Erik Seidel (born November 6, 1959) is an American professional

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

player from

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, who has won ten

World Series of Poker bracelet The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is considered the most coveted non-monetary prize a poker player can win. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. Even if the victory occurred before 1976 ...

s and a

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 ...

title. In 2010, he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Early life

Seidel was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He played professional

backgammon Backgammon is a two-player board game played with counters and dice on tables boards. It is the most widespread Western member of the large family of tables games, whose ancestors date back at least 1,600 years. The earliest record of backgammo ...

in his youth. He eventually became a trader on the American stock exchange

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange a ...

and later moved on to poker. Seidel was one of the group of now famous players from the former

Mayfair Club The Mayfair Club was a cardroom in New York City. Originally starting as a contract bridge, bridge and backgammon club, it eventually became "the most touted cardroom, card club in New York" until its abrupt closing by authorities in 2000.Wendeen ...

in New York City, including

Stu Ungar Stuart Errol Ungar (September 8, 1953 – November 22, 1998) was an American professional poker, blackjack, and gin rummy player, widely regarded to have been the greatest gin player of all time and one of the best Texas hold 'em players. Ung ...

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, Mickey Appleman, Howard Lederer, Jason Lester,

Steve Zolotow Steve Zolotow (born March 30, 1945) is an American businessman and professional poker player from Las Vegas, Nevada. He has won two bracelets at the World Series of Poker. He was one of the regulars at the famed Mayfair Club while he lived in ...

Paul Magriel Paul David Magriel Jr. (pronounced Ma-grill) (July 1, 1946 – March 5, 2018) was an American professional backgammon player, poker player, and author based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Magriel became New York State Junior Chess Champion (January 1967 ...

, and

Dan Harrington Dan Harrington (born December 6, 1945) is a professional poker player, best known for winning the Main Event at the 1995 World Series of Poker. He has earned one World Poker Tour title, two WSOP bracelets, and over six million dollars in tourna ...

Poker career

World Series of Poker

In his first major poker tournament, Seidel was runner-up in the 1988 World Series of Poker Main Event to Johnny Chan. This final hand was featured in the 1998 movie ''

Rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a wooden, plastic, or metal bat that has a cylindrical end. The players score b ...

''. Seidel made the WSOP Main Event final table again in 1999, finishing in fourth place in the event won by Noel Furlong. Seidel won his first WSOP bracelet in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. Seidel has won bracelets in five different games, including Hold'em, Omaha, and Deuce to Seven Draw. On December 9, 2023, Seidel won his tenth bracelet in the $50,000 Super High Roller at WSOP Paradise (Bahamas) for $1,704,400 to tie

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, Johnny Chan, and

Phil Ivey Phillip Dennis Ivey Jr. (born February 1, 1977) is an American professional poker player who has won eleven World Series of Poker bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and appeared at nine World Poker Tour final tables. Ivey is regarded by num ...

for second most WSOP bracelets all time.

World Poker Tour

During the sixth season of the

(WPT), Seidel won the 2008 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic, earning $992,890. In April 2011, Seidel came just short of winning his second WPT title at the Hollywood Open. He finished as the runner-up and won $155,103.

European Poker Tour

In May 2015, Seidel won the 2015

European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker Poker tournament, tournaments created by John Duthie (poker player), John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Texas ...

Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller for €2,015,000.

Other poker ventures

In January 2007, Seidel finished in second place in the Aussie Millions $100,000 event and took home $550,000(AUD), beaten by

Erick Lindgren Erick A. Lindgren (born August 11, 1976, in Burney, California) is an American professional poker player. He has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles, two World Series of Poker bracelets, and more than $10,500,000 in tournament earnings during ...

in Heads-Up play. In January 2008, Seidel finished in second place in the Aussie Millions $10,000 main event and won $1,000,000(AUD). In March 2010, Seidel finished in second place in the

National Heads-Up Poker Championship The National Heads-Up Poker Championship was an annual poker tournament held in the United States and produced by the NBC television network. It is a $25,000 "buy-in" invitation-only tournament organized as a series of heads up poker, one-on-one ...

and collected $250,000 after a 2–1 loss to Annie Duke in the final. In January 2011, Seidel finished in fourth place in the

PokerStars PokerStars is an online poker cardroom. It is the largest real money online poker site in the world, controlling over two-thirds of the total online poker market, and can be accessed through downloadable poker clients for Windows, macOS, Androi ...

Caribbean Adventure High Roller Event for $295,960, then went on later that month to take 3rd in a A$100,000 buy-in Aussie Millions tournament for $618,139. Just five days later, Seidel pocketed $2,472,555 when he won the Super High Roller Event at the Aussie Millions. In February 2011, Seidel won the High Roller Event at the LA Poker Classic for $144,570. In March 2011, Seidel won the

, defeating 2003 World Champion

Chris Moneymaker Christopher Bryan Moneymaker (born November 21, 1975) is an American poker player who won the Main Event at the 2003 World Series of Poker (WSOP). His 2003 win is said to have revolutionized poker because he was the first person to become a wor ...

in the final. The $750,000 he collected for the win moved him into first place on the all-time tournament money list. In May 2011, Seidel won the $100K Super High Roller event at the WPT World Championship for $1,092,780. He defeated fellow Team Full Tilt member

heads up for the title. In August 2011, Seidel finished runner-up to

David Rheem David Yongtaek "Chino" Rheem (born April 15, 1980) is a poker player from Los Angeles, California. In November 2008, Rheem finished in seventh place at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, cashing for $1,772,650. He went out of this event ...

in the $20,000 buy-in 6-Max No Limit Hold'em tournament at the inaugural Epic Poker League for $604,330, which brought his earnings for 2011 to over $6.2 million. Seidel mentored journalist Maria Konnikova, starting in 2016, teaching her poker and the mindset that it requires. Seidel taught Konnikova Texas Hold'em and eventually she participated in tournaments and won $350,000. In 2020, Konnikova published a book about her experience: '' The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, And Win''.

Career earnings

As of December 2023, Seidel's total live tournament winnings exceed $45,500,000, ranking him seventh on the all-time money list.

World Series of Poker bracelets

Seidel has won ten WSOP bracelets in his storied poker career. His ten bracelets are tied for third all-time, trailing only Phil Hellmuth Jr and

Personal life

Seidel is married and has two daughters, Elian and Jamesin.

References

External links

Card Player profile

Hendon Mob profile

PokerListings profilePokerNews profile

WSOP profile

WPT profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel, Erik 1959 births American backgammon players 20th-century American Jews Living people Game players from New York City Poker players from the Las Vegas Valley World Poker Tour winners World Series of Poker bracelet winners National Heads-Up Poker Championship winners Poker Hall of Fame inductees 21st-century American Jews