Erik Seidel Wins Ninth WSOP Bracelet In the Super MILLION$ for $977,842

Erik Seidel was able to consolidate his status as one of the best poker players by winning his ninth WSOP Bracelet in the Super MILLION$. The 61-year-old is a famous high roller and is a proud member of the Poker Hall of Fame, making him a living legend. Throughout years of playing poker, Erik was able to accumulate around $38,915,859 in tournament winnings and 29 tournament titles. In his latest accomplishment, he was able to defeat a field of 624 entries and take home $977,842 in winning as a result. Read on for more details in the article.

Background

This win has allowed Seidel to enter a tie with Johnny Moss for the third-highest bracelet count in the WSOP history with nine bracelets. Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, and Johnny Chan all sit just one bracelet win above for the second-highest bracelet count. Phil Hellmuth is an absolute world leader with 15 bracelets won throughout his career. 

Seidel was also able to become the first player with over five WSOP bracelets to win an online WSOP bracelet, having won his first in 1992 when he defeated Phil Hellmuth heads-up in Event #4: $2,500 Limit Hold’em for $168,000. Erik Seidel’s last victory in the series was all the way back in the 2007 WSOP $5,000 deuce-to-seven lowball championship event. 

With his latest victory, Seidel was able to achieve more than $6.7 million in total WSOP winnings, which includes the $280,000 he earned in the 1988 main event as a runner-up.

Event #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller Final Table Results

Among the nine players remaining at the final table, Erik Seidel was only seventh in terms of the chip count. Francisco Benitez had the largest bankroll. Rui Ferreira was the first player to be knocked out and received $129,410 for his ninth-place finish. His A-K ran into pocket jacks of Thomas Muehloecker.

Isaac Baron was the next player to be knocked out. A former bracelet winner lost a large portion of his stack when his pocket jacks ran into pocket queens of Chin-Wei Chien, which made him fall all the way to the bottom of the leaderboard. It didn’t take long until he faced Chien again. This time Baron’s Q-J went against Chien’s pocket aces, eliminating him from the tournament. Isaac Baron received $166,632 for his eights place finish.

The next knockout was performed by Seidel with his pocket kings. He raised from the middle position and Claas Segebrecht decided to push with his 9-9 for over 10.5 BB and Seidel called. Even though both opponents were able to hit a set by the river, Seidel’s kings were stronger and knocked out Segebrecht from the table. He finished seventh with $214,558 in prize money. 

Joachim Haraldstad was the next participant to be eliminated. His A-8 went up against the A-K of Benitez, who was able to maintain and increase his chip lead. Haraldstad finished sixth with $276,269.

Chien was knocked out next in an excellent example of a pre-flop race. Chien went all-in during pre-flop with 4-4 up against A-J of Muehloecker. Unfortunately for Chien, Muehloecker hit a much-needed ace on the flop. Chien received $355,729 for his fifth-place finish.

The next knockout was performed by Benitez once again. This time Shyngis Satubayev became a victim of the Uruguayan. Satubayev, with his pocket tens, three-bet shoved Benitez from the small blind. However, Benitez quickly called with his pocket queens. Shyngis Satubayev finished fourth and went home with $458,043.

At this point, Benitez was still a chip leader with almost 35.1 million chips. Muehloecker had 16 million, while Seidel had 11.4 million. Benitez decided to raise to 1,200,000 from the button with his A Q. As a response, Muehloecker decided to push from the big blind with A 10 for 17,306,728. Benitez called, and the board showed 7 4 2 K J. As a result of this huge showdown, Muehloecker was eliminated. He received $589,785 for his third-place finisher, which is also his second-largest career win. Consequently, his total tournament earnings amount to $8.2 million.

Heads-Up

Benitez entered the heads-up stage with 50,202,779, while Seidel only had 12,197,221. The heads-up play lasted only 20 minutes, but it was action-packed. It didn’t take long for Seidel to find a huge double-up with his queens against Benitez’s jacks, therefore hitting a set and eliminating Uruguayan’s lead. Seidel was back in the game and became a real threat to Benitez. After a few hands, Seidel was able to get in a 2:1 lead. 

During the final hand, Francisco Benitez three-bet shoved to 2.8 million with A-K. Erik Seidel, with his A-8, decided to go all-in after a short pause. Benitez would have to call his last 26 million (around 35 BB) and eventually he decided to do just that. Seidel was able to hit a flush draw on the flop with 4 10 J with two hearts. The turn was the ace. The 3 of hearts on the river cemented his victory and eliminated Benitez. 

One of the Best

It is hard to say that we are surprised by Seidel’s win. It is in his nature to win large tournaments and other events. However, this win, in particular, is special. First of all, it is his largest win online and in the WSOP. He won his first WSOP all the way back in 1992 when most of his rivals were born yet. Usually, humble Erik Seidel could not hold his emotions and has twitted the following:

“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.”