Poker Player Profile – Erik Seidel Poker Player

Erik Seidel was a backgammon player before becoming a professional poker player. He plays online poker at Full Tilt. He has won eight WSOP bracelets.

Entry To Poker

Erik Seidel was born in 1959 and grew up in New York City. While studying at Brooklyn College in the 1970s Seidel took up backgammon. He realized the potential of playing professionally and dropped out from college. He became a part of the legendary Mayfair Club, famous for backgammon and bridge. Seidel spent eight years on the backgammon circuit. By that time the scene at the Mayfair Club began to shift to poker.

In 1985 Seidel took up a 9 to 5 job as a stockbroker and continued playing poker at the Mayfair Club in the evenings. However, the stock market crashed in 1987 and Seidel found himself out of work. At that time poker professionals Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington were at the Mayfair Club. Seidel joined them and began to develop his poker skills. In 1988 with the help of investment from friends Seidel signed up for ten events at the WSOP. He busted in the first nine but his second place in the main event brought him fame. Seidel continued playing as an amateur till 1994 when he won his third WSOP bracelet. He turned professional in 1995 and shifted to Las Vegas.

Live Poker Tournaments

Seidel played his first WSOP tournament in 1988. In the Main Event he reached the heads up with poker professional Johnny Chan. Eventually he lost to Chan but the final hand is immortalized in the poker movie “Rounders”. Seidel won his first WSOP bracelet in 1992. He won bracelets in 1993 and 1994, becoming the only poker player to win bracelets in three consecutive years. Seidel continued winning bracelets at the WSOP regularly. His eighth bracelet came in 2007. He now stands at fourth place in the overall WSOP bracelet tally, tying with the legendary poker player Johnny Moss. However he has not been able to live down his defeat to Chan despite the fact that he was a novice at that time playing his first Main Event.

Seidel has excelled in other live poker tournament as well. In 2001 he won the Jack Binion World Poker Open in Tunica. In 2003 he placed second in the United States Poker Championship. In 2004 Seidel won events at Festa Al Lago II and III. In 2007 and 2008 he placed second in events in the Aussie Millions. In 2008 Seidel won his first WPT title at the Foxwoods Poker Classic. Siedel’s total live poker tournament earnings are at about $9.2 million. He has had 127 cashes and 18 first place finishes.

Online Poker

Seidel’s association with Lederer proved very useful. Along with Lederer and some other poker professionals Seidel was a part of the design team for the online poker room Full Tilt Poker. Today Seidel is sponsored by Full Tilt Poker and plays online exclusively at that poker room. He has also appeared in television advertisements for Full Tilt Poker.

Other Poker Achievements

Seidel now lives in Las Vegas with his wife and children. In his spare time he plays tennis, watches independent films and is a music fanatic. In his personal web site he has recommended hundreds of albums that are downloaded onto his iPod. He continues to dabble in the stock market as well.