BERNARD LEE RUNS AWAY FROM
THE FIELD! WINS $368,919!
A record number of 228 players started the quest for a prize pool of over $1,000,000 in
the WPF $5000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship and Wayland, MA, resident Bernard Lee came
out on top and was the winner of $368,919! When the top twenty players returned at 1 pm,
Bernard was not among the top ten in chips but he fought his way onto the final table. The ten players at the table had average
lifetime poker winnings of over $1,200,000 and Bernard was able to overcome them all!
The table began slowly as it took almost two hours to lose two players. Haroon Sakhizadah of Pickering, Ontario,
Can, was the 10th place finisher. Haroon, the short stack, was all-in with KJ but Jim Van Alstyne had AK and Haroon would
take home $21,387. Jean-Robert Bellande of Los Angeles went all-in with pocket A's after a 59K flop; unfortunately for him,
Tracy Scala, who had $1000 more chips, called with pocket 9‘s and Jean-Robert was our 9th place winner of $24,060.
The next four players went out in rapid succession. Chris Bjorin, who was at his second final table of the WPF (he
finished 2nd in the Seniors), called Cliff Josephy's all-in with AK. Cliff had pocket 5's and more chips and Chris would take
8th place worth $26,733. Michael Binger of Atherton, CA, pushed in his last $200K with A9 but Cliff had AJ and Mike was in
7th place and collecting $32,080. Tracy Scala tried his luck with A5 but Cliff had him covered with AK and Tracy would take
$37,426 for 6th place home to Boca Raton, FL. Thor Hansen was able to prolong his stay at the final table through astute play;
he was forced all-in with 83 and could not pair. Cliff had his fourth victim in a row as Thor, a resident of El Segundo, CA,
collected $48,120 for 5th.
With four players remaining, Jim Van Alstyne of Las Vegas, NV, was the short stack. The blinds were at $12K/
$24K and Jim was all-in with pocket 6's. Once again Cliff was the caller, this time with pocket 9's and Jim was the 4th place
winner of $64,159. Russell Rosenblum of Bethesda, MD, had started as the final table chip leader and maintained his position
until Cliff made his run. With three players left he and Bernard were level. Russell was soon all-in with AQ but Bernard had
pocket A's and Russell would finish 3rd paying him $104,260.
Earlier in the evening Bernard had been all-in on several occasions and pulled it out each time. Entering heads up
play, he had a $400K advantage over Cliff Josephy. Cliff, in fact had been down earlier to his last $150K and fought his way
back. In the end, however, Bernard was able to take a huge chunk of Cliff's stack when he hit two pair with K10. The end was
anti-climatic as Bernard was able to relegate Cliff to 2nd. Cliff, a resident of Syosset, NY, can take solace with his prize of
$187,132!
And Bernard Lee is the Champion of WPF $5000 No-Limit Hold'em and the winner of the coveted crystal trophy, a
commemorative leather jacket and $368,010!
Reported by Jeffrey A Toth for Foxwoods Resort Casino
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