Erik Seidel was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and our cameras caught his speech, which was given just prior to the resumption of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table in November. Seidel is an eight time WSOP bracelet winner who also has a World Poker Tour win to account to his poker resume.
Seidel is originally from New York City having been born there and was originally a professional backgammon player for years. Eventually he made his way to Wall Street and the stock market before settling in as a top level pro poker player. He is well known in poker circles for being one of the group of players made famous from the Mayfair Club which churned out poker industry stalwarts such as Howard Lederer and fellow Hall of Fame inductee, Dan Harrington.
Seidel took second place to Johnny Chan at the 1988 World Series of Poker Main Event, which was by all accounts his first major poker tournament he participated in. Seidel made the final table eleven years later in 1999 and eventually finished in fourth place behind eventual winner Noel Furlong.
After being introduced by Texas Dolly himself (Doyle Brunson Poker Hall of Fame Speech), Seidel took the podium at the Penn & Teller theater at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and addressed the crowd. He spoke about his career and how long it took him to get to where he is, and that making the Hall of Fame was beyond any of his wildest expectations when he first began in the world of poker. He also talked about many of the players that have supported him along the way and how he transitioned during different eras in the game of poker and still maintained his standing as one of the top players in the world.
Seidel is a sponsored pro at Full Tilt Poker.
