Poker Professional

Erik Seidel

Erik Seidel the professional poker player is one of the world's best that poker has seen. He is the only player to be in the Top 10 All-Time Money List of both the World Series of Poker and Bellagio.

Coming from New York Seidel started out on the Backgammon circuit where he played for eight years before he became a Wall Street broker for PaineWebber trading GNMA's. He was another poker player that started at the Mayfair Club with fellow poker professionals Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington.

The first major tournament that Seidel played after his move to Las Vegas was in 1988. He made it to the final table only to be beat by Johnny Chan for the first place prize. The final hand was featured in the movie Rounders and marked the beginning of his career.

In 1992 he won his first of seven World Series of Poker golden bracelets in the $2,500 Limit Hold'em event. 1993 brought him his second bracelet at the $2,500 Omaha 8 or better and 1994 his third in the $5,000 Limit Hold'em where he raked in $210,000. The next four bracelets were attained in the:

• 1998 WSOP $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw - $132,700
• 2001 WSOP $3,000 No Limit Hold'em - $411,300
• 2003 WSOP $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha - $146,100
• 2005 WSOP $2,000 No Limit Hold'em - $611,795

In addition to the seven blinding bracelets, he has 4 more titles at the Bellagio Five-Diamond World Poker Classics one of which from the 2003 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha event. Seidel has made final table in 50 out of 68 recorded tournament cashes and has won 10 of the 17 heads up he has appeared in.

As of 2006, Seidel has over $5,770,000 in live tournament earnings.