Pro Poker Player and Media Personality Bernard Lee Named Official Spokesperson for Foxwoods Resort Casino

MASHANTUCKET, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Foxwoods Resort Casino today announced that professional poker player and media personality Bernard Lee has been named official spokesperson for the property’s World Poker Tour-branded Poker Room. Foxwoods, a charter member of the WPT, is the first major casino to sponsor a poker professional.

A Wayland, Massachusetts resident, Lee has won more than $1.35 million and three titles on the tournament circuit since becoming a professional poker player three years ago. The Harvard University and Babson College graduate worked as a senior marketing/new business development manager at a Fortune 500 company before finishing 13th — New England’s top finisher — in the 2005 World Series of Poker (WSOP).

Since turning professional, Lee has become one of the busiest poker personalities in the world, hosting shows on television, radio, and the Internet and working as a columnist, commentator, and author. Recognized as “the voice of poker in New England” by Cardplayer.com, Lee is known nationally and worldwide as a poker media personality.

“We’re thrilled to add Bernard Lee to the Foxwoods team,” said Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprises (MPGE) President Michael Speller. “Bernard is such a compelling figure on the poker landscape, and we’re certain that his expertise and talent will bring even more excitement and energy to the poker experience at Foxwoods.”

Foxwoods Resort Casino is an important part of Lee’s poker history. He was among the earliest players to visit the casino when it opened in 1992, and it was the first place he played in a poker tournament, participated in a poker main event, and won a tournament. Lee captured three tournament titles between 2006 and 2008, all at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

“If there is such a thing as home-court advantage in poker, for me it’s at Foxwoods,” Lee said. “I’m proud and humbled that Foxwoods would choose me to be their official spokesperson among the millions of poker players in the world.”

Bernard Lee is co-host of ESPN.com’s weekly online poker show, “ESPN Inside Deal,” and is a poker columnist for the Boston Herald, ESPN.com, PokerNewsDaily.com, and other media outlets. He has released two books, The Final Table, Volume I and Volume II, which are compilations of his Sunday Herald poker columns. He is also an instructor for the WSOP Academy and a poker commentator for the WSOP and New England’s Eastern Poker Tour.

Lee will wear the Foxwoods logo at all participating tournaments. Additionally, Lee’s radio show, “The Bernard Lee Poker Show,” is now officially “Presented by Foxwoods Resort Casino.” The show, which debuted in May 2007, airs on 1120 AM in the Boston area and internationally on www.RoundersRadio.com.

Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM Grand at Foxwoods have always placed a premium on offering the finest gaming options and promotions. At the six casinos at Foxwoods, there are more than 380 table games with 17 different varieties, including blackjack, craps, baccarat, roulette, Caribbean stud poker and pai gow poker, and the only WPT World Poker Room in New England, with 98 tables open around the clock. The casino at MGM Grand at Foxwoods features 60 table games, including blackjack, roulette, craps, Spanish 21, and 3-card poker. Together, the seven casinos offer more than 7,200 slots, a Rolling Chip program that rewards frequent players, Wide Area Progressive slot machines, High Stakes Bingo, free online play, and Ultimate Race Book.

To learn more about Foxwoods, visit www.foxwoods.com. To learn more about Bernard Lee, visit www.bernardleepoker.com.

About Foxwoods and MGM Grand at Foxwoods

North America’s largest casino, Foxwoods Resort Casino® is located in the rolling hills of southeastern Connecticut and is easily accessible from Boston, New York, Hartford, and Providence. Owned by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, Foxwoods features six casinos with more than 7,200 slots, 380 table games, the only WPT World Poker Room™ in New England, High Stakes Bingo, and Ultimate Race Book. There are 1,416 guest rooms and suites in three hotels, more than 30 restaurants, a luxurious spa, more than 50,000 square feet of premium meeting and event space, 24 retail shops, and five entertainment venues, including the 1,400-seat Fox Theatre. Conveniently located adjacent to Foxwoods is Lake of Isles™, featuring two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by Rees Jones and a state-of-the-art Golf Academy. In May 2008, the MGM Grand at Foxwoods® debuted, adding 825 luxurious guest rooms, 115,000 square feet of meeting space, the 4,000-seat MGM Grand Theater, a 21,000-square-foot spa, and more dining, retail, and gaming facilities, bolstering Foxwoods’ preeminence as the East Coast’s ultimate casino resort destination. Foxwoods supports responsible gaming, and plays a leadership role in the Connecticut Council of Problem Gambling, of which it was a founding entity. For more information, call 1-800-FOXWOODS or visit www.foxwoods.com.

About the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation

The Mashantucket Pequots are a native Algonquin people in southeastern Connecticut, having endured centuries of conflict, survival, and continuity on and around one of America’s oldest Indian reservations, established in 1666. As the first native people within the borders of the continental United States to suffer attempted genocidal massacre by Puritan Colonists in 1637, the Pequots and their repatriation is an unprecedented story of restoration exhibited in detail at the Tribe’s world-class Museum and Research Center (www.pequotmuseum.org). Today the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation owns the largest resort casino in the world, Foxwoods Resort Casino (www.foxwoods.com), along with several other economic ventures including the Lake of Isles Golf Course (www.lakeofisles.com), a joint-venture partnership establishing the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, and Foxwoods Development Company dedicated to world-class resort development throughout the United States and Caribbean. All together, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation remains one of the State of Connecticut’s highest tax payers and largest employers. Likewise, the Tribe provides significant financial contributions to state and local nonprofit organizations that support neighboring communities.