Erik Seidel

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.