Famous for Second, Seidel Finishes First

And Chan has him …

Those are the words that would haunt anyone who just so happened to be immortalized in poker's most popular movie, yet Erik Seidel takes it in stride, shrugging off any misconception that his depiction in Rounders bothers him. Despite eight World Series of Poker bracelets and more than $8.7 million in lifetime tournament earnings, Seidel is still perhaps best known for his second-place finish to Johnny Chan in the 1988 WSOP main event. Seidel is highly respected by his peers, and perhaps after his victory in the 2008 World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic airs later this year on the Game Show Network, even the most casual poker fan will, also.

The Long Road Ahead - Five Days Before the Final Table
It isn't often that a 346-player field takes six days to play out, not even on the WPT. But due to a scheduling error with the starting time and competition from other tournaments around the globe, the Foxwoods Poker Classic failed to attract the large field necessary to justify a six-day event. As a result, the tournament days were cut short, and the players were given more free time to wander the massive property that is the Foxwoods Resort and Casino.

There was a strong East Coast contingent of players, all vying for the chance to take one down against the pros in their own backyard. Among them was 2007 champion Raj Patel, making a strong push for a repeat title. Patel held the chip lead for almost four days before finally faltering in 11th place, just shy of the final table.

Other pros making the money included Joe Tehan, Chris McCormack, Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis, Paul Darden, Brock "tsoprano" Parker, Matt Brady, Chris "cdbr3799" Dombrowski, and Steve "Thorladen" Weinstein.

12 Hours! Seidel Wins One of the Longest Final Tables in WPT History
Seidel came to the final table with the chip lead, and insisted on small-ball poker to capture not only the title, but his first-ever WPT championship. The sixhanded final table was a grueling affair, lasting nearly 12 hours and spanning 229 hands. Despite the mental grind, Seidel stayed focused enough to come out on top.

Here were the chip counts heading in:



The two amateurs had to make some moves early, as they were outclassed not only on the felt, but in their stacks, as well. Robert Richardson started things off by doubling through Adam Katz. Richardson was all in with a king-high flush draw and was relieved to find himself up against a double-belly-buster straight draw. The board bricked for both players and Richardson's king high was good enough to take the pot.

Frank Cieri took a different route for his double-up, using a series of all-in plays to slowly chip up his stack, putting him over a million for the first time in two days. In the first 13 hands alone, Cieri was all in over the top of another player's raise three times.

The players then traded chips back and forth for about an hour until Andrew Barta took his turn at a double-up. Barta was all in with pocket kings against the pocket nines of Ted Forrest. The board failed to bring a bad beat for Barta, and suddenly, Forrest was the short stack at the table. The underpair would come back to haunt the player known as "Spook" for the last time when Forrest got it all in with pocket jacks against the pocket aces of Richardson. The board failed to bring any miracle for Forrest, and just like that, he was out in sixth place. He earned $103,360 for his finish but was obviously disappointed that he couldn't take home his second WPT title.

After another 30 or so hands had passed, Katz found himself battling with the short stack. Katz raised from the cutoff to 110,000 and Richardson called from the big blind. The flop came Q 6 5 and Richardson led out for 140,000. Katz took some time thinking about his situation before announcing that he was all in. Richardson instantly called, showing the K 7 for a flush draw. Katz showed the Q J and was a favorite to double up in the hand. The turn paired the board with the 6, taking away a few outs from Richardson, but the river was the K, giving him the higher two pair and sending Katz to the rail in fifth place. Katz took home $151,811 for his efforts, by far the largest cash of his young career.

Richardson kept luck on his side shortly after a break, when he doubled up through Cieri with a pair of kings. Cieri held a pair of jacks with a flush draw, but failed to hit any of his outs. The hand gave Richardson the chip lead, and left Cieri crippled. Cieri hung on for a few more hands, but eventually succumbed when his Q-7 couldn't catch up to Richardson's K-6.

The three remaining players then went into a grueling contest that saw chips fly back and forth, but never put anyone on the ropes. Six hours went by before the action finally picked up again. No, that is not a misprint. Finally, Seidel raised to 280,000 from the button and Barta moved all in from the big blind. Seidel called all in, being outchipped by just 30,000. Seidel showed the J J and was up against the A Q. The board rolled out J 6 3 5 6 and Barta was left with just half of the small blind. On the very next hand, Richardson and Seidel checked it down, and Seidel's ace high was enough to take out Barta. He earned $281,011 for his third-place finish.

After the heads-up presentation, the action went from the longest threehanded session in WPT history to the fastest heads-up match in WPT history. On the very first hand of play, Seidel raised to 260,000 and Richardson made the call. The flop came A K 9 and Seidel continued with a bet of 300,000. Richardson made the call, and the turn was the 8. Suddenly, Richardson moved all in for his last 1,275,000 and Seidel instantly called with the A J. Richardson sheepishly turned over the 9 7 and needed help to prolong the match. The river was the K, giving Seidel his first WPT championship.

With this victory, Seidel moved himself firmly into first place in the Card Player 2008 Player of the Year race. He has already earned nearly $1.9 million this year alone, thanks to a strong finish at the Aussie Millions and a smaller cash in Reno. At press time, Seidel held a 780-point lead over his next-closest competitor, 18-year-old Canadian Mike "Timex" McDonald.

For complete results of this event, please see the Tournament Results section of this issue.

Erik Seidel Punishes the Bubble to Pad His Lead

The Hand: Ted Forrest limps in from under the gun for 24,000, Erik Seidel limps in from the cutoff, Robert Richardson completes the small blind, and Natale Kuey checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes 10 6 2, Richardson bets 70,000, Kuey and Forrest both fold, and Seidel calls. The turn card is the 8, Richardson bets 70,000, and Seidel calls. The river card is the A, Richardson bets 200,000, leaving himself with just over 500,000 remaining, and Seidel decides to just call. Richardson shows the J 10 for a pair of tens, but Seidel shows the Q 9 to win the pot worth 776,000 with a club flush.

After the hand, the rest of the table is left scratching their heads a bit, wondering why Seidel elected to just call the river bet with the second-nut flush. It wasn't until a few moments later that Forrest said, "Oh, I know why you made that play," as he mischievously smiled over at Seidel. After the TV bubble had burst, Adam Katz confessed, "I'm glad it's over. Seidel would've been happy playing that bubble for days."

The Interview: Seidel has been known to keep his cards close to the vest, as they say, but Card Player caught up with the notoriously hushed Seidel shortly before he made his appearance in front of the bright lights and cameras, to talk about the night before and his play on the bubble.

Julio Rodriguez: There was a theory spreading around the room yesterday that you just called with the queen-high flush so that you could prolong the bubble as much as possible. Care to comment?

Erik Seidel: [Laughing] Well, I definitely didn't mind the bubble going. I mean, I guess there was some chance that he held the king-high flush, and I thought that if he did, I would lose the minimum by just calling. If he didn't hold that, there wasn't much chance that I would get anything out of him by raising him on the river, anyway.

JR: What did you make of Ted's comment after the hand?

ES: Well, I think he meant what you said. I mean, I was definitely enjoying playing with those guys sevenhanded. I think it was a very good spot for me to be in, not only with my stack, but also with my position at the table. Then again, I wasn't about to sacrifice any of my chips to keep it going, either.

Despite mentioning that he wasn't going in with a set game plan, Seidel continued to play small-ball poker, chipping away at his opponents until he eventually came away with the victory.