It's been two weeks since San Antonio police raided Richard Lee's home, claiming it to be the "nerve center" for an online bookmaking operation. There's still been no arrest, but they're hardly dropping the case. According to the Express-News , Lee was one of three people to get their home raided in this investigation. Because he required "eight tow trucks, plus a number of pickups and unmarked fleet cars" and the items seized could "fill a 6,500-square-foot home with two driveways," It could take some time for them to sift through all the evidence they've collected.
What we do know is that Lee wasn't discreet. He left a long paper trail -- taking checks, writing checks and even writing "Gamb. Loss" on the memo line of one. Police have put together what is being referred to as "The Chinaman's List" with names of clients who allegedly placed bets with Lee ... among them doctors, lawyers, and prominent businessmen ... many of whom are quite worried.
If the anxiety sounds familiar, you were probably here in 1980. That was the year of madam Theresa Brown and her infamous trick list. Once police seized a brothel book containing 3,000 customer names, revival-like fear and trembling spread across the city. If men weren't scrambling for lawyers, they were running to church.
Lord, have mercy.
San Antonio's Mayor Phil Hardberger and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff are reportedly not on The List, despite Lee's telling authorities that "I have powerful friends in the community." Hardberger says he's never met Lee, and has only spoken to him several times on the phone. Wolff says he's nothing more than a poker buddy of Lee's, and that's not a criminal offense as far as we know.
That's what PokerBlog editor Dan Michalski said after I found out about San Antonio's raid on Richard Lee's home. San Antonio's WOAI possibly agrees.
As I was keeping tabs on Richard, I ran upon WOAI's Poker Zone. It is their little area of all the poker-related stories they have covered. Here San Antonians can keep up with Jamie Gold's lawsuit, follow Richard Lee's "hero to zero" ride, read a commentary about the Goodlatte Bill, or watch a segment about playing small pocket pairs.
Pretty cool for San Antonio. For their written content there seems to be three major contributors including a feared, myserious Teddy Bear? Hmmm. Maybe WOAI has gone a little too far with the bear, but overall I like that mainstream journalists are keeping an eye on poker as well.
 Yesterday morning Richard Lee talked about turning down endorsement offers at the WSOP. Out of the final 27 players, Lee was the only one without Internet poker paraphernalia. Sporting the same San Antonio t-shirt he had on during the WSOP final table, Lee told media he refused taking the endorsement money in order to do something good for the city.
Media expected to get a chance to question Lee about the recent raid on his home, but Lee spoke more about his love for San Antonio and his .com offers.
"No matter what you might think of me now or after. I am a good person. I tried to live my life by my word, and tried to live my life with integrity,” he said, “and I was proud as hell to wear this t-shirt than take a few a few dollars and wear a T-shirt from people I didn't even know.”
 Thursday morning, Richard Lee said he did nothing wrong. When San Antonio police raided his home on Tuesday night, Lee was playing poker on PartyPoker.com. Lee wouldn't discuss whether he was acting as a "bookie", placing bets for other people, but the Bexar County District Attorney's office said even if Lee was only placing bets for himself online that he was still committing a crime. Lee told WOAI he was not aware that playing poker online was illegal.
"If it is [illegal] I guess they need to go into probably a couple of thousands and thousands of other homes in San Antonio," Lee said.
In a press conference, dressed in the same San Antonio t-shirt he was wearing when he placed 6th in the WSOP main event, Lee told the press he was the same man today that he was August 10. He said he hasn't lost love for San Antonio and wanted to talk to the press because he wasn't going to hide.
"I'm not going to allow myself to get caught up and feel like I'm going to crawl in a little hole and blow away," he said. "The last three days I 've felt like I'm a marshmellow over a fire."
Lee said during the raid three SWAT officers sitting at his breakfast table were asking him if he was nervous at the final table of the WSOP. Sounds like a pretty relaxed raid to me....hmmmm...let me get a search warrant, bust into your house to seize items to help our illegal gambling investigation, but, by the way...do you think you should have played those pair of jacks?
I've got lots of info to share today on Richard Lee's non-arrest. Turns out when cops (complete with a mini-SWAT team) busted into his home to confiscate his five cars and all sorts of other goodies, he was playing a tournament on PartyPoker.
Many interesting things to be said about that -- to some extent its an endorsement that our very good PP friends didn't have to pay $500k for. But it's also interesting important, because the Bexar County district attorney has reportedly come out and said that that act in and of itself is illegal!
(?)
Oy, tough days ahead. (Especially as the Senate convenes next week with discussion of the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act on its agenda.)
 Last night after obtaining a search warrant, San Antonio police seized items from Richard Lee's home. Police were searching for evidence of an extensive illegal Internet gambling operation.
In a San Antonio-Express News article today Lee responded:
"Just a few hours ago I was one of San Antonio's favorite sons," Lee said, sitting outside his posh home Wednesday morning beside a gurgling stone fountain. "It seems like maybe I've gone from hero to zero in the course of a few hours."
Lee declined to comment on his online activities, but said he felt he had done nothing illegal.
I find it interesting that Jamie Gold, in response to his lawsuit, needed a publicist to speak for him while Lee told reporters face to face outside his home.
 I got a voicemail tonight from a San Antonio friend telling me that Richard Lee had been arrested. Actually he was not arrested, but WAOI reports that vice police were searching Lee's pricey Shavano Park home this evening for evidence that he was "running an illegal gambling ring." Police reportedly have the authority to seize everything, including his cars.
A little sad. I liked Richard. He was one of the good guys sporting his San Antonio sweatshirt instead of selling his soul to Bodog or PokerStars. I smiled as he talked during his press conference about how all he cared about was God, family, and San Antonio, Texas...corny I know...but after living in San Antonio for six years, he made me miss the S.A. pride.
UPDATE: The San Antonio Express-News reports police seized a money-counting machine, five Lexus cars, plasma-screen TVs along with a large amount of cash.
In the biggest hand of the Main Event and perhaps the final table's most significant turning point thus far, Jamie Gold just took out Richard Lee. Prior to the hand, Lee had over 11M in chips.
Gold limped in from the cutoff and Richard Lee raised to 1.2M from the small blind. Gold reraised to 4M and Lee moved in. In the ultimate deja-vu moment, Gold called in a shot and showed QQ to Lee's JJ-- exactly the hand matchup that led to Gold busting Erik Friberg earlier in the day. The flop came K-K-3-6-10 and Lee was shockingly bounced from the tournament in 6th place. He'll take home $2,803,851.
Gold has more than 51 million now-- over half the chips in play. In related news, it's also reported that leprechauns are marching out of his ass.
 Jamie Gold just got a lot more chips. In the cutoff, he called and Richard Lee raises to 1.2 million from the small blind. Gold reraised to 4 million and Lee came over the top. Gold quickly calls and shows pocket queens to Lee's pocket jacks. The board doesn't bring a jack and Lee is eliminated, taking home $2,803,851.
Jamie now has more than half of the chips in play and continues to play big stack poker. I hate to see the Texan go, but we do still have a contender in the form of Paul Wasicka, who despite now living in Colorado, is originally from Dallas.
Richard Lee limped in from under the gun and the action was folded to Jamie Gold in the small blind. Gold completed and Rhett Butler checked his big blind. The Jh-Js-3c flop was checked around to Lee, who bet 200K. Gold check-raised to 500K, Butler folded and Lee called. The As fell on the turn and both men checked. The river was the Ad and Gold fired out 600K. Lee called and showed the Qh-Jd for jacks full of aces and Gold mucked his cards without showing.
Lee took a 2.68 million chip pot on that hand and is up to nearly 15 million.
Allen Cunningham has been quiet so far, playing only one pot in the last 20 or so hands of action.
Speaking from a purely Texan pride standpoint, it's nice to see we're represented at the final table of the biggest poker tournament in the world. With the game being Texas Hold'Em, and many of poker's greats being from Texas, it's fitting that we'd have a player in.
 A quick look at the San Antonio emblazoned across Richard Lee's chest will tell you he's a proud Texan. Richard lives there with his wife and daughter, and works in the technology sector. He has another daughter (twins, in fact) that lives in Los Angeles, and the whole family is here in the bleachers cheering dad on.
I was standing near them when the tournament director made the life changing announcement that all remaining players were millionaires. Richard stood up and looked at his family with obvious emotion. As his wife and daughters pulled their cell phones from their bags and began calling friends to let them know the good news, spectators surrounding them began teasing "So what's on your wish list?" and "Can I be adopted?"
Lee is using a card protector that has his grandson's picture inside, and his daughter said that during home games he puts his grandson in his lap and always wins when he's there. His grandson must be good luck, as Lee knocked out the 10th player and will begin the final table with 11,820,000 in chips.
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