As the WSOP looms in the very near future, poker players off shapes and sizes are trying to use the last couple of events on the schedule to tighten up their games and get ready for the big show. This was ever more apparent than at Day 1a of the EPT Monte Carlo. Looking around the room, you would have thought that it was a who’s who over poker.
With only one other major event going on, the WSOP Circuit Tour Event in Las Vegas, the majority of the professionals, especially Team Poker Stars chose to take the last opportunity to skip over the pond and enjoy Monte Carlo. With the Circuit Tour Event being held in Las Vegas so close to the WSOP, it is no wonder that they took the opportunity to skip town one last time before digging in for the 49 day event.
As usual, the room was littered with former World Champions and as usual, everyone in the field was gunning for them. The most notable of the day one massacres was Greg Raymer. He got his money in with a hand that is every player’s dream, gold old AA. However, he was up against KK and the K on the turn sent him to the rail.
In other news…
As we touched on above, the WSOP Circuit Tour Event is well under way in Las Vegas and a name that has not been heard from in a while is catching steam once again. Mike ‘the grinder’ Mizrachi took over a leader board spot and looks to get back to his winning ways just as the WSOP is getting ready to hit town. Mike made a huge impact just a few years ago and between cash games and WPT tournaments, he seemed as though he could not be stopped. He has cooled off a bit, but if he uses this tournament as a springboard, everyone at the WSOP better look out. There are few better at the game when he is playing his best.
Scotty Nguyen, a great poker player, has a very interesting story to tell. Born in Vietnam and settled in the US at the age of 14, he practically lived in a card room instead of hitting the books in school, which resulted to his expulsion. When he moved to Las Vegas in his early 20’s, he became a dealer and started to watch card players carefully, creating his own strategy how to play and win the game.
He went on to become a dealer at the tables in order to learn more for another couple of years before finally deciding to become a poker player. He knew he was on the right track when he was able to take down a World Series of Poker bracelet in 1997 when he won the Omaha 8 bracelet and $156,959. His biggest score in the professional world came in 1998. He was at the final table of the Main Event when he was up against Kevin McBride, moving “all in” on a board of 8-8-8-9-9. McBride was carefully considering his move when Nguyen dropped his famous line playing McBride with the words “You call this one, and it’s all over baby”, which actually worked as McBride did call and played the board. Nguyen had a J-9 for a full house and was named the World Champion of Poker. Nguyen’s line has become famous throughout the poker world and Kevin McBride for the most part has faded into obscurity.
His main even win was the 2nd of 5 bracelets. The 2001 $5,000 Omaha 8 or Better event was also a glorious day when he won 3rd bracelet. He also won the bracelet for the $2,500 PL Omaha event in the same year. His biggest triumph was in 2008 when he came out the top winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship wherein 148 top professionals gathered to compete in this World Series of Poker event. Nguyen was the last man standing bringing home a staggering $1,989,120 or roughly about 2 million dollars!
Scotty Nguyen became a legendary poker player and has 31 titles under his belt in almost all walks of poker, and still counting. To date, his value amounts to $10 million from his total winnings. He also defeated Michael Mizrachi in a single hand, winning the 2006 WPT Event held in Tunica, MS. Today, he says he is done playing cash games, as he finds them stressful. When he won the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event he stated that there isn’t much left for him to do in the poker word was to take a bracelet in the game of lowball. Of course, technically he still needs a win in Razz, but he might consider that covered with his H.O.R.S.E. win.
Scotty Nguyen is a living legend in the world of poker for his outstanding accomplishments in this field. His magnetic and enthusiastic disposition at the table totally deserves the attention of the crowd. Expect more of his presence as long as he still has the desire for playing poker.
It is impossible to find a man quieter than Erik Seidel at the table. You can almost always see him well dressed and sitting quietly and if you talk to him you would think that he is no more than a quiet polite man. If you were to play against him, then you would believe that he was nothing more than a mediocre player at first. Unfortunately for you, you would quickly find that you were wrong about what you probably consider an antisocial man. Before you knew what was going on, all of your chips would be his.
Erik Seidel is a New York man that started his gambling career with backgammon. At this time he was attending Brooklyn College, however, though he later dropped out. After leaving college he took up backgammon professionally. Soon after that, he also began to play poker. He continued these two games until 1985. This is when the decision was made that it was time for a new job. He continued to play poker in his spare time for the years that he was a stock broker. After a few years, the stock market crashed and he lost his job but continued to play poker. Seidel took his first try at the World Series of Poker during 1988 after he worked on his game for a while.
Erik Seidel’s first nine games didn’t go as planned. He had absolutely no cashes during that time. Seidel eventually found himself against the World Champion, Johnny Chan, during the Main Event, and though he lost, it became obvious that great things would be seen from him later on.
Eric Seidel spent a few years playing high stakes poker while he was a stock broker. Seidel refrained from playing poker as a professional even as he won the bracelets in 1992 and 1993. After winning the $210,000 and his third bracelet in 1994 when he won the $5,000 Limit Holdem event, Seidel to decide to turn professional. He soon moved to Vegas with his wife.
Moving was the best decision Seidel could possibly make. He now ranks 5th all time for WSOP bracelets. On the whole, Seidel won eight different world series of Poker Bracelets to earn that ranking. He of course won them in different areas, including two wins in bracelets in No Limit Holdem, two wins in Limit Holdem, two wins in 2-7 Lowball, one win in Pot Limit Omaha, and a win in Omaha 8. In his career, he has managed to win over nine million dollars in tournaments. He also won his very first WPT title in April of 2008. He won the Foxwoods Poker Classic earning $967,390. He also now embraces the titles for the former Diamond Jim Brady, Four Queens classic, and Fiesta Al Lago events.
Erik Seidel enjoys music and is a huge music buff. He can usually be seen with a set of head phones that allows him listen to his favorite music as he plays. He also works for Full Tilt Poker. He is one of the people in charge of site design.
Seidel is just 48 and chances are he will be around for a long time to come. It will be interesting to see where he finishes on the all time list for WSOP bracelets.
