Erik Seidel is one of the most prolific professional poker players of our time, winning 8 WSOP Bracelets, with 14 1st place tournament victories, 114 cashes and a career earning total of more than $7,000,000 as of 2007. However, Erik does not share the typical story of a professional poker player - growing up with the game and dreaming of playing high-stakes poker in Las Vegas from an early age. No, Erik has a different story.

Born and raised in New York City, young Seidel grew up with a passion for the game of Backgammon. Erik spent 8 long, successful years on the backgammon tournament circuit. After that, he decided to play the stock market, another successful venture for Erik Seidel. During his stock trading days, Erik began playing poker on the side, just for the fun of it.

Erik eventually tired of Wall Street and turned his attentions fully to poker, having realized that he was not just good at the game, he was exceptionally skilled - or amazingly lucky!

Erik Seidel and the WSOP
The World Series of Poker (WSOP) was the beginning of Erik Seidel’s fame and fortune, in regards to poker anyway. In his very first major tournament, the 1988 WSOP, Erik whittled his way through the competition to land at the final table, going heads-up against the impeccable Johnny Chan. The hand became even more famous as it was featured in the blockbuster movie ‘Rounders’. Chan eventually triumphed over Seidel to take the championship, but not before Erik took his 2nd place victory and cash prize of $280,000.

Erik Seidel cashed again at the 1991 WSOP, earning more than $100,000, but it wasn’t until April of 1992 that he claimed his first WSOP Bracelet in the Limit Hold’em Event #4, pocketing $168,000 along the way. Erik repeated his 1st place WSOP Bracelet win in the 1993 WSOP, this time in Event #3, Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, worth a $94,000 purse. Seidel went on to cash twice more in the 1993 WSOP, taking 15th place in both Events #17 and #19.

Again in the 1994 WSOP, Erik cashed in three events, including a first place Bracelet winner, earning a total of just over $228,000. In fact, Erik Seidel has cashed at least once - usually multiple times - in every single WSOP since 1991. Up until 2008, Erik Seidel’s largest cash, awarding yet another WSOP Bracelet, came in the 2005 WSOP Event #9, No Limit Hold’em. The insatiable Erik Seidel pocketed a whopping $611,795 for that 1st place win.

To date, Erik has earned himself a total of 8 WSOP Bracelets; one in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Having earned so many cashes in the World Series of Poker over Seidel’s amazing career, it is somewhat surprising that he has never taken the championship, coming so close in 2nd, but never on top. It will be interesting to see what the 2008 WSOP reveal this coming summer.

Erik Seidel and the Aussie Millions
Once again, Erik Seidel has come so close, but one spot shy of taking down a championship tournament. In both 2007 and 2008, Erik skillfully took down his opponents to initiate heads-up play in the Crown Casino Aussie Millions Championship tournament. In 2007, he went one-on-one with Erick Lindgren at the final table, but finished in 2nd place with a cash prize of $550,000 AUD ($417,637 USD).

In 2008, the story repeated itself. Erik found himself at the final table across from Australian native Alexander Kostritsyn. After a long, tiresome battle, Erik Seidel eventually gave over to Kostritsyn to take the second place purse of $1,000,000 in cold, hard, Australian cash ($759,340 USD). This victory, though just shy of a championship, is Erik Seidel’s largest single cash to date.

Erik Seidel and the WPT
Erik Seidel has a lucrative history with the World Poker Tour (WPT), starting in August of 2002. Erik cashed 7 times in WPT Season 1, his largest cash being $80,236 for a second place victory at the Euro Finals of Poker WPT Event, Pot Limit Omaha, in February of 2003. In season 2, Erik cashed in 4 WPT events, including a 1st place, $95,059 triumph at the Five-Diamond Limit Hold’em event.

Another 7 tournament cashes came the following year as Erik progressed his way through WPT Season 3. The 2004 Festa al Lago III /Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship - the WPT Main Event - saw Erik Seidel at the final table for a 4th place finished and another $165,000 added to his career earnings.

The pattern continued as Erik cashed four times in WPT Season 4, once in WPT Season 5, another four times in WPT Season 5, and twice in WPT Season 6 thus far (as of Feb. 14, 2008). In all, Seidel racked up 29 cashes in World Poker Tour tournament play.

Erik Seidel and Team Full Tilt
Erik Seidel is a member of Team Full Tilt, alongside many of the world’s most famous and lucratively skilled professional poker players. Full Tilt Poker is an online poker room that sponsors the finest poker players and numerous major poker events around the world. Erik can be found at the Full Tilt Poker tables, chatting it up with fellow poker fanatics and offering his advice to new players.

As a member of Team Full Tilt, Erik Seidel plays online poker exclusively at Full Tilt Poker. He is also a member of the Full Tilt Poker design team. When he’s not in the throws of heated competition at the world’s biggest poker tournaments, or playing online at Full Tilt Poker, Erik enjoys playing tennis and listening to music from his home in Las Vegas, Nevada.