Erik Seidel
Erik Seidel was born in New York and originally played in backgammon tournaments. After eight years of playing these tournaments he turned his attention to the stock market and also began playing poker. Once he realized he had a flair for the game, he decided to move to Las Vegas to try his hand in some of the major poker competitions.
Erik Seidel
In his first ever World Series of Poker Championship Event in 1988, Erik Seidel actually finished second to the defending champion Johnny Chan. His runner-up finish was immortalized in the poker movie “Rounders.” He won his first WSOP bracelet in 1992 after winning the $2,500 Limit Hold ‘Em event. In 1993 he came back to win again in the Ohama event. He won another six WSOP bracelets between 1994 and 2007 and had a total of 57 WSOP cashes. It is said that his WSOP earnings are around the $4 million mark which puts him in 21st place on the career money list of the WSOP. During his time playing in the WSOP he has made the final table 25 times.
Erik Seidel is considered to be the nice guy of poker and is intensely private especially when it comes to his hand during games. He is notorious for his clashes with various television production teams during televised poker tournaments. He does not like to give his strategy away and has been known on occasion to actually block the hole in the table for the camera so that the audience cannot see his hand.
He is continuing to play in most of the big tournaments and also has a WPT under his belt which he won in 1998. He continues to live in Las Vegas with his family and can be found playing on Full Tilt Poker when not involved in the major cash games.
