (Jeff and Dana Cohen) and then went to bed early for another long day.

Day 4: Sunday, July 10th
On Sunday, I awoke around 8:30am, again to the buzz of my phone -- it was two guys from my weekly poker game. Dave Brisson who would become my sounding board and personal motivational coach for the week and Max Marks who would become my analyst man. Max would analyze my table assignment with the names of the players and their chip stacks. Max told me that I would start out the day 107 out of 1884. Not bad for a nobody huh? Boy, is it a lot easier to play with a big stack than short stack. I figured that my goal for the day was around 120,000. I would be happy with 100,000 and ecstatic with 180,000.

Mark and I met for breakfast again. After my regular eggs, toast and orange juice, we drove off toward the Rio. The games started around 12:30pm. I drew another great table -- no famous pros at my table. One of the guys was bummed that we were not the TV table. I had the complete opposite viewpoint. I didn't want to be on the TV table. I didn't want the added pressure of dealing with the TV cameras and the "eyes" on the table that show your hands. It is not about getting on TV; it's all about playing good poker and surviving one day at a time because if you do not get out of today, you can't play tomorrow. Remember, you can't win the tournament until the last day, so make sure that you get out of each day. Focus on the day! Not the Final Day! This became my mantra. And besides, if I make the final day, I will have to be on the TV table and then I'm okay with that.

As they called out "Shuffle up and deal!", I kissed my family pictures and hoped that my day would be as good as yesterday. And my start definitely was! In the first 3 rounds, I wouldn't lose a major hand. AA, AK, KT (BB) and flop KT3. 99, 55. AQ in mid-late position (I raised and button and both blinds called). Flop Q52. I bet 12K to go and everyone folded. And ended with 102,900 after 3 rounds which led to dinner break. I met Mark and he broke the bad news that he had been eliminated on a set vs flush after the flop. He was very disappointed, but I told him that he should be proud of himself. In his first major tournament, he outlasted 4000 out of the 5619. I'm sure he will be back next year.

After dinner, I called my family to tell them I was doing great. My wife asked me to take care of myself and my son told me he loved me again. This was the inspiration I needed to finish the day with a flourish. However, the poker gods decided that I had had enough of an easy time and that's when the roller coaster ride began. I started well with AQ in the SB, raised and BB folded. But that's where it ended for almost 3 hrs. I limped with KQ and ATs and both times was re-raised and had to muck. The last two hands I played until Round 12 (the last round of the night). I was down to 89,300. I started Round 12 losing 4 of my first 5 hands. And was down to around 70,000 in chips. I was fairly depressed but at least I was ahead of yesterday. I drew on previous tournament experience that this dip has happened in every tournament and you have to put it into perspective. If I told you that you would be still around Day 4 with 70,000 in chips (average was about 80,000), I would have been ecstatic. And besides, my 2 kids were staring at me in the photo -- smiling and saying that they loved me, so life couldn't be all that bad!

And just as quickly as I was down, that's how fast I turned it around. I won a fairly good pot when I caught 2 pair on the river and went on a little run. I got AK, KQs and TT and ended the day with 105,800 in chips to end the day around 200th out of 566. More importantly, I was 6 out of the money. I thought, no way I was not going to make the money. Almost completed Goal #2.

A closing note -- I played all day with an incredibly solid player and found out he was a professional named "Tuan Tommy" Vu. After the grueling day was complete, I went up to Tommy and introduced myself and asked for any advice. His biggest advice was "to not risk your tournament early with average hands. If you need to lay down a hand, remember that you are still in the tourney." Tommy was a huge help that night as we chatted for about 15 minutes about some hands and he encouraged me to continue playing well the next day and the rest of the week. Tommy was to me as Marcel Luske was to David Williams last year. Tommy, I can't thank you enough for all your help and advice. I went back to the hotel, but couldn't fall asleep until 4:00am. I kissed my family pictures good night and looked forward to the next morning.

If you're looking for the continuing WSOP story of PokerStars Bernard Lee, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. The Sunday $500,000 Guaranteed tournament is getting a little to big to ignore. Bernie will be back on Tuesday.

I had logged on to PokerStars Sunday afternoon to watch the heads-up match between Exclusive and Wil Wheaton. I know them both and wanted to see how it turned out (Wil ended up winning after a back and forth battle that lasted for quite a while). Before I logged off, I checked in to see how the Sunday $500,000 Guaranteed was looking.

It was looking, in a word, big. Before registration was finished, more than 3300 people had signed up and built a prize pool of more than $670,000. Several hours later, I watched as some big names dropped off the list and we were left with nine players. Among them was a familiar name. Brainwash won nearly $160,000 back in April in what was then the monthly $500,000 Guaranteed Tournament (now the monthly event is $700,000).

This is what the final table looked like as the final nine began to play.



Click on image for full-size version

Seat 1: MrSmits (Randers, DK) $394,221
Seat 2: quietman (Carson City, NV) $541,374
Seat 3: wader (Alberta, Canada) $368,522
Seat 4: maui pag (Aiea, HI) $1,408,618
Seat 5: brainwash (San Clemente, CA) $916,352
Seat 6: Andy134 (Garstang, GB) $1,180,623
Seat 7: mrp123 (Conover, NC) $581,718
Seat 8: Morteler (Bryne, NO) $1,466,285
Seat 9: Fanoffour (Charlotte, NC) $1,446,787

MrSmits, surely up very late in his Danish home, was on the ropes and needed to find a hand and a willing caller to stay alive. He found both within minutes. A pair of kings versus brainwash's pair of sevens was good enought to give MrSmits some breathing room.

That left Canadian player wader pulling up the rear. Although he'd found a way to double through once, he still needed to find a way to build some chips. Perhaps sensing he could pick up the blinds, wader came in for a standard raise from the cutoff. Andy123, the Manchester United fan and the man with the chips to command respect, called from the big blind. The flop came down 4d2d6d. Andy123 check-raised wader all-in and wader called. Andy123 showed 7dQd for the flopped flush. Wader, with 8s6s, was drawing dead to two runners which never came. He left in ninth place for $8,047.20.

Brainwash seemed to be on a mission to win the whole shooting match again and never shied away from a coin flip. When facing a button raise from maui pag, brainwash pushed all-in with his pair of nines. After some thought, maui pag called with A3 suited in clubs. Brainwash, who likely figured he was in for a coin flip, got an even better result and doubled though.

Where the pocket pairs were good for brainwash, they were ugly for mrp123. Within just a few hands, mrp123 picked up pocket tens twice and lost both times, first to pocket queens, then to KJ. The two losses sent th man from the Tarheel state to the rail in eighth place and $12,741.40.
If there was any question about how well Andy123 would do in this tournament, it was clearly answered when he won one of the biggest pots of the tournament His pocket kings versus maui pag's pocket sevens sent the Hawaiian to the rail and fixed Andy123 up with a $3.5 million pot. Maui pag made $18,206.20 for the seventh place finish. And Lee Jones, who had been offering innocuous congratulations, showed up with the first of a few Jones-esque quips.

Lee Jones: Okay Maui -- you can take your $18K back to the island. Good match!

Fanoffour had been fighting to build his chipstack but had lost a few battles and ended up getting all his money in with JT on a ten-high flop. His opponent Morteler had two overs and a gutshot draw with QJ. The gutshot filled in on the turn and busted fanoffour in sixth place. For his efforts he earned $24,141,60 and this quip for his screen image of the Green Bay Packers QB.

Lee Jones: And Favre is sacked! But not before collecting $24K. Good game, fan.

I'm ashamed to admit that my notes don't reflect how quietman busted out. MrSmits took his chips and quietman left in fifth place for $30,847.60.

Lee Jones: You didn't go quietly, man. You won $30K. Nicely done.

MrSmits, despite taking the remainder of quietman's chips, eventually found himself unable to catch a break. With about $750K in chips left, he raised from the button and Andy123 moved all in. MrSmits called with A2 and found himself up against A3. He had to hope for a chopped pot, but a three came off on the flop and and MrSmits left in fourth place for $39,565.40

Lee Jones: Okay Mr. Smits - back to Washington for you and your $40K. Great match!

With just three players remaining the players started talking about a deal and ended up with the following arrangement.

brainwash -- $73,392
Andy123 -- $86,663
Morteler -- $95,503

With the required $10,000 left on the table, the players went to battle. It didn't last long. In the end, Andy123 won the whole thing, besting Morteler's AQ with AJ and brainwash's 44 with 66. With the Manchester United symbol burning as the last remaining image, Lee Jones let out one last quip:

Lee Jones: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!!!!!!!

Here are the final results from the contest.

Sunday $500,000 Guarantee Results
(payouts reflect 3-way deal)

1st-- Andy134 (Garstang, GB) $96,663
2nd-- brainwash (San Clemente, CA) $73,392
3rd-- Morteler (Bryne, NO) $95,503
4th-- MrSmits (Randers, DK) $39,565.40
5th-- quietman (Carson City, NV) $30,847.60
6th-- fanoffour (Charlotte, NC) $24,141,60
7th-- maui pag (Aiea, HI) $18,206.20
8th-- mrp123 (Conover, NC) $12,741.40
9th-- wader (Alberta, Canada) $8,047.20

Congratulations to all the players. Be sure to sign up for the monthly $700,000 Guaranteed tournament on PokerStars.com.

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm
Part 2--Goal Keeping


Part 3--Shuffle up and deal
by Bernard Lee

Day 1: Thursday, July 7th
I was fortunate to have a day off. I firmly believe that Mark (my work colleague) and I had drawn the best day as we could soak in the sights and sounds of the WSOP Main Event on Thursday and then rest on Saturday. I slept in, went for a quick run, had lunch with my college roommate DooJin Kim and his girlfriend and then went over to the Rio to check out the action. Before you even entered, you could hear the omni-present shuffling of chips resonating throughout the room. As I waded through the crowd, I bumped into several people that I knew from Foxwoods. As I continued to nudge by people, I noticed out of the corner of my eye the word "Boston" -- a nametag read "Boston Herald". I introduced myself and we exchanged pleasantries about Beantown. I told him my name and that I was starting tomorrow. He said that he would keep an eye out for me. I told him, "Well, we'll see what happens. It was nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy the WSOP." He was a nice guy and it was cool to see someone from back home amongst this sea of unknown people. I asked one of the floormen named Guppy (a really nice guy from San Jose) how far they were playing that day. I learned that they would play down to 650 players no matter how long it took. He believed it would take at least 7 levels and possibly longer to reach the 650 goal by the end of the night. That meant ending the night around 1-2am and after an 11am start. Whew! Quite a long day. So, I decided to go back to the hotel and make it an early night.

Day 2: Friday, July 8th
I woke up at 9:00am, excited as a kid on Christmas morning. I had played in other large tournaments before including their Main Events -- Mid-America Classic, World Poker Finals, Trump Classic, WSOP Circuit Tournament in Atlantic City (where I had my only cash of my career -- 22nd out of 650 which cashed $1570), New England Poker Classic. But, these were nothing like what I saw now, with the sheer numbers of participants and the unbelievable numbers of spectators. Mark and I grabbed a quick breakfast, but I really couldn't eat much because of my nervousness. After forcing down some scrambled eggs, toast and a glass of orange juice, we decided to head over to the Rio. Arriving around 10:00am, I decided to stroll around to review my notes in my notebook. I had read numerous books over the past several months including books by McEvoy, Harrington and Brunson and I had taken copious notes. At about 10:45am, I went to my table and sat down. It seemed to be a very nice table draw, as I recognized no famous professionals at my table. I initiated my opening routine that I started at the New England Poker Classic (NEPC) in March 2005. I cleaned my sunglasses, put out my lucky medallion from Foxwoods (last year, I won my first two satellites using it as my card cover and I've used it ever since) and most importantly, took out of my wallet the pictures of my family. Back then at the NEPC, it was only my son and wife, but now I added another picture to the family -- my baby girl. My rationale of using the pictures was no matter how bad the beat is or how stressful the wait is for someone to fold or call -- how bad can my life be if I have my family smiling at me! My photos have worked so well that before every round, I kiss the pictures in a special routine: kiss my son, then my daughter on the front picture, then open up my pictures and kiss a different picture of my son, then kiss another picture of my daughter, then finally kiss a picture of my wife. (My wife says it almost resembles Nomar Garciaparra and his glove routine at the plate.) I did this before every round, every day! It makes me feel that I am close to my family even though I'm far away.

The day started with announcements and the singing of the national anthem -- made me feel like it truly was a great sporting event. This all happened right next to my table. It really made me feel that the WSOP Main Event had started. Around 11:30am, those famous words were spoken, "Shuffle up and deal!" We are told that we will play 7 full rounds and 20 minutes into level 8. UGH! We won’t finish until around 2 am. With these daunting pieces of news, I had to focus on my chip goal for today, which was 30,000, as that would be the average chip stack for any player who would get out of the day. My dream chip stack would be about 60,000. I've noticed on PokerStars that if you have double the average stack, you are often in an excellent position.

I couldn't have asked for a better start. In the first round, I began with JJ, 55 (folded to a large re-raise), AKs, KQs, and AQs, winning 4 of the 5 hands and jumping up to 12,500 in chips. This start really calmed me down. I was pleased to have gotten off to such a fortunate start. The next two rounds were fairly uneventful, as we had a very tight table, and very few flops were seen. I picked up several pots along the way and built my chip stack nicely. I did notice, however, that the gentleman to my right was a very solid player. I knew I had to avoid confrontations with him. I found out later that he was a pro named Hilbert Shirey, who owns 3 WSOP bracelets. He was a nice guy and it was a pleasure to play with him.

One memorable hand happened in the 4th round. Blinds were $100-200, ante was $25. I had TT in mid-late position and raised to $700. The person to my left raised me back for $1800 total and with a healthy chip stack ($25K), I called. We were to see a rare flop. AT2 rainbow. I bet $5K because if he had an Ace, he might think I'm overbetting the pot to steal it and push all in or at least call. I was almost 100% positive he did not have AA. He called the bet. Turn 2. I pushed all in for my remaining 19K. He thought about it for a long time and mucked AK (just what I thought). He only had 10K left and he said that he almost called. Too bad! Later in Round 6, I had 2 hands within 15 minutes that really helped continue my upward trend. TT again and flopped another set and beat KQ (good amount of chips as he called my pre-flop raise). Also, JTs in BB and flopped KJJ and bet accordingly to take about 10K. Then, my last significant hand occurred late in Round 7. I limped in with 66 in mid position. Flop 542. I bet 1500. Early position re-raise to 5000. This player had over valued hands previously so I put him on 2 high cards or he had paired one of the flop cards, probably the 5. Nevertheless, I think my 6's are good. With a healthy chip stack, I decided to call. Turn 8. He checks, I check. River 8. Check. Check. He flipped over 95 (top pair) and my 66's take the hand. As the clock beeps down, I begin to count my large chip stack. After 15 hours of play at 2:45am, I finished the round with WOW! -- 67,150! What a start. I couldn't have asked for anything more. Well, First or Short-Term Goal -- CHECK!

Even more good news, my buddy, Mark Hanna, had made it through Day 2 with exactly 20,000 in his first major tournament. Congratulations Mark! You deserve it. We were both on Cloud Nine. Since we had the next day off, we both indulged in a celebratory drink, laughing and telling each other stories about our hands. After an hour of reliving the excitement, we went back to our rooms. Before I went to sleep, I decided to call my family and share the good news. My wife was happy for me and glad that I was enjoying myself, but not really understanding the impressive size of my chip stack. My daughter cooed to me over the phone and my son once again asked me to come home soon. No better way to go to sleep. A great start to the WSOP Main Event and a loving chat with my family! Life couldn't be better! Good Night!

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.

Part 1--Before the Storm

Goal keeping
by Bernard Lee

Wednesday, July 6, 2005
My 8:15am flight from Boston was delayed and I arrived in Las Vegas 2 1/2 hours later than expected. My trip wasn't off to the best start. But, I was so excited, I didn't care. I met up with Mark (my work colleague who had also qualified through PokerStars) at the Rio and we went up to the PokerStars suite to pick up our "Goodie Bag". The staff greeted us warmly, giving us several shirts, hats, a commemorative card cover, and best of all -- a red PokerStars rolling duffel with our name embroidered on it (REAL COOL!). Wow, PokerStars really knows how to do it right! We both left the suite feeling like celebrities! As we were walking to the car to drop off our bags, another internet qualifier from another internet site (so small I didn't know it) asked us where we got our cool rolling bags. After telling him, he told us that his souvenir bag was the size of a small backpack.

Afterward, we headed for the registration desk to pick up our seat assignment for day 2 (both of us had drawn Friday Day 2). When the staffer handed me my name card and seat assignment, it felt truly "REAL". Goose bumps prickled on my neck, as I saw my name in bold capital letters: "BERNARD LEE. Event #42. Table #129. Seat #3." Woah, I really had a seat.

Mark and I decided to visit the main hall to see the tables and seats we'd be sitting at on Friday. As we entered the room, it suddenly hit us -- we saw 200 tables. There will be thousands of people playing, and thousands more watching. WOW! I had played in tournaments before, but nothing that looked like this. My hands got clammy and my heart beat faster. I hoped I would not feel this nervous on Friday. As I found my table and seat, I felt glad that my table wasn't right on the rail so that no spectators will be looking right over my shoulder. After walking around for about 30 minutes, we went back to the hotel, checked in, showered, and went out to the PokerStars Welcome Party at the Mirage.

At the Mirage, the PokerStars set-up great food, music, and drinks. It was neat to meet people from all around the US and world. We learned that a record 1116 players were sent my PokerStars -- WOW! That's almost 20% of the entire field. The PokerStars staff introduced themselves, the 2003 (Chris Moneymaker) and the 2004 (Greg Raymer) WSOP world champions. I asked my friend to take a picture of me with Chris and Greg, and told him afterward, "Who knows, maybe I'll make it 3 for 3 for Pokerstars." However, that was the last time I thought about the final table, as we said let's not get ahead of ourselves. I kept repeating my mantra: "my goal is to get out of each day." In fact, I had three distinct goals for this WSOP Main Event. First or Short-term Goal: Make it out of Day 1. Second or Mid-Term Goal: Make it into the Money. Third or Long-Term Goal: Make it to Binion's (the final 27) because this would be last year that the tournament would be held at the historic Horseshoe and it would be an honor to say that I was there. Well, I guess we'll see how far I can go.

At the party, I introduced myself to Lee Jones, thanking him for the sincere e-mail he had sent me a few days earlier. "How's your wife?" he asked. I told him she was recovering well and that I was thrilled to be able to come. I told Lee that I hoped I could make my family and PokerStars proud. After spending about an hour and a half at the Mirage, we decided to go back to the hotel and play a little poker. I sat down confidently at a 1-2 no-limit cash ring game. After all, I was going to play in the WSOP Main Event and not everyone could say that. Nevertheless, the poker gods obviously did not like my attitude and after playing for 3 hours, it was one of the worst sessions I had had in the last 12 months. I only got 3 hands all night (jacks, ace-king, and ace-queen) so I was happy to walk away from the table only down $300. My phone rang, and my college roommate, DooJin Kim, had arrived. Thank goodness; an excuse to get up from this horrendous session. We went for a drink and I told him, "I hope this takes away all my bad luck because if these cards happen the first day of the WSOP Main Event, I won't make it to the dinner break." After talking for an hour with him, I called my family and told them I loved them and that I would try to make them proud. My wife said that she was feeling better and my son said "I Love You Daddy. Come home soon." My eyes welled up as I wanted to hold my son, but I honestly did not want to come home soon. I wiped away my tears and I decided to call it a night.

Part 3--Coming Sunday

Note: One of the greatest PokerStars stories to come from the World Series of Poker was that of Bernard "Dogger9" Lee, a Frequent Player Point qualifier who caught everybody's eye as the real deal. Lee has agreed to chronicle his journey for the Official PokerStars Blog. His trip report will be published here over the next several days. Enjoy.


Before the storm
by Bernard Lee
It turned out to be the week of my life: the 2005 WSOP Main Event. My name is Bernard Lee, aka "Dogger9". PokerStars asked me to write up a few memories. I am happy to share these with you.

Here is a quick background of my life: I'm a 35 year Korean-American male, married for 9 years to my beautiful wife, Katie. We currently have 2 wonderful children; Noah, 2 years old, and Maya, 2 months old. We live just outside of Boston, MA.

For several years, I have been playing on PokerStars. In late March 2005, I finally qualified for the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event via a 1000 Frequent Player Point Tournament. Although I have played in several live tournaments before, this was my FIRST WSOP. Please follow along through this story of my "week" of a lifetime. It was a wild and surreal ride. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

On March 28, 2005, I decided it would probably be a good idea to play in a PokerStars Frequent Player Point Tournament in order to practice for the next Sunday Night $650 Super Satellite. I had played the Sunday Super Satellite the 2 weeks prior and had had 2 bad beats to knock me out of each. The worst was the night before when I was one of the top ten in chips and had KK vs QQ (who was one of the other large stacks) and of course a Q hit on the flop ended my "dream" for the night in 90th out of 301, giving away 16 seats. My fateful Frequent Player Point Tournament started at 11pm and before I knew it, it was 4:30am and I had made the final table. A miraculous hand 99 vs AJ with flop AKT, turn A and river 9 (Unbelievable!) carried me to my seat at the 2005 WSOP Main Event. I couldn't be happier as I told my wife when she woke that morning that I was going to the WSOP Main Event--a life long dream! My excitement was magnified a few weeks later when a work colleague, Mark Hanna, also qualified through PokerStars (where else?!). Las Vegas, here we come!

The anticipation was immeasurable. Mark and I felt like schoolboys counting down the days to summer vacation. Nearly every day we would call each other and say "60 days to go," "50...40...", "30, 20, 10 to..." To further prepare for the WSOP Main Event, I drove south to Foxwoods to practice in their satellites for the World Poker Finals. I won a one-table satellite to advance into the Super Satellite. Overall, I was happy with my play, but my night was over when my opponent flopped a monster (quad 3's), when I hit 2 pair on the turn. Oh well. I was pleased with my play and hoped nothing like that would happen in Vegas.

A month or so before the Main Event, I booked my flight to Vegas-- departing Boston Wednesday, July 6th, returning on Tuesday July 12th. My thought was that if I made it through Monday -- Day 5 (remember day 1,2,3 technically were all the first day of the tournament), I would be in the money and I wouldn't mind paying the change fee for my ticket. Also, I decided my last practice session was to be Sunday June 26th in the PokerStars Sunday Night $650 Super Satellite, but another life issue, more important than poker, came to the forefront.

My wife Katie had given birth to our second child, a daughter named Maya, on April 28th. She lost a lot of blood after delivery, but, in the weeks following, she seemed to get gradually stronger and stronger. However, in the month of June, Katie began suffering some severe belly pain. Initially, she thought it might be food poisoning, but when it occurred for the 3rd time in 2 weeks, we thought she should probably see her doctor. She underwent a belly CT scan at 10am Friday, June 24th. Quite unexpectedly the radiologist found a 7 cm tumor on her right ovary! We scheduled surgery right away on Wednesday, June 28th, only 1 week before the WSOP Main Event. I was very worried, but my wife, who is a physician herself, reassured me that this was not a life threatening procedure and that she would be ok. Still, this was an invasive procedure that would result in a rather large incision in her abdomen. My primary thoughts centered on Katie’s well-being and recovery; however, in the far back of mind, I have to admit I also thought about the possibility of not going to the WSOP Main Event. I even e-mailed PokerStars explaining our unexpected situation and asked if anything could be done. Alas, since they had already registered me with Harrah's, it was too late to make any changes. Lee Jones from PokerStars sent me an extremely sincere and personalized e-mail telling me to make sure that I take care of my wife first and foremost, and then worry about poker.

She came home the next day and we didn't really discuss the WSOP Main Event, but she knew that I was thinking about it. And what happened next is why I have been married to the best woman in the world for 9 years. She said, "I know you are worried about the World Series. I will be ok. I know that you need to go." After arranging for her sister to fly in from California to take care of her, and as long as her recovery went well, I was preparing to go. However, on the morning of July 4th (2 days before I was scheduled to leave), my wife had increased abdominal pain and said that we needed to see the surgeon to get her wound checked out. It was at this moment that I had serious thoughts of not going to Vegas -- if Katie needed to have another surgery or her complications were serious, I WOULD NOT GO! My family comes first!

When we entered the ER, poker was the furthest thing from my mind. In some respects, I had already resigned the fact that I wouldn’t be going. Oh well, there will be many more opportunities and many more WSOP Main Events. I'll just try to qualify through PokerStars next year. The surgeon entered the room and after a thorough check of the site, reassured us that she was fine and that the pain/discoloration was normal. I still was unsure if I should go. My parents and in-laws were not pleased that I even considered leaving Katie so soon after her surgery. However, once again, my wife said, "I'll be ok. You should go." I made sure my sister-in-law arrived to take care of my wife and two kids while I was away, which made me feel a little better. But, I did have some guilt as I left the house Wednesday morning. After kissing my wife and the kids good-bye, she reassured me she was going to be okay and said her usual "I Love You! Good Luck! Have Fun!"

This just in: PokerStars is offering a limited time deposit bonus. Make your next deposit before Thursday, July 28 at 11:59PM ET and receive a 20% bonus worth up to $120.

Click here for complete bonus details.

With the World Series of Poker come and gone, we're left with dozens of great stories and a lifetime of memories. I've attempted to index most of the WSOP posts here. Thanks again to all the players and the members of our WSOP Team Blog for making it a great time. --Brad "Otis" Willis

Preliminary Events

The Official PokerStar Blog Arrives

A Tale of Two Suck-Outs

Brett Favre advances in No-Limit Shootout

Saturday at the WSOP

Noah "Exclusive" Boeken Final Table report

Eric "erbloore" Bloore makes WSOP final table (and the report from his final table appearance).

Terrence Chan and John Gale $5000 PL Hold'em Report

John Gale makes final table

John Gale final table report

John Gale final table wrap-up

Greg Raymer final table report

Frustrated and short-handed at the WSOP

A bracelet for one, a chance for two others (featuring Dan Schmeich, Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf, and Jarl Lindholt)

Neverwin and Virus1975 final table report

John Duthie and Morten Jensen make $3000 NL final table

A bit on Terrence Chan


Main Event

Shuffle up and deal

WSOP Day 1A Photo Gallery


Stars among the PokerStars (featuring Shirley "Siren" Rosario, Wil Wheaton, Neverwin, and more)

A survivor's story

Cannibalism, poker style

Day 1B Begins

Poker Faces

The story of Graeme "sacrifice" Harrison

Day 1C begins

Featured and familiar

Day 2 breaks

A World Series Reborn (Day 2 Begins)

The Story of JAMAPLAYS

Big stacks, big names

WSOP Day 2 Wrap-up

The Story of Klaus Ageson

Day 3 Wrap-Up

Raymer's Roll

A few words on Brad Kondracki

Larry Prugh's Poker face and Radu Butan's birthday

Day 4 Wrap-up

Day 5 Wrap-up

Day 6 Wrap-Up

Day 7 Wrap-Up

Off the felt

Wil Wheaton joins Team PokerStars

Roasting the Roaster, John Bonetti

Rocco Mediate to Play in WSOP

World Series of Poker Primer

Perspective

Media 101

The PokerStars party before the storm

Who is Team Blog?

2005 PokerStars WSOP Winners

2005 European WSOP Coverage

The Bernard Lee Story

There was a time many, many days ago when these players could not have thrown a football and hit each other across the tournament floor. The vast expanse of tables was too wide, too crowded with the thousands of players, and too full of early-day jitters. But this was a day that began with the desert sun burning at 113 degrees. The sun set and the night became midnight, and the pre-dawn hours beecame morning. During these long hours, there was no distance between the players. They could feel their nervous opponents' breath across just a couple feet of felt.

PokerStars qualifiers numbered 1116 when the event started. By the time we reached the final nine, only two of our qualifiers remained. Brad "bogey54" Kondracki and Daniel "berka" Bergsdorf had fought through more than 5000 other players to become guaranteed millionaires. Though their pockets would surely be full regardless of the outcome, the young men had a bracelet in their sights.

Twenty-four year old Brad Kondracki, a second year law student at Penn, came into the day with the shortest stack, just more than a million in chips. On the very first hand, Kondracki found himself under the gun and moved all in. He only won the blinds and antes, but it set the stage for his performance. He was going to fight for his moment.

Only at the World Series of Poker can someone show disappointment after being given a check for $1,150,000 but at the press conference held just after he busted out in 8th place, Brad Kondracki admitted he was slightly let down. "Well, I am feeling disappointed now, but I'll be feeling pretty good in an hour's time. I don't think I could have played my chips any differently. I did what I could."

A whole load of Brad's college friends, who flew in to Vegas today to catch his final table performance, were at the media conference whooping and cheering - especially when Brad was asked how he felt about being the best-looking guy at the final table.

There were more laughs when Brad sheepishly confessed he hasn't actually played any live tournaments bigger than a $10 buy-in before qualifying on PokerStars.com for the WSOP. He said: "It's been kind of surreal being here. I was thinking this morning about how many breaks I've had to have just to get this far. But I also know now that I can get up there and hold my own."

"How do your parents feel about how you've done?", asked a journalist. Brad's dad Tony, standing beside his son, said he was thrilled. But Brad cut in quickly "They weren't so happy when I told them last year that I was taking a year off from law school to play poker."

Audio Blogger James Haritgan got a chance to talk to Kondracki after it was all over. Right click here and save to your hard drive to listen to Kondracki's last words.

Kondracki's departure left PokerStars hopes on the shoulders of the 27-year-old truck driver from Umea Sweden, Daniel Bergsdorf.
After living the life of a card rack Thursday (he caught aces twice and kings once in the period of just a few minutes), Bergsdorf seemed to go card dead on Friday. He played very few hands past the flop and eventually found himself needing to make a move. He chose the right spot.
Joe Hachem made it $360,000 to go from the button on Daniel's big blind. Tex Barch, in the small blind, raised to $2,000,000 and Daniel moved all in. Daniel had jacks and Tex had tens. The flop brought a queen and ten. The turn was a eight. Daniel needed a nine or jack to win the pot. It didn't come. Daniel left in seventh place for $1,300,000. Right click here and save to your hard drive to listen to Bergsdorf's final interview.
And with that, PokerStars hopes of bringing home a third straight bracelet left the room. It would take almost another ten hours to finally find a winner. In the end, Aussie Joe Hachem won the biggest event in poker history.

Looking back, it has been a long, but satisfying World Series of Poker. The sleepless nights, high anxiety, and bad beats were hard to take. But the victories were heartening and made it all worthwhile. In the main event alone, PokerStars qualifiers cashed for $7,368,940. That, my friends, is not so bad.

It is now time to get home for a while. We here at Team Blog thank everyone for the kind e-mails, suggestions, and support we've received over the past several weeks. We were quite surprised to see not just tens, but hundreds of thousands of visits to this little poker portal. Please feel free to e-mail at the address on the right to let us know if you liked what we've done.

Well, the poker world has a new champion. Joe Hachem took down the whole shooting match just after 7am this morning. There is a lot to report, but being human (or some human-shaped shell), Team Blog needs to sleep. Badly. While I consider blogging an immediate medium, sleep is going to win out this time. I'll have a full wrap-up on the final day coming up a little later.

Thanks to the tens of thousands of you who have logged on every day to check out PokerStars WSOP news. It has been a real pleasure.

Our two PokerStars qualifiers have finished their run at the WSOP. While we here at Team Blog would like to go drown our sorrows, we figure this is the biggest event in poker history. So, we remain and will let you know about the big developments as they happen. Click refresh all day night morning long to follow the progress. Look below chip counts for the most recent updates.

Steve Dannenmann 2nd place $4,250,000
Tex Barch 3rd place $2.5 million
Aaron Kanter 4th place $2,000,000
Andy Black 5th place $1,750,000
Scott Lazar 6th place $1,500,000
Daniel "berka" Bergsdorf 7th place $1,300,000
Brad "bogey54" Kondracki 8th place $1,150,000
Mike Matusow 9th place $1,000,000

6:44am--Joe Hachem just became the 2005 WSOP champion. He flopped the nut straight, let Dannenmann catch an ace on the turn, then got him all in. Congrats, Joe.

6:33am--We're heads up.

6:09am--Tex Barch is eliminated in 3rd place--Tex got the rest of his money in and both opponents called. His opponents checked down the board: 2T3Q9. Hachem showed jacks, Dannenmann showed 77. Tex mucked and exited $2.5 million richer.

6:09am--The sun is up. The media are sleeping. And three men are still fighting for a bracelet. The blinds are astronomical. The antes are the equivlent of five players' buy-ins. Tex Barch is on the short stack. Someone just put the over/under line for the finish time...at Labor Day.

5:31am--The players are moving some chips around the table a bit. Feels like something may be coming. What that is, I have no idea. But something.

5:07am--With Kanter's departure comes the money presentation. My favorite quote of the presentation: "Unless you have a shotgun in your hand, back away from the money."

4:48am--Aaron Kanter has been eliminated in fourth place. He pushed all in with A9o. Tex Barch insta-called with pocket jacks. The jacks held up. Kanter makes $2 million for his efforts.

4:45am--The chip counts have barely moved. The rivers have run dry. We are getting very close to the longest-lasting final table in WSOP history.

4:14am--Good morning, East Coast. When you went to bed, we were playing the final table of the WSOP. And we're still playing. We have four players left and if we finish before 6:30am, I'll be really, really surprised.

3:28am--Aaron Kanter just caught Aussie Joe Hachem in a steal, but found himself on the wrong side of luck this time. Hachem pushed in with Q7 and Kanter called with a pair of nines. This time, no miracles would come for Kanter. A queen on the flop and no improvement put a serious a dent in Kanter's stack.


2:45am--In the past half an hour, little has happened except a mini-miracle double up for Aaron Kanter. He got all his chips in pre-flop with A7 vs. Tex Barch AQ. Two sevens on the flop pretty much sealed the deal.

2:05am--Andy Black has been eliminated. He got all in pre-flop with TT vs AK. The flop was innocuous, but a king fell on the turn.

1:57am--Steve Dannenmann just doubled up Joe Hachem. Hachem moved in with 77 to Dannenmann's AJ. The pocker pair held up.

1:10am--Heard me loud and clear. On a K&T flop, tex Barch bet out, Aaron Kanter moved all in, and Barch called with K7 for two pair. Kanter had K5 and didn't improve. The pot was 21 million and

1:10am--Yeah, they heard me. Aaron Kanter just raised pre-flop with 44, Andy Black pushed all in with A8s, and Kanter called. The flop brought an ace and eight. The turn and river didn't help Kanter.

1:05am--Well, I guess they heard me. On a flop of 596 with two clubs, Andy Black bet out and Steve Dannanmann pushed all in. After some thought, Black made the right call, showing T9. Dannenmann had A6 spades. The the turn was a three, but the six was a rabid, frothing ace that ripped the chip lead right out of Black's hands. Dannenmann just doubled up.

1:01am--Indeed, we are back from break, and not much has changed. I have forgotten what a river looks like. ESPN is going to have to hire som good editors.

12:23pm--Sorta tight in the past hour or so. We're still at five players and headed into a 15 minute break.

11:32pm--We just saw the biggest pot of the tournament and one of the biggest pots in WSOP history. Aaron Kanter flopped top set with a apir of kings, made the boat on the turn, and bet two million on the river and got a call from Andy Black. Aaron Kanter just took down a $15 million pot.

10:25--Scott Lazar has been eliminated It's unclear what Scott Lazar had for dinner, but something has adversely affected his reasoning, and after another suicidal move he's free to go back for dessert. Lazar raises again and is prepared to call all-in when Andrew Black moves in behind him. This time Lazar has the mighty queen-ten off-suit, another huge dog to Black's pocket jacks. Lazar is drawing pretty thin from the outset and receives no help. He's our sixth place finisher.

10:20--The very next hand after Daniel Bergsdorf's exit, we have another all in called. Scott Lazar raises and Joe Hachem, the shortest stack, moves in. Lazar makes a quick call, but his king-nine of spades is in big trouble against Hachem's ace-queen of the same suit. Nothing extraordinary happens on the flop and Joe doubles through.

10:03--Daniel Bergsdorf has been eliminated. Joe made it 360,000 to go from the button on Daniel's big blind. Tex Barch, in the small blind, raised to 2,000,000 and Daniel now goes all in. Daniel has jacks and Tex has tens. The flop brought a queen and ten. The turn was a eight. Daniel needed a nine or jack to win the pot. It didn't come. Daniel left in seventh place for $1,300,000. Congratulations, Daniel.

8:17--Dinner break

7:53Mad Harper just got back from a news conference with Brad Kondracki. She brought back this report.

Only at the World Series of Poker can someone show disappointment after being given a cheque for $1,150,000 but at the press conference held just after he busted out in 8th place, Brad Kondracki admitted he was slightly let down. "Well, I am feeling disappointed now, but I'll be feeling pretty good in an hour's time. I don't think I could have played my chips any differently. I did what I could."

A whole load of Brad's college friends, who flew in to Vegas today to catch his final table performance, were at the media conference whooping and cheering - especially when Brad was asked how he felt about being the best-looking guy at the final table.

There were more laughs when Brad sheepishly confessed he hasn't actually played any live tournaments bigger than a $10 buy-in before qualifying on PokerStars.com for the WSOP. He said: "It's been kind of surreal being here. I was thinking this morning about how many breaks I've had to have just to get this far. But I also know now that I can get up there and hold my own."

"How do your parents feel about how you've done?", asked a journalist. Brad's dad Tony, standing beside his son, said he was thrilled. But Brad cut in quickly "They weren't so happy when I told them last year that I was taking a year off from law school to play poker."

7:26--Brad Kondracki has been eliminated. Kondracki moved all-in with AQ and Andy Black called in the big blind with 88. The flop came down K85 with two spades. The turn was the 5 of hearts. The river was the six of clubs. Brad took 8th place and cahsed for $1,150,000.

7:15-- Bergsdorf just lost a few chips to Andy Black. On a 397 rainbow, Bergsdorf bet out 400K, Andy Black raised him, and Bergsdorf folded.

6:44--Tick-tock. With Matusow's departure, we're back to posting and folding.

6:44--Brad just picked up a pot after re-raising Andy Black all in.

6:29 Mike Matusow is eliminated--Steve Dannenmann makes it $300,000 from mid-position and Mike Matusow, in the big blind, calls. The flop is 5-2-3, two spades, and after Matusow has a stab, Dannenmann moves in. Mike calls and shows pocket tens, while Dannenmann has A-J off-suit and will need to hit running spades or any ace, jack or four to knock out the Mouth. The turn is the four and when neither the ace nor six falls on the river (both of which would have earned a split for Matusow), it's all over for the only "name" pro in the field. He takes $1,000,000, but no bracelet. He feigns to cry, but there's no Matusow blow up today. He's actually quite gracious in defeat. You heard it here first.

6:09pm--After some hot action at the beginning, the players have calmed down a bit. Not a lot to speak of here. Well, except for the fact that they are still playing for $7.5 million.

5:43pm--My software just ate my post about a monster hand between Mike Matsuow and Andy Black. I'll do my best to reconstruct it without notes. Matusow raised pre-flop and Black called from the big blind. The flop came down J65 with two clubs. Black checked, Matusow bet out and Black called. The turn was a ten of hearts. Black bet out a million, Matusow raised to two million, and Black pushed all in. Matusow thought for a bit, pretended like he was going to call, and mucked. The hand left Matusow with $2.8 million.

5:25pm-- From two off the button, Mike Matusow makes it $270,000 to go. Steve Dannenmann, in the small blind, reraises to $1m. In a flash, Mike moves in and Dannenmann is forced to lay down his pocket fours.

5:17pm--Brad just doubled up. He raised to $450,000 . Steve Dannenman pushed all-in. Kondracki thought for a moment before saying, "I have to call." He turned over pocket tens to Dannenmann's AQo. The flop gave Dannenmann his queen, but the QJ4 flop was all spades. A deuce of hearts on the turn was no help, but a seven of spades on the river was enough to push Kondracki up to $2.6 million.

5:00pm--On just the second hand of the final table, a monster, impossible hand. Dannenmann raised pre-flop, Lazar made it a million to go. Matusow pushed all in. Dannenmann folded and Lazar insta-called, showing aces. Matusow turned over kings. The flop turned the tables, Q6K with two hearts. Matusow jumped around the room screaming. But then, the two of hearts fell on the turns, opening up the nut flush draw for the aces. Matusow couldn't look. And best he didn't. The jack of hearts on the river gave the pot to Lazar and cut Matusow's stack in half.

4:43pm--Brad Kondracki opened the very first%

Today, we find ourselves back at the 'Shoe. Team Blog will be on top of things and will post updates as they come in (and as the limited technology here at Binion's allows). The most recent updates will be just below the chip counts. Also, be sure to check out the WSOP photo gallery.

Blinds are $50,000/$100,000 with a $10,000 ante/ Avg. stack: $5.6 million; Chip leader: $9 million

Chip stacks correct as of 2:47am

Brad "bogey 54" Kondracki--$1.2 million
Daniel "berka" Bergsdorf--$6 million
Bernard "Dogger9" Lee
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer

Ayhan Alsancak's queens just got rivered by an ace-high flush. We have two PokerStars qualifiers at the final table of the WSOP. Details to come.

2:43am--We were almost there. Ayhan Alsancak was all in with QQ vs AJ of hearts. The flop brought an ace. By the river, Alsancak only had two outs, the remaining two queens in the deck. This time, the out came out. Alsancak doubled up and we're back to playing on the TV bubble.

2:30am--It was a hand that didn't involve any PokerStars qualifiers, but got the room rocking. Mike Matusow came in for a raise and got two callers, including Andy Black. Then Tex Barch made it one million to go from the small blind. Matusow and one caller folded. Andy Black thought about it, then announced he was all in. Barch pondered for a while before calling and showing pocket jacks. Black only had KJo. The board laid out an ace and queen, giving Black seven outs on the river, none of which materialized.