If you went to the PokerStars VIP Store at this time with 1,000 Frequent Player Points, it will buy you two small foam stress toys within the shape of sharks. Do not get me wrong. It is a bargain. You'll throw those sharks against a pc screen all day and not worry about damaging even a pixel.

But it is advisable to do better.

To understand how, it's a must to have a look at a person that many of us call to mind as poker's most renowned 13th-place WSOP finisher, a man who burned 1,000 FPPs in a freeroll a decade ago and has turned the outcome right into a ten-year career.

That man was Bernard Lee, an Ivy League guy from New England, a senior marketing manager in a Fortune 500 company, a poker enthusiast who'd been cards for greater than a decade. One night while watching a 2002 WSOP broadcast, he saw Russell Rosenblum call a guy's hand.

"I was so stunned that he could predict it that well that I literally said to myself, 'You know what? You're really not that good at this game. You're thinking that you are, but you're not,'" Lee said this week.

Lee started studying, and by the point Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP, Lee was able to start his campaign to get to the primary Event. Though he tried time and again, he didn't make it in 2004.

When PokerStars opened satellites for the 2005 Series, Lee was ready. On a Monday night, he went to tennis practice, came home, and located a 1,000-FPP satellite. The plan was to practice for a large qualifier on Sunday. Instead, he won it. His wife found him crying within the kitchen at 7am.

"I made it," he said. "I WILL NOT believe it. I made it."

There was never any doubt that Lee was a marketing man. The year 2005 was a type of heady years where character was still king and sponsorship money fell from the rafters. Lee knew the price of an excellent story. What's more, he had one.

In the weeks leading as much as the primary Event, it looked as though his trip can be over before he got to the airport. His wife looked as though she could have been very ill following a surgery. Lee started emailing PokerStars asking to defer his entry. By that point, it wasn't possible. The great thing was, it also wasn't necessary. It turned out his wife was fine.

When Lee arrived, he set a photograph of his children at the rail in front of him and looked to it for inspiration. Over the process the following several days, the cameras hovered, and Lee became the WSOP's Everyday Family Man.

Lee kissing photos of his children in 2005

On just today in 2005, Lee was doing all he could to make it to the overall 27 players. Only that lucky group can be a part of the history-making day when the general three tables went to Binion's for the last time.

He made it, sealing his part in poker's history.

Bernard Lee hanging out with ESPN's Norman Chad in 2005 at Binion's

The result was a 13th-place finish. It paid him $400,000.

While it was an enormous score, it wasn't the type of money he could use to retire. The issue was, he immediately had the bug.

"You need to come back to where you were," he said. "It's an unbelievable feeling."

His wife, however, didn't see it quite the similar way.

"You can't believe that is going to happen every time," she said.

So they came to an understanding. If Lee could have the opportunity to create some revenue streams outside of tournament play, he could leave his job on the Fortune 500 company.

What few people could have been capable of predict is that Lee would do exactly that.

Lee shortly landed a column within the Boston Herald. He started a radio show and sold advertising. He picked up a few small sponsorships. What's more, before the top of 2006, he'd won the sector Poker Finals for an additional $300,000.

"In '07, I MADE UP MY MIND I USED TO BE going for it," he said.

The result was greater than he ever could've dreamed. He hasn't needed to look hard for more work. He's commentated for ESPN and the WSOP Circuit, been spokesperson for Foxwoods Casino, and hosted Inside Deal on ESPN.

"I don't work. I'm retired. That's how I FEEL about it," he said. "Somebody gives me a check every once in a while, and i am just amazed. Sometimes I play within the biggest tournaments on the earth and do well, they usually give me more money."

Lee at this year's WSOP

Over the process his career, he's won several events, including one who earned him a WSOP Circuit ring. In total, he has greater than $2 million in career tourney earnings. What's more, he's still earning profits outside of his play. He has other sponsors and business interests in his relationships with RunGood Gear and Blue Shark Optics. He also connected with an organization called Blaycations (short for Bucket List Vacations) thats brings people in for WSOP events, introduces them to the massive players, and provides them the poker trip of a lifetime.

"I'm doing it because I REALLY LIKE what I do," he said. "I THINK ridiculously fortunate."

As a result, he and his family have turned to charitable efforts. Together they work to offer tens of thousands of bucks worth of Christmas gifts to New England families through the holidays.

There is nothing to mention Lee couldn't have come this far if he'd busted out of that freeroll ten years ago. His drive and ambition are unparalleled. He dreams of being within the Poker Hall of Fame. He it likely would've made it this far it doesn't matter what path he took.

Nevertheless, it's greater than just a little fun to appear back and notice how Lee turned a PokerStars FPP pittance into millions and a career than has now lasted a decade.

"It's amazing to me that i am still on this industry ten years later," he said. "In 2002 and 2003, I USED TO BE a fan. Now I'm a qualified player."

Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging. Photography by PokerPhotoArchive.com

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