The famous professional poker player, won eight bracelets of the world poker series. However, despite this, Eric Seidel is more famous for his crushing defeat. In his first big tournament of the WSOP World Series of Poker, he lost to Johnny Chen in the final. And forever remained in history as "defeated by Chen."
early years
The future poker star was born on November 6, 1959 in New York, USA. From early childhood, Eric was distinguished by a lively mind and curiosity. He was attracted to any games with a competitive element, where it was necessary to compete with opponents. Already at 12, he managed to get together to participate in the popular television game show To Tell the Truth on CBS. However, the talent for gambling did not show up before Eric did not go to Brooklyn College after graduation, where he became very interested in playing backgammon.
He began to seriously engage in this board game, spending almost all his free time in training and almost professional competitions. Eric Seidel played at the Mayfair Club, the legendary New York club, where amateurs and connoisseurs of this ancient game gathered.
First meeting
The game was easy for him, in the club he had a chance to play with very strong rivals. Eric decided to drop out of college and become a professional backgammon player. For eight years he traveled around the country participating in tournaments. To escape from the intense games that he made his living, he sometimes played poker.
At first, he did not take the card game seriously; he had to play Hold'em several times when he had to stay on business in Las Vegas. Soon, the popularity of the game of backgammon began to decrease noticeably, people in clubs were increasingly switching to playing poker. In 1985, tired of the changeable fate of a professional player, Eric Seidel decides to find a more stable income. He arranges to work as a stock broker, earning an additional small income at the poker table, sometimes participating in small poker tournaments at a club in Mayfair.
Carier start
However, he failed to make a finance career, after two financial world crises, when the stock market crashed in 1987, Eric was reduced. He returned to his native club, where at that time future great players, including Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington, earned money at the poker table. Nobody almost played backgammon, all his former rivals were carried away by the card game.
Eric Seidel approached poker very responsibly, especially since it was the only remaining source of income at that time. He studied all the available literature on poker, analyzed the game of his rivals and strove not to repeat the same mistakes of his own. Seidel quickly progressed and by 1988 managed to reach the level of the game, in his opinion, sufficient for a world series match. Money for his first participation in a professional poker series helped his friends collect.
First episode
He signed up to participate in 10 WSOP tournaments, but in the first nine did not reach the prize money. In the last tournament, playing quite confidently, he got to the game at the final table. In heads-up (a one-on-one game, when the other rivals had already lost) he confronted the current champion Johnny Chen, an American poker player of Chinese descent. And as a result of an interesting game, he lost. In the biography of Eric Seidel there will be 13 more such final tables, but he never forgot this one. These moments became almost eternal thanks to the fact that they entered the documentary about poker "Shuler".
Even after two decades, dozens of tournaments won and $ 24 million in prize money by Eric Seidel, he is reminded of this historic loss. He himself says that that game was an absolutely fantastic adventure for him, for which he was simply not ready. Eric recovered for a long time after such a crushing fiasco. He again went to work on Wall Street, only occasionally taking part in small poker tournaments.
At the peak of a career
In 1991, Eric returned to professional poker, again taking second place with a buy-in (entry fee) of $ 5, 000. For many, second place in such tournaments is a great achievement, but not for Eric Seidel. Next year, in the Limit Hold'em tournament (buy-in of $ 2, 500), he wins a bracelet (insignia for first place in poker tournaments). In 1993, he received a second bracelet in the Omaha Pot Limit tournament.
Eric won his third victory the following year in the WSOP limit hold'em competition. After the third bracelet won, he believed in himself, decided to play poker professionally and moved to Las Vegas.
Eric Seidel received another gold bracelet in 1998 for winning the Draw Poker tournament (five-card poker) with a buy-in of $ 5, 000. The following year, at the Main Event of the World Series, he again participates in the game at the final table. However, this time it takes only fourth place, having received $ 280, 000 in prize money.
Recent Achievements
In 2001, he won another victory in the Texas Hold'em tournament, received a bracelet and $ 411, 000 in prize money. The next successful year was 2003 for him, Eric Seidel won first place in the Omaha tournament and third place in unlimited hold'em. He became a silver medalist at the US Open.
Eric received the seventh World Series bracelet by winning the 2005 No Limit Hold'em tournament. Two years later, he received the eighth bracelet, thanks to a victory in draw poker, obtained only at the end of the tournament.
In 2010, for his contribution to the development of the game (he won 28 tournaments), Eric Seidel's photo appeared in the Poker Hall of Fame. His last major achievements were at competitions in Las Vegas: third place in 2016 at the Super High Roller Bowl tournament (prize $ 2.4 million) and sixth place in 2017 at the Aria Super High Roller ($ 317, 520).
