Lee Childs:  Who is This World Series of Poker Final Table "Unknown"?

He led the chip count through a good portion of the weekend, yet little is really known about Lee Childs, who Sportsbook.com Online Gambling Odds - Proposition Betting incidentally lists with odds of 8 to 1 to win the 2007 World Series of Poker (that's an $800 payout on every $100 bet placed).

His real name is actually William Lee 'lchilds' Childs we learn.  By the end of play early Monday morning, Lee had amassed 13,240,000 chips and was in first place.

From CardRunners.com:

Lee Childs has a very distinctive look at the poker table. He has a shaven head and stocky build from his wrestling days. He wears black sunglasses and will stare you down at the poker table with a fierce intensity. It was interesting talking to his father, who is now railing him as he goes deep in the Main Event.

Lee Childs was raised in Virginia and presently resides in Reston with his wife. He is 33 years old. In mid June of this year, he quit his job with National Geographic to become a full time professional poker player. His specialty has been online MTT's. This is his first World Series Main Event.

His father related his wrestling history to me as an example of his son Lee's competitiveness. He had never wrestled before joining his high school team in 9th grade. By his senior year he only lost two matches during the regular season and avenged both those losses in the state playoffs before taking second place in his weight class in Virginia.

The Tampa Bay Times also profiled Lee Childs.

And what a story this kid is. He's having the trip of a lifetime, cashing in other big tournaments out there as well, such as the Caesars nightly $550 tournament. He's knocked out Jen Tilly in the Main Event when his pocket aces held up against her open-ended straight draw, he was actually chipleader for a while but says he's happy where he is right now, he ousted Chris "Jesus" Ferguson (Lee had QQ and Chris had A5), and he's gotten respect from none other than Scotty "The Prince of Poker" Nguyen! He also was making some serious noise on Full Tilt before he headed out there, winning the $150 nightly tournament on more than one occasion and cashing numerous other times. Those big cashes led him to the WSOP, where he didn't do so well in the preliminary events back in June, but his dad came through with the buy-in for the Main Event and the rest is history.

One of the reasons Lee Childs seems to be under the radar more than most players is his humble nature.  He says he has been making plays he didn't know he was capable of, and a lot of that comes from his tight solid, nice-guy image.

Childs is guaranteed at least a cool $500,000 regardless of where he finishes at the 2007 World Series of Poker final table.  Having quit his job at National Geographic to play professionally, odds are Childs will have enough money to get him through the next several years.  This does not include endorsement deals, for which there could be many if he were to walk away with the title.  Online poker rooms will also be eyeing Lee. 

Childs, or anyone else for that matter, can walk off with the 2007 World Series of Poker title.  That's because unlike last year's final, when former Hollywood agent Jamie Gold mowed down his opponents one-by-one with an ominous stack of chips, this year no one has enough chips to push the others around.

GET ODDS TO WIN THE 2007 WORLD SERIES OF POKER HERE: YOU CAN BET THESE HERE AND WIN BIG MONEY YOURSELF

If you love the World Series of Poker, you will love betting on these players to win.  These odds are only available until prior to the start of the final play on Tuesday afternoon.  We recommend opening an account prior to 12 pm Tuesday July 17 here.

 

Philip Hilm 7 to 2 odds

Tuan Lam 7 to 2 odds

Jon Kalmar 4 to 1 odds

Raymond Rahme 8 to 1 odds

Lee Childs 8 to 1 odds

Lee Watkinson 7 to 2 odds

Hevad "Rain" Khan 4 to 1 odds

Jerry Yang 9 to 1 odds

Alex Kravchenko 9 to 1 odds

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Ace King, Gambling911.com

Originally published July 17, 2007 8:33 am ET