Erik Seidel: Poker's $30 Million Man

Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel has enjoyed yet another impressive month on the tournament circuit, with the 57 year-old pro amassing $660,374 in November, and thus pushing his live career earnings past the $30 million mark. As a result, Seidel now sits at number 2 on poker’s ‘All Time Money List’ with $30,628,693 in winnings, placing him just $1,990,945 behind current leader Daniel Negreanu.
Erik Seidel cashed in at his first live tournament back in 1988, and over the years he has captured 8 WSOP bracelets across a range of poker variants, including Limit Hold’em, Omaha 8 or better, Deuce to Seven Draw, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha.
In addition, Seidel has made 2 WSOP Main Event final tables, finishing runner-up to Johnny Chan in 1988, and in 1999 finishing in 4th place, with the tournament eventually won by Irish businessman Noel Furlong.
Furthermore, Seidel shows no signs of slowing down, and has already won $4,723,332 in 2016, representing his
third most successful year to date, behind 2011 ($6,530,153), and 2015 ($5,093,703). As to the secret of his success, Seidel admitted to not having “a whole lot of structure” to his game during an interview given last year, and elaborating further stated:
“..I don’t know how I’m going to play. I don’t even think I know how to play really, I just go and try to figure it out while I’m there . I think, particularly in no limit, if you know how to play, you’re probably doing it wrong because I just think there’s a big creative element to it. So much has to do with what the exact situation is rather than trying to impose your own play on somebody else.”
Here are some further interesting stats from Seidel’s illustrious career:
– He won the 2008 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic for $992,890, and has made a total of 7 World Poker Tour final tables.
– He has had 60 six-figure cashes throughout his career, of which 10 have come in 2016 alone.
– He enjoys a good social media presence, and currently has 76k followers.