Erik Seidel

Always calm, silent and sober, he managed to achieve a status of the legend mostly through his superior play.

A lot of players become famous and renowned for their shenanigans and their behavior at the table and off the felt. Erik Seidel certainly does not belong to that group. Always calm, silent and sober, he managed to achieve a status of the legend mostly through his superior play and the respectful behavior he has always displayed regardless of the situation. Of course, his appearance in the probably most famous poker movie ever - “Rounders” - and the legendary hand that he lost to Johnny Chan to finish runner-up in the 1988 WSOP Main Event might have helped. Seidel, also known as Sly, was born on November 6 1959 in New York City. As often is the case, he did not start off with poker. He played tournament backgammon for several years, dabbled with stock market some more, eventually lending on the green felt as a full time professional after the stock market crash in 1987. This was not much of a surprise considering his apparent love for numbers and competitive spirit. Married, with two daughters, he has always treated poker as his full time job. This serious and responsible approach has provided him with a great deal of career success. Apart from finishing second in Main Event of 1988 and the fourth place in the same tournament in 1999, he is a proud owner of eight World Series of Poker bracelets as well as one WPT title. This puts him near the top of the list for life time bracelet winnings trailing only names like Phil Ivey or Phil Helmuth. Some of his most notable cashes include the first place in Aussie Millions High Roller event for $2.6 million in 2011, winning the Five Star World Poker Classic High Roller for nearly $1.1 million as well as his most recent 3rd place finish in the Aussie Millions 100k Challenge for tad over $950,000. His total tournament earnings are estimated to be about $4.800.000, while his total winnings are astounding $23.5 million to date. All these achievements as well as his personality have earned Erik Seidel his place in the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010. His speech during the introduction ceremony was, not surprisingly, modest and full of words of praise for all of those who have helped him achieve his success, especially during the early years of his career, particularly Doyle Brunson and Steve Zolotov. And even at this point, he emphasized how important and crucial love and support from his family were during all the struggles and swings that poker naturally brings with it. There are a lot of videos featuring the man himself right here on Pokertube. Some of those are simply him playing the game, but his interviews and insights into the living style of a serious poker player are both very informative and quite inspirational and make provide great viewing for anyone looking for a good advice from a true legend of the game with three decades of experience under his belt.
Read More
7 years ago8,759BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

2016 "Take 'Em to School" Charity Poker Tournament

Check out this recap of the 2016 Take 'Em to School Charity Poker Tournament, hosted by Mike Sexton, Lynn Gilmartin and Vince Van ...

7 years ago7,668BestPokerVids,

Published 7 years ago

Top 5 Richest Poker Players

The Top 5 richest poker players, featuring Daniel Negreanu, Sam Trickett, Daniel Colman, Erik Seidel and Antonio Esfandiari

8 years ago12,060BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

2016 Aussie Millions - $100k Challenge Day 1

Action from Day 1 of the $100k Challenge High Roller from the 2016 Aussie Millions Championship taking place at the Crown Casino i...

8 years ago3,405BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Erik Seidel at Risk vs Igor Kurganov

Erik Seidel flops a huge hand against Igor Kurganov and puts himself at risk

8 years ago3,589BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Erik Seidel vs Gus Hansen - Big Cooler Hand

Erik Seidel and Gus Hansen involved in a big cooler pot

8 years ago10,317BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

Erik Seidel vs Mike Matusow - Big Pot

Mike Matusow and Erik Seidel playing a big pot

8 years ago15,519BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

EPT11 Grand Final SHR - Seidel Contemplating Sick Hero Call

Erik Seidel contemplating a sick hero call on the river in a heads up confrontation vs Dzmitry Urbanovich

8 years ago12,824BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

EPT11 Grand Final SHR - Max Altergott vs Erik Seidel

Erik Seidel gets his chips in the middle behind vs Max Altergott

8 years ago9,338BestPokerVids,

Published 8 years ago

EPT11 Grand Final SHR - Erik Seidel Claims the Victory

Erik Seidel claims the victory in the EPT11 Grand Final €100k Super High Roller

9 years ago4,218ThePokerAces,

Published 9 years ago

Muck it Like a Pro with Doyle Brunson

Doyle Brunson with a cool mucking trick

Poker Pro Ali Fazeli Pleads Guilty in $6.2million Ponzi Scheme

Fazeli has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and accepted a plea deal after his trial was postponed earlier this year…

Hellmuth and Seidel React To Maria Konnikova’s NYT Interview

Konnikova talks about the tournament “jackpots” she has won and the seeds that grew up to push her out into the poker world

Full Tilt Paid Erik Seidel $60Million Claims Mike Matusow

Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow was at it again recently

How The World Series of Poker Went From Wild West Murder To Prop Bets

Let’s take a look back at how the most iconic poker festival all began – a tale of ‘Wild West’ poker games, murder and thrown titles…

Book Review: Maria Konnikova’s The Biggest Bluff

It’s an intriguing concept, if not the first such attempt at such a deep dive into the game

Erik Seidel Accused of Bad Sportsmanship in WSOP HU Championship

If there is one name you don’t expect to see connected to accusations of bad sportsmanship it’s that of Erik Seidel

Venmo Hacking Thieves Steal $thousands from Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel

Daniel Negreanu and Erik Seidel have both had their Venmo online payment accounts hacked

The Secret Passion of Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel

Erik Seidel, a renowned poker player who sits fifth on the all-time money list with over $42 million in live earnings, has a lesser-known passion