Lee Watkinson (born October 18, 1966) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

player, originally from

Longbranch, Washington Longbranch is an unincorporated community and census-designated places in Pierce County, Washington, United States. It is located on the Key Peninsula, along Filucy Bay between Pitt Passage and Balch Passage. Longbranch is primarily resident ...

. At the

2004 World Series of Poker The 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) was held at Binion's Horseshoe after Harrah's Entertainment purchased the casino and the rights to the tournament in January. Harrah's announced that future WSOP tournaments will be held in a moving circuit of ...

(WSOP), Watkinson finished 2nd in the $5,000

pot limit In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

event. He also finished

in the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...

of that year's $10,000

no limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P *No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...

Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...

main event, finishing 113th. Watkinson made back-to-back

World Poker Tour The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the fi ...

(WPT) final tables during its third season. The first time he finished 2nd to

Eli Elezra Eliahu Ilan Elezra ( he, אלי אלעזרא; born November 24, 1960, in Jerusalem) is an Israeli professional poker player and businessman, now living in Las Vegas, Nevada. With five WSOP bracelets and a WPT win in the post Moneymaker era, he ...

, and the second time he finished 2nd again, this time to

Doyle Brunson Doyle F. Brunson (born August 10, 1933) is a retired American poker player who played professionally for over 50 years. He is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, a Poker Hall of Fame inductee, and the author of several ...

. Watkinson made back-to-back WSOP main event cashes at the

2005 World Series of Poker The 2005 World Series of Poker opened play on June 2nd, continuing through the Main Event No Limit World Championship starting on July 7th. The conclusion of the Main Event on July 15th marked the close of play, and the largest prize in sports an ...

(WSOP), finishing in 45th place out of 5,619 entrants for a $235,390 prize. He also made the final table of a

WSOP circuit event The World Series of Poker Circuit is a series of poker tournaments held annually at a variety of casinos since 2005 as a build-up to the World Series of Poker (WSOP). All Championship events are competed in no limit Texas hold 'em; preliminary even ...

in November 2005, finishing 3rd. At the 2006 WSOP, Watkinson won a

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a wikt:supportive, supportive function to hold other items of ...

and the $655,746 first prize in the $10,000 pot limit Omaha event when his defeated Mike Guttman's on a board of . Watkinson made the final table and finished 8th in the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event, earning $585,699. In 2008, Watkinson final tabled 2 consecutive tournaments, taking 5th in the WPT Borgata Winter Open and 7th in the WSOP Circuit Main Event at Harrah's Rincon in San Diego, California. In 2009, Watkinson cashed twice at the World Series of Poker. He took 36th in the $1000 No-Limit Hold'em event and just missed winning his 2nd bracelet when he took 2nd in the $1500 Pot-Limit Omaha High/Low event for $141,873. As of 2010, his total live tournament winnings exceed $4,100,000. His 16 cashes at the WSOP account for $2,306,264 of those winnings. Watkinson is the top all-time money winner in Pot Limit Omaha.

Outside poker

He is an

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

graduate and quotes

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

as his main interests outside poker. He wrestled at 142 pounds in college and 187 pounds the last time that he wrestled in 2001.Fulltilt Chat
/ref> Lee is a humanitarian, working with the Cortland Brandenburg Foundation to rescue retired chimpanzee test subjects. Watkinson attended college at

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

References

External links

*
World Poker Tour profile

CardPlayer profile

IPF profile

PokerListings.com interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkinson, Lee American poker players Living people World Series of Poker bracelet winners 1966 births Eastern Washington University alumni People from Cheney, Washington