Sebok Crushes Grapes, Lee Donates

Joe Sebok Transitions to Wine Business

After Black Friday, Joe Sebok began to disappear from the poker scene. As a former employee of UltimateBet, he was in a tough position to field questions from the community, despite having lost his job as did so many others. In 2012, he decided to leave Los Angeles and poker to move to Northern California and work in the wine industry.

A San Francisco Chronicle article interviewed Sebok about his career change, which involved doing a great deal of hard labor for Vinify, a grape-crushing facility. He admits to getting his “ass kicked” when he arrived because of the tough work and 12-hour days, but he loves the passion that people have for wine.

According to the article, Sebok wants to stay involved with the wine industry and work in marketing or social media for California wineries. “The game of poker is great and has been good to me over the years,” he told the interviewer. “But at the end of the day, if you’re not doing other stuff, all you are doing is counting money.”

Bernard Lee Donates to Charity

Poker ProBernard Lee is no stranger to charitable causes. This year, he again worked with the Full House Charity Program to raise money for children in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The organization donates at least $20,000 annually to children in the region.

The 2012 special Christmas project included holiday packages – each worth $250 – given to more than 53 children of 27 families in Lawrence. Lee’s children, Noah and Maya, helped deliver the packages and host a holiday dinner for the families at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center.

With the help of sponsor Cabot Cheese and Playing It Forward, Lee tries to help those needy children and families, an activity that he been a large part of his life since he launched his own program in February 2011.