Johnny Chan’s battle with a 24-year old named Erik Seidel in the 1988 World Series of Poker main event became one of the most iconic moments in poker history
It’s hard to conceive nowadays, but in 1988, when 167 players ponied up the $10,000 World Series of Poker main event entry fee, this was considered a huge field. It was the largest in the 19-year history of the event, and created a prizepool big enough to persuade Erik Seidel to buy in, despite having already played and lost nine single-table satellites.
It was the New Yorker’s first main event, and he was curious to see if his cash game success would translate to the tournament circuit. By the time the 167 had been whittled down to the final nine he was still in contention, and so were some grizzled veterans of the scene, including TJ Cloutier and reigning world champion, Johnny Chan.
Seidel did the damage in early play, taking out Cloutier and grabbing the chip lead. One by one, he picked off his opponents, as noted by Eric Drache, the WSOP’s first tournament director: ‘He seems like the only person playing poker, rather than waiting for hands.’ He picked up A-A to take out Humberto Brenes, holding 2-2. And third-placed Ron Graham’s exit closely followed…
ERIK SEIDEL: The hand with Ron Graham where he tried to bluff me with 10-4 was pivotal. I thought forever and called with A-J. That for me was the critical hand, because I busted him and got to heads-up. It was also very exciting for me to have made the right decision, thinking it through the right way.
Tellingly though, it was Johnny Chan who seemed more delighted at Seidel’s call. Throughout the latter tournament stages, Chan exuded qualities of the hunter preparing to pounce on his prey. When Seidel made the call, he clapped and punched the air with a silent ‘Let battle commence’ roar.
ES: I’m guessing he was not unhappy to be heads-up with me because I was inexperienced and aggressive. I felt a little bit out of my element, as it was a surreal experience in those days to be sitting there with cameras pointing at us.
Heads-up is a different art form, and the way I usually played was with more players than that. I wasn’t used to playing heads-up, I didn’t really know hand requirements. It would have been useful to have a little more experience.
JOHNNY CHAN: Erik was a young, fearless, up-and-coming player with a big heart. He’d raise and if you raised him back he was going to take a stand. He wouldn’t let you bully him; he was very aggressive. When it was two-handed, I was trying not to play. My whole key was not to go all-in before the flop. I’d rather see the flop so I can outplay the guy, and that’s exactly what I did.
But, Chan did move all-in early on in the heads-up, with Seidel’s 9-9 narrowly outranking his 8-8. The hand made WSOP history as the biggest pot ever at that time, totalling $1,204,000. Seidel’s hand held up, but Chan had him covered. It wasn’t over yet.
JC: When I look back, I shouldn’t have gone all-in with 8-8. But I figured he would have gone all-in with Ace- anything, that’s how crazy he was. Every time he raised, I’d just call, even with Ace-Jack. That time he raised, I just happened to have a pair. I went all-in and he didn’t even think about it. I still had a few chips left, so I wasn’t worried.
ES: That hand was random luck, but there was a hand early on when Johnny raised and I re-raised and we ended up all-in. We both had A-4, which was pretty funny. But he knew that he was also being put to the test. Although he was the better player, I was putting heat on him, which was a positive thing, but I also didn’t really understand the betting and stuff!
Chan was slowly working his way back into the chip lead, and admits that Seidel’s naivety when it came to bet sizing allowed him to gain in confidence as the heads-up battle went on.
JC: It was so funny; every time he raised the pot he didn’t know how much to raise, I was commanding the game. Let’s say the blinds were 1,000/2,000 – I’d make it 5,000 or 6,000 and after a while he was doing the same thing. I’d raise to 3,000 and he’d raise to 3,000! That way, he wasn’t going all-in; he was raising the size of the pot, which meant I could take a flop. I thought, ‘baby, this is sweet’.
If he did anything crazy, I’d know he was out of line. When he was trying to follow my steps, he was falling into my trap.
Not long after came that hand. Both players limped in to see the Q-8-10 flop. Seidel’s Q-7 hit top pair, but Chan’s J-9 flopped the nut straight. Seidel checked and Chan bet 40,000. Seidel re-raised, throwing another 50,000 into the pot. Chan then did an award- winning dwell-up, eventually calling. Both players checked the 2: turn, then Erik Seidel pushed all-in on the 6U river, and was quickly called by Chan.
JC: I had the button and fourth street brought a blank. He checked and I knew in my mind if I bet he might fold, but if I check he’s going to go all-in on the river no matter what comes. I had him figured out 100%.
ES: I’m not surprised that I ended up getting all my chips in. I’d played a lot of heads-up with him and it was unusual to have top pair on the board. I think if I had that hand now I’d have an easier time getting off it. My feelings about that tournament are actually very good. It was very exciting to be involved and have that happen at such a young age. It was the start of my career so I was happy and very lucky to come second.
JC: I wasn’t sure if this was going to be the victory hand because sometimes you flop the nuts, but it’s how you play it to make your opponent pay you off and try to get all their chips. The key at that moment was teasing him, not to bet too much. He didn’t know the value of medium or big pairs, so if he had a pair he was coming.
I knew if I checked like I had nothing, then he would go for the whole thing, no matter what happened. It’s like playing chess – no matter what move he made, I knew I could get all his chips by checking on fourth street, that was the whole key.
Following the win, Chan went on to cement his place as one of poker’s first superstars. Seidel went back to his day job, keeping poker as a part-time pursuit. He returned to the WSOP each year, and by 1992 had won his first of eight bracelets, but it took a long time to forget about 1988.
ES: For a couple of years I did go over the hands in my mind. Now it’s not an issue at all because I feel very fortunate to have had such a long career out of it. There was a time when I thought, ‘God, I was so close to winning the WSOP’, but that was when it had a lot more meaning for me than it does now.
We are now giving away Poker Player magazine for free every month. Get it here!
