A chat with Bernard Lee.

[B Dids]

The guy's wife was sick, give me a break.

He didn't do anything offensive, he just kissed a picture of his family. How that that effect anybody else in the negative at all?

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
The guy's wife was sick, give me a break.

He didn't do anything offensive, he just kissed a picture of his family. How that that effect anybody else in the negative at all?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, to be honest, I had forgotten that part of the story.

Great. Now I sort of feel bad.

Ok, that passed.

I can certainly understand being emotional about your wife being sick.

So let's speak a bit more generally--I honestly do feel that there is just a bit too much Dr. Phil and a whole lot too much of the frat boy poker player baseball cap blah blah blah stuff.

There doesn't seem to be much gracious in-between. That's all I meant.

But again, to be honest, I forgot about his wife being sick.

<sigh>

THE ISLE OF CRETE!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

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I'm willing to bet that if you qualify on line for pennies (compared to 10K) and get the point where you're guaranteed 400K, you'll do some stuff that we find silly also.
You do realize, that an amateur making it that far, is a lot like hitting the lottery, don't you?
Now, the Swede, who screamed at the top of his lungs, now, that was ridiculous, however, he was a lottery winner.

[/ QUOTE ]

This point is valid, except for the fact that he had obviously been doing it the whole time (not just after guaranteeing a big score).

I'll tell you, I really can't stand all of the mutual fellatio that goes on when someone busts out, either. Shake hands, well played, ok.

But there's no need for a Happy Ending. It's a poker tournament, not a massage parlor. Bernard looked like he was gonna start French kissing each departing contestant.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. What's up with all the hugging that is going on these days? When I bust out of a tournament I damn well don't want some guy hugging me. Now if it was Evelyn Ng doing the hugging i'd be first in line. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[NCAces]

[ QUOTE ]
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[ QUOTE ]
I'm willing to bet that if you qualify on line for pennies (compared to 10K) and get the point where you're guaranteed 400K, you'll do some stuff that we find silly also.
You do realize, that an amateur making it that far, is a lot like hitting the lottery, don't you?
Now, the Swede, who screamed at the top of his lungs, now, that was ridiculous, however, he was a lottery winner.

[/ QUOTE ]

This point is valid, except for the fact that he had obviously been doing it the whole time (not just after guaranteeing a big score).

I'll tell you, I really can't stand all of the mutual fellatio that goes on when someone busts out, either. Shake hands, well played, ok.

But there's no need for a Happy Ending. It's a poker tournament, not a massage parlor. Bernard looked like he was gonna start French kissing each departing contestant.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. What's up with all the hugging that is going on these days? When I bust out of a tournament I damn well don't want some guy hugging me. Now if it was Evelyn Ng doing the hugging i'd be first in line. [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

On a general note, I think over the past few years the idea of grown men hugging, especially in athletic events, has become much more common that it used to be (say when I grew up in the 60's and 70's).

And, as far as that goes, that is okay. I have no problem hugging family members, and even good friends I haven't seen in a while. But the problem here is that these people don't know each other. They aren't family, good friends, or teammates. In that situation I just don't see it and wouldn't welcome it.

Then there is the issue of the hug itself. The "shake hands and then kind of pull together and bump opposite shoulders" hug is cool. But, the "chest to chest, hey, dude, you've got both your arms over my shoulders and your head is resting on my shoulder, cheek to cheek" hug is only appropriate for the person (or persons) with whom you are currently sleeping.

NCAces

[TaintedRogue]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'm willing to bet that if you qualify on line for pennies (compared to 10K) and get the point where you're guaranteed 400K, you'll do some stuff that we find silly also.
You do realize, that an amateur making it that far, is a lot like hitting the lottery, don't you?
Now, the Swede, who screamed at the top of his lungs, now, that was ridiculous, however, he was a lottery winner.

[/ QUOTE ]

This point is valid, except for the fact that he had obviously been doing it the whole time (not just after guaranteeing a big score).

I'll tell you, I really can't stand all of the mutual fellatio that goes on when someone busts out, either. Shake hands, well played, ok.

But there's no need for a Happy Ending. It's a poker tournament, not a massage parlor. Bernard looked like he was gonna start French kissing each departing contestant.

[/ QUOTE ]

And where did all that hugging come from? When that first started occurring, I told my wife that it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever seen on these televised tournaments. Has anyone seen someone of the caliber of Dr. Ferguson and Phil Ivey hugging each other when one knocked the other out? I haven't.
I wonder if it isn't PokerStars' idea to induce viewers to join their site. The viewer sees the team spirit between the PokerStars qualifiers and deduces that if they were to see their dream come true, that they would not be alone at the WSOP, but instead, with a team of players, supported by a world renowed site.
We I sit back and reflect, I do not see any difference in the level of ridiculousness in the pro who wears his sunglasses upside down, Raymer and his custom sunglasses and Lee and his kissing the photo of his family.
I think that they are all looking for a way to individualize themselves for marketing purposes.

[NCAces]

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What I really found interesting is the fact that nobody ever takes the "good family man" to task for being absurd.

Yes, it's nice that you love your kids.

However, it is also creepy and weird that you slobber all over a picture of them all the time, particularly when you seem to be hoping for luck.

"God, please watch me put my saliva on this picture of my children while I am on television, so that you might see the depths of my love for my children and grant me a good flop, turn, and river..."

Blecch.

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I agree. The other thing I found disturbing about him was that he felt he had to counsel all the people as they dropped out. Hey, give me a hand shake and say "nice run." You don't have to hug me and tell me how great I played, how tough a beat it was, blah, blah, blah. Let me leave with dignity and go cry on my own.

That said, I can't imagine the pressure involved at that point due to (1) you've been going at it for a week straight, and (2) there is a ton of money on the line. Pretty easy for me to nitpick here 3 months later. I'd love the chance to be in the same position to do otherwise.

NCAces

[sublyme]

I, too, couldn't stand him flipping the fudge out everytime he survived an all-in or won one. Also KISS KISS KISS I LOVE YOU PICTURES KISS KISS - dear God, get over the spectacle aspect of it all and just play poker.

[mikech]

"brian(boston,ma): were there any players you sat next to that you were in aww of ?? thanks

Bernard Lee: (5:07 PM ET ) I was very fortunate that I had a lot of great table draws where I never had any of the pros that most people fear ie: Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen. However, there were three people tha tI played with during the tournament that I really appreciated their play and their comments. John Juanda, a guy who is not as well known, but Tommy Vu - my Marcel Luske to David Williams - he really helped me. The last guy is Joe Hachem, I had a lot of fun hanging out with Joe."

tommy vu! i hope he shared some of these nuggets of wisdom with bernie:

"Some of you have parents or grandparents who worked hard all their life and retired with almost nothing. You don't have to be like them."

"I never forget what my grandfather told me: There are two kind of people in life: the doer and the loser. Which one are you?"

[wayabvpar]

I liked Lee. He was humble, very easy to like, and didn't get out of line with his celebrations (with one exception, and even that wasn't too bad). I will cut him some slack regarding the family photos- with his wife's condition always on his mind, I can't blame a guy for drawing strength from his family. I would imagine that many of the posters who are so offended by this behavior aren't married or have kids.