Erik Seidel Wins Ninth World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet In Online $10,000 Buy-In Event

Erik Seidel is a living poker legend. The 61-year-old Poker Hall of Fame member has played at the highest stakes available for decades now, accumulating $38,915,859 in tournament earnings and recording 29 tournament titles along the way. The most recent of those came when Seidel topped a field of 624 entries to win the 2021 World Series of Poker Online $10,000 buy-in ‘Super MILLION$’ no-limit hold’em high roller event. Seidel took home $977,842 and his ninth WSOP gold bracelet for the win.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, I’m totally thrilled! Really caught me by surprise because I’m so out of my element online. Hope I can sleep

— Erik Seidel (@Erik_Seidel) August 17, 2021

Seidel entered into a tie with Johnny Moss for the third-highest bracelet count in WSOP history. The pair sits just one bracelet win behind the epic trio of ten-time bracelet winners Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Johnny Chan. Phil Hellmuth remains the runaway leader with 15 bracelets won in his career.

Seidel’s most recent win at the series, prior to this victory, was in the 2007 WSOP $5,000 deuce-to-seven lowball championship event. Seidel now has more than $6.7 million in total WSOP earnings, including the $280,000 he earned as the runner-up in the 1988 main event.

The final day of this event began with Francisco Benitez in the chip lead and Seidel in seventh place among the remaining nine players. Rui Ferreira was the first to fall, with his A-K running into the pocket jacks of Thomas Muehloecker. Ferreira was unable to improve by the river and settled for $129,410 as the ninth-place finisher.

Bracelet winner and online tournament legend Isaac Baron was the next to hit the virtual rail. He lost a huge chunk of his stack with pocket jacks against the pocket queens of Chin-Wei Chien to fall to the bottom of the leaderboard. While he managed to mount a small comeback, it ended when his Q-J clashed with the pocket aces of Chien. Baron took home $166,632 for his eighth-place showing.

Seidel scored his first knockout of the day when he picked up KK and raised from middle position. Claas Segebrecht three-bet shoved with 99 for just over 10.5 big blinds and Seidel called. Both players hit a set by the river, but Seidel’s three kings reigned supreme. Segebrecht finished seventh for $214,558.

Joachim Haraldstad’s run in this event came to an end when his A-8 ran into the A-K of Francisco Benitez, who had only added to his chip lead since the final table had begun. Neither player improved and Haraldstad was sent home with $276,269.

A classic preflop race determined the next elimination. Chien got all-in preflop with 44 facing the AJ of Muehloecker. An ace on the flop gave the Austrian player a big lead which he never relinquished. Chien earned $355,729 as the fifth-place finisher. While that preflop showdown was more or less a fair fight, the next knockout was the result of a cooler. Shyngis Satubayev picked up pocket tens in the small blind after the chip leader raised on the button. Satubayev three-bet shoved, only to have Benitez quickly call with pocket queens. The superior pair held up and busted in fourth place ($458,043).

With that, Benitez surged over 35.1 million in chips, while Muehloecker sat with 16 million and Seidel brought up the rear with 11.4 million. The next big showdown began when Benitez min-raised to 1,200,000 from the button with AQ. Muehloecker three-bet shoved for 17,306,728 from the big blind with A10. Benitez made the call and the board came down 742KJ. Muehloecker earned $589,785 as the third-place finisher, the second-largest payday of his career. He now has nearly $8.2 million in total tournament earnings to his name.

Benitez entered heads-up play with 50,202,779 to Seidel’s 12,197,221. It didn’t take long for Seidel to find a double-up, though, as he picked up pocket queens against the pocket jacks of Benitez and held to close the gap significantly. Just a few minutes later Seidel moved into the lead by taking down a three-bet pot without showdown. He then picked off a bluff from his opponent to build nearly a 2:1 lead of his own.

In the final hand, Seidel limped in on the button for 700,00 total with A8. Benitez raised to 2,800,000 holding AK. Seidel three-bet all-in and Benitez called for 25,925,948. The J104 flop gave Seidel the nut flush draw to go along with live-card outs. The turn was the A, which left Seidel in need of a heart or an eight on the river. The 3 completed the board, giving Seidel the ace-high flush to lock up his ninth WSOP gold bracelet. Benitez secured $759,419 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

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