Erik “Sly” Seidel is one of the most well known names in professional poker. He is a member of the Full Tilt Poker team and has one of the most impressive resumes of all current poker players. “Sly” has won an impressive seven WSOP bracelets.
Erik Seidel was born in New York City, Nov. 6, 1959. He first played Backgammon while a college student at Brooklyn College. He became so enamored with the game and believed it to be so potentially lucrative that he quit college and became a professional backgammon player.
He began to spend time at the Mayfair Club in New York where he played backgammon. He would play there while also participating in various tournaments and pursuing his career as a professional gambler. Though Seidel was committed to becoming a professional backgammon player, he would eventually put this dream aside for a while and sought employment in a regular 9 to 5 job, though, he continued to play when time allowed. His job was now as a stockbroker. However, that would end in 1987 when the stock market crashed and Seidel was forced to look for another way to support him self.
This time he began to play poker at the Mayfair Club. Some really good players had started to spend time and play there. Seidel became really good quite quickly. In 1988, he decided to enter several World Series of Poker (WSOP) tournaments events. He didn’t have a good showing until he made it to the Main Event, where he reached the final table and then the finals. Though he had performed so extraordinarily that he made it to the finals in his first WSOP event, he would eventually lose to Johnny Chan.
Just a few years later, in 1991, he placed second at the WSOP 1991, $5000 Limit Hold’em Event, first in the 1992, $2500 Limit Hold’em Event and first, the following year, 1993, when he won the title in the $2500 WSOP Omaha Eight or Better tournament..
In 1994 he Seidel won a gold bracelet in the $5000 WSOP Limit Event. In 1998, he won the WSOP $5000 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw. He came in fourth place in the WSOP Main Event in 1998 and won $280,000. His winnings seemingly continued to be impressive. In the WSOP $3000 No Limit Hold’em Event, 2001, he won more than $400,000. In 2005 he won another gold bracelet in the $2000 No Limit Hold’em Event and was awarded more than $600,000. In 2007, Seidel won the WSOP No Limit Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Low Ball for more than $500,000. He would win a whopping 1,000,000 AUD after he placed second in the Aussie Millions event.
Seidel has won and placed in more tournaments than one could write about. He has been extraordinarily successful and today is one of the most familiar and popular names in poker.
