Seidel wins first WPT

World Poker Tour, Connecticut, USA, 4-9 April 2008

Entrants: 346
Buy-in: $9,700 + $300
Prizepool: $3,230,014 Final Results:
1. Erik Seidel, USA, $992,890
2. Robert Richardson, USA $558,792
3. Andrew Barta, USA, $281,011
4. Frank Cieri, USA, $200,261
5. Adam Katz, USA, $151,811
6. Ted Forrest, USA, $103,360

Erik Seidel’s amazing year continued today as he won the 2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The win, his first World Poker Tour title, netted Seidel a lovely $992,890.

The victory comes hot on the heels of Seidel’s 2nd-place finish at January’s Aussie Millions and confirms his status as one of the world’s top tournament players.

At Foxwoods, Seidel had to outlast a large field of 346 players to take down the top prize amidst a prizepool of $3,230,014.

Coming into the All-American 6-handed final table as the overwhelming chip leader, he was joined by fellow star Ted Forrest, poker pro Adam Katz, and amateur players Frank Cieri, Andrew Barta and the eventual runner-up Robert Richardson.

The final table lasted a gruelling 12 hours as players traded chips back and forth with seemingly nobody wanting to take any unnecessary risks. As the table slowly wound down to the final three of Seidel, Barta and Richardson they continued to test the patience of the fans in attendance by waging war for 6 hours before the eventual elimination of Barta left things heads-up.

Remarkably, after all that time the heads-up match lasted just the single hand with Seidel’s top pair crushing Richardson’s pair of Nines.

The win gives Erik Seidel a World Poker Tour Championship to go alongside his staggering 8 WSOP bracelets. His lifetime tournament winnings are now in excess of $9m.