We realize this blog is turning into the Bernard Lee show a bit, but he's really the only one doing any damage at this point.
We picked up another pot involving Lee a moment ago. He was in the small blind, and there was a three-way, three-bet pot stacked in the middle. It had been opened to 850 by a middle-position raiser, and the button had flatted before the action came to Lee. His three-bet was to 2,550, and both opponents called to see the flop.
The dealer presented them with , and Lee checked. The initial raiser put out 3,200 to fold the button, but Lee check-raised with enough chips to cover. Mr. Raiser had about 9,000 left in front of him, and he quickly called it off with his drawing at the flush. Lee quietly rolled over , and he needed to fade two cards to earn the knockout.
The turn was the safe and the river the , and Lee let out a little fist pump under the table as his aces held.
That's another knockout for Lee, and he's already worked his stack up into the overnight top ten right now. His nearly 90,000 chips are more than all but four players bagged up in the earlier flight. And if you've watched Lee play for any period of time, you know it's tough to get your chips back from him once he has them.
David Zeitlin opened for 725 in middle position and the player in the cutoff called. The blinds released and the flop came . Zeitlin bet 1,050 and his opponent called. The turn brought the and this time Zeitlin measured out 2,300 and earned a call. The river was and Zeitlin asked his opponent how much he had behind. The opponent had about 17,000 and Zeitlin bet 6,350. The amount was enough to put the player in the cutoff on his heels and he folded after some short thought.
We've been spending a lot of time hovering around the middle table that contains Matt Chang and Bernard Lee, fellow Koreans. There has been a lot of good-natured banter between everyone at the table, and Chang certainly has no trouble keeping the mood light. He's several cocktails in right now, and he's just donned a superfluous eye patch over his left eye.
A few moments ago, Chang and Lee spent some time discussing their heritage, and there's some indication that they both had tougher-than-average upbringings. "I'm sure your father said a lot of the same things my father did growing up," Lee said at one point.
Eventually, the language came up in conversation, and Lee admitted that his Korean his spotty. "I mean, I can order off the menu at a restaurant. But I can't speak soap opera Korean."
Chang had simliar experience with his native tongue. "I know. I can order Soju like nobody's business!" he quipped back, drawing laughs from those at the table who know what Soju is. It's a Korean liquor, if you're scoring at home.
Right around then, Lee came into the pot raising to 750, and the action folded all the way around to Chang's big blind. He grabbed the calling chips and tried to get them into the pot, but he eventually talked himself into a fold. "Against anybody but you, Bernard..."
Lee just smirked as he rolled over . "You really wanna do it?" he asked. "Come on then." With a wink and a push of the pot, the two men are onto the next hand.
Bernard Lee opened to 1,025 under the gun, and Charles Coates three-bet shoved with his short stack of 4,525. Lee double-checked the amount before calling with , and Coates was flipping for double or nothing with .
The board ran , and Lee tapped the felt and said, "Nice hand, sir."
Coates will take the pot, and he knew what he was doing. "Didn't have much choice," he posed. "Ain't like I wanted to."
We started the Day 1b flight with a trio of ladies, and we've still got all three of them sitting at the tables. Well, we did until a moment ago, at least. But Lou Merwick has been dismissed for an orbit. She accidentally exposed her cards while mucking, and there is essentially a zero-tolerance rule for that error here.
We stood at the table for a few minutes to hear some of the reactions, and most of the players dislike the rule. "You gotta change that rule," one of them said to the floorman as he came over. He nodded and walked away, clearly biting his tongue just a bit.
Based on the chatter, it sounds like the staff here had some problems with this issue at the Chicago Poker Classic earlier this year. Cards were being exposed intentionally all over the room, and the Tournament Directors instituted a mandatory penalty in order to curb the information giving. It worked.
That rule has stuck with them, and we've seen a pretty fair share of penalties doled out here this week. It is admittedly strict, but if it's been instituted to keep the game fair, there shouldn't be much of an issue.
We missed the action but the large pot on the river caught our attention as we passed by the table. Johnny Kincaid was heads up with Matt Chang and the board read . Kincaide had a bet of 5,100 in front of him and Chang was in the tank.
After a short while Chang tossed in calling chips and then mucked when Kincaid tabled pocket nines.
We found a seriously short stacked Huy Nguyen at risk for his tournament life. He ran his pocket jacks into pocket queens but the poker gods saved him - for now. Nguyen spiked a jack on the flop to trump the queens and is still alive with just over 10,000.
, and Lee checked. The initial raiser put out 3,200 to fold the button, but Lee check-raised with enough chips to cover. Mr. Raiser had about 9,000 left in front of him, and he quickly called it off with his 
drawing at the flush. Lee quietly rolled over 
, and he needed to fade two cards to earn the knockout.
and the river the 
, and Lee let out a little fist pump under the table as his aces held.
. Zeitlin bet 1,050 and his opponent called. The turn brought the 
and Zeitlin asked his opponent how much he had behind. The opponent had about 17,000 and Zeitlin bet 6,350. The amount was enough to put the player in the cutoff on his heels and he folded after some short thought.
. "You really wanna do it?" he asked. "Come on then." With a wink and a push of the pot, the two men are onto the next hand.
, and Coates was flipping for double or nothing with 
.
, and Lee tapped the felt and said, "Nice hand, sir."
