Erik Seidel is a Poker Hall of Famer, with the credentials to prove it. He has 26 career titles, including eight World Series of Poker bracelets, and he is currently the all-time tournament earnings leader with an astounding $16,857,307. He captured $2.5 million of that in one day when he took down the 2011 Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller. This massive event still shares the distinction of being the largest buy-in tournament in poker history (along with the 2012 running of the same event), but that record will soon be surpassed this summer at the World Series of Poker with the $1 million buy-in “Big One for One Drop” event.
Until that million-dollar buy in materializes however, this event still takes the cake. A total of 20 players posted the unbelievable $250,000 AUD buy-in, building a nearly $4.95 million prize pool. Only the top three finishers would make the money, with fourth place going out on a $995,824 bubble! Here is the story of how Seidel survived to heads-up, and then made a gigantic come back to earn the biggest payday of his career.
Sam Trickett Decimates Final Table
When the field had been whittled down to the final table of nine, Seidel sat near the middle of the pack with 626,000. Chip leader heading into the final table Sam Trickett, who had won the $100,000 buy-in just days before, eliminated Nikolay Evdakov, Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson to further his sizable chip advantage to nearly half the chips in play with five remaining. Trickett’s wrecking ball run through the table didn’t stop there. He picked up pocket aces four-handed to eliminated the unfortunate bubble-boy Wang Qiang, ensuring that he, Seidel and David Benyamine would each at least cash for nearly $1 million.
Even though they were in the money, there was more than a $1.4 million dollar difference between finishing third and first, so there was a lot to play for as Seidel and Benyamine both faced the prospect of battling back from short stacks against an in-form and on-fire Sam Trickett. With blinds of 15,000 – 30,000, Benyamine folded and Trickett raised enough to put Seidel’s 350,000 chips all in. Seidel quickly called with the A
10 and was out in front against the 5 4
. The board ran out A K 2 9 9 and Seidel doubled up to roughly 706,000 with top pair.
Trickett’s run good continued when he got the last of Benyamine’s money in with both players holding trip aces and low kickers. The massive pot would be split 86 percent of the time, but with one card coming Trickett paired his four kicker to make a full house and eliminate Benyamine in third place. With that, Trickett took nearly 4.2 million chips into heads-up play with Seidel holding only 804,000.
Seidel Starts A Comeback
With 20,000 – 40,000 blinds, Seidel had roughly 20 BBs as the heads-up showdown began, while Trickett had more than 100. Early in the battle, Trickett limped from the button with Q 8
and Seidel checked his option with the 6 3, only to hit a massive flop with the Q 6 6 coming off the deck. Seidel checked, and Trickett bet 50,000 into a pot of 80,000. Seidel made it 115,000 total, and Trickett reraised all-in and Seidel instantly called. The turn brought the A
, leaving Trickett drawing to one of the two remaining queens. The K hit the river, however, doubling Seidel up to roughly 1.5 million while Trickett slid to around 3.4 million in chips.
Trickett did not slow down however, and the two got tangled in another sizable pot straightaway. With the same blinds, Trickett min-raised to 80,000 from the button with the 9 6 and Seidel defended the big blind with the K 10. The flop brought the K 7 4 and Seidel quickly checked, and Trickett checked behind. The turn brought the A and Seidel once again checked. Trickett cut out and slid 90,000 into the 160,000-chip pot. After a moment’s consideration, Seidel made the call with his pair of kings and the river brought the 6. Seidel checked again, and despite making fourth pair, Trickett continued with his bluff by firing 250,000 on the river.
The event was being played with speed poker rules, giving each player only thirty seconds to act on their hands. Seidel was down to just a few seconds when he decided to use his “time breaker” button, which gave him an extra thirty seconds to consider his decision. The dealer counted down as Seidel made the call with only four seconds remaining. Trickett grimaced slightly after seeing the tough call Seidel made and the pile of chips that were being pushed across the felt towards Seidel, who pulled even closer in the counts.
Comeback Complete
Seidel kept up his momentum by winning yet another big pot by under-representing his hand. Trickett called from the button with the K 6 and Seidel raised from the big blind to 165,000 with the 9 7. Trickett called and the flop brought the 9 5 3. Seidel bet 150,000 into 370,000. Trickett, with just king-high and a few backdoor draws, floated the flop and the 4 fell on the turn. Seidel checked, and with a newfound open-ended straight draw Trickett bet 300,000. The river brought the 5 and Seidel checked once again. Trickett bet 720,000 and Seidel once again went into the tank, clearly uneasy. He once again announced a call at the last minute, and once again was rewarded with a massive pot worth more than 2.7 million.
With that, the roles were reversed, and Seidel overtook the lead. Blinds had increased to 25,000-50,000 when Seidel called from the button with the J 9 and Trickett raised to 175,000 from the big blind with A Q. Seidel made the call and the flop brought the 9 5 3. Trickett checked and Seidel bet out 150,000 after flopping top pair. Trickett quickly announced all-in and Seidel called almost instantly. Trickett was clearly upset with how he had lost his sizable lead heads-up, and was heard telling his friend and fellow British professional player James Bord, “This is going to take some getting over, this is.” The turn and river changed nothing, and with that Seidel had completed his comeback and won the biggest buy-in event up to that point for nearly $2.5 million.
How The Hands Look Now
Seidel had arguably one of the best years in the history of tournament poker in 2011, and this victory was the one that really kicked his year into high gear. By the end of January, Seidel had already cashed for nearly $3.5 million, and he went on to end the year with nearly $6.4 million in tournament earnings, three titles and nine final-table finishes.
This win was not only prestigious, but it marked the largest single payday of Seidel’s tournament career. Seidel undoubtedly made some good hands along the way, but two of the most key pots required him to make tough river calls after under-representing his hand, proving what a tough and tricky player he can be. Seidel had earned the respect of his peers and poker fans alike a long time ago, but this win truly made him a legend. ♠