Erik Seidel Wins Ninth WSOP Bracelet; Ties Johnny Moss in All-Time Standings
Erik Seidel cemented his status as one of the greatest poker players of all-time with a ninth WSOP bracelet. He defeated Uruguay's Francisco Benitez heads-up to win Event #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller of the 2021 WSOP Online on GGPoker for $977,842.
It has been 14 years since Seidel's last bracelet, but this result sees draws Seidel level with three-time WSOP Main Event champion Johnny Moss on nine WSOP bracelets.
Seidel also becomes the first player with more than five WSOP bracelets to win an online WSOP bracelet.
The cards are in the air in the GGPoker WSOP Online. The PokerNews live reporting team is on top of all things WSOP. Don't miss a beat!
Event #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Payout (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Seidel | Canada | $977,842 |
| 2 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | $759,419 |
| 3 | Thomas Muehloecker | Austria | $589,785 |
| 4 | Shyngis Satubayev | Montenegro | $458,043 |
| 5 | Chin-Wei "davidchien88" Chien | Taiwan | $355,729 |
| 6 | Joachim Haraldstad | Norway | $276,269 |
| 7 | Claas Segebrecht | Austria | $214,558 |
| 8 | Isaac Baron | Mexico | $166,632 |
| 9 | Rui Ferreira | Brazil | $129,410 |
Note: Countries as per GGPoker client
Read More: Before the Game - Erik Seidel the Trader
Seidel Among the Greats
Having dropped out of college to pursue poker, New York's famous Mayfair Club became almost a second home to Seidel as he began to hone his poker skills among the very best players in the world.
He cashed for the very first time in the World Series of Poker in 1988, finishing second to Johnny Chan in a hand made famous by the movie 'Rounders'. Seidel would follow that up with another runner-up finish three years later, before clinching his first WSOP bracelet in 1992.
Poker Moments: Erik Seidel Looks Back on Johnny Chan and the Eye to the Sky
By 2007, Seidel had won bracelets in five different games: Limit Hold'em, No-Limit Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Pot-Limit Omaha and 2-7 Single Draw.
Since then, Seidel has never finished higher than fourth in a WSOP bracelet event. His most recent close call was a fourth place in the 2015 WSOP $10,000 2-7 Single Draw Championship, finishing fourth. However, a strong performance at the 2020 Aussie Millions Main Event, finishing fifth, proved that he was still capable of strong tournament performances.
And so it was today. Against a star-studded final table that featured two former Super MILLION$ champions, Seidel battled back from seventh in chips at the start of the final table to clinch a ninth WSOP bracelet.
Thanks everyone for the kind words, I’m totally thrilled! Really caught me by surprise because I’m so out of my ele… https://t.co/dGZ00INtNW
— Erik Seidel (@Erik_Seidel)
My First WSOP: Erik Seidel Meets Johnny Chan The Master in 1988
Erik Seidel WSOP Bracelets
| Year | Event | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | $2,500 Limit Hold'em | 1st | $168,000 |
| 1993 | $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better | 1st | $94,000 |
| 1994 | $5,000 Limit Hold'em | 1st | $210,000 |
| 1998 | $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw | 1st | $132,750 |
| 2001 | $3,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'em | 1st | $411,300 |
| 2003 | $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha | 1st | $146,100 |
| 2005 | $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em | 1st | $611,795 |
| 2007 | $5,000 No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw | 1st | $538,835 |
| 2021(O) | $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller | 1st | $977,842 |
All-Time WSOP Bracelets
| Rank | Player | Bracelets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Hellmuth | 15 |
| 2= | Phil Ivey | 10 |
| 2= | Johnny Chan | 10 |
| 2= | Doyle Brunson | 10 |
| 5= | Erik Seidel | 9 |
| 5= | Johnny Moss | 9 |
Final Table Recap
It didn't take long for nine to become eight following the elimination of Rui Ferreira, and just half an hour later Seidel had manouevred himself from seventh to first in chips ahead of Francisco Benitez. The lead would change hands back and forth as Isaac Baron fell in seventh and former Super MILLION$ champion Claas Segebrecht was sent to the rail in sixth.
Benitez then started to edge ahead of the chasing pack, with the Uruguayan's chip stack growing to more than 25 million as the short stacks continued to battle it out. This battling caught out Seidel, as following the eliminations of Joachim Haraldstad and Chin-Wei Chien in sixth and fifth place respectively, the WSOP legend found himself bottom of the pile, albeit with 30 big blinds.
It took a cooler for the deadlock to be broken four-handed, with Benitez the beneficiary. Holding queens he snap-called the shove of Shyngis Satubayev with tens, to send the Kazakh player to the rail and open up an enormous chip lead, now holding more than the rest of the chips in play.
And that chip lead would grow even further following the elimination of Thomas Muehloecker, with Benitez again snap-calling a shove this time with ace-queen against Muehloecker's ace-ten to hold more than a 4:1 chip lead heads-up.
Heads-Up Play
There were just 20 minutes of heads-up play, but it was action-packed from the off with Seidel scoring a huge double-up with queens against jacks, flopping a set to cut Benitez's lead. Not only did this get Seidel back into the contest, but just a handful of hands later it was Seidel opening up a 2:1 lead and looking to close out the match.
The final hand (350k/750k) saw Erik Seidel limp with A♥8♥ and Francisco Benitez three-bet to 2.8 million with A♣K♦. Seidel thought about it before moving all in, putting Benitez to the test for his last 26 million, which at this stage was still almost 35 big blinds. Benitez called.
The flop 4♥10♣J♥ gave Seidel a flush draw and the turn was the A♦. Seidel needed an eight or a heart on the river, with the 3♥ giving him a flush to eliminate Benitez and secure victory
PokerNews WSOP Online Live Reporting
Live coverage of the 2021 WSOP Online continues right here on PokerNews all this week with the conclusion of Event #13: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship taking place on Wednesday, August 18. After that, we bring you two days of coverage of Event #14: $500 THE BIG 500. Head to GGPoker for your last chance to jump into the BIG 500!
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
