Biography of the most famous poker player
Poker is a game that has a rich history and there have been many champions and winners of major tournaments over the years. But it’s Eric Seidel who stands out amongst all of them, having made over $38 million over the years. At the moment, the American poker player:
- has nine World Series gold bracelets.
- Inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
- Has one of the highest number of games at the prize table.
- Oldest ever winner of the WSOP Online 2021.
How his career as a poker player got started
Eric Seidel was born in New York City in 1959. It was clear from an early age that he had a mathematical mindset and his interest in games where winning was not a matter of luck but of thinking and analyzing your opponent. After graduating from the university he started to take an active interest in backgammon; after that Eric dropped out of the university and started playing poker professionally. And pretty soon he was successful as he won the tournament with a prize fund of 250 thousand dollars.
In between the tournaments, there was also an interest in poker. Initially, playing poker was just an interesting pastime. But after a while the backgammon situation worsened and so the decision was made to start my own way in poker.
How was he successful?
Right from the start Sidel started to learn strategies and possible tactics, studying possible literature and soon it was paying off. In 1988 he reached a level which enabled him to take part in the World Series of Poker. Of course, not without support back then, the young poker player managed to make it to the main event, where he won second place. His winnings amounted to $280,000. And after that, numerous victories followed.
The maximum result that the player achieved was the Super High Roller tournament in Melbourne, where the prize fund reached $2,472,555 for the first place. Even though his age was quite mature, Eric did not succumb to the youngsters and at the age of 61 was the winner.
Overall, from 1991 to 2019, Sidel has often cashed in all major poker tournaments and has earned increasing popularity and appreciation from amateurs each time.
WSOP bracelets
A successful debut at future events was not until 1991, again finishing second in a $5,000 buy-in tournament. And after that 3 years of activity were very outstanding, as he managed to pick up 3 WSOP bracelets.
And already after the third bracelet, the thought came that it was worth taking up poker professionally. And it was with this goal in mind that the player moved to the gambling capital of the world. Eric got his next bracelet in 1998, where the prize fund of the series was $132 thousand.
