Erik Seidel Net Worth

Brief Summary of Erik Seidel

In case you are eager to learn a few highlights about this popular poker player and all about Erik Seidel net worth, here we give a snippet into his life and his key achievements since stepping into the world of poker.

Erik Seidel was born on 6^th of November 1959, in the United States, New York City, to be precise. Since he showed up in the world of poker, he has won a total of World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and also a WPT (World Poker Tour) title. Although Seidel is a very successful poker player, he is one of the very professional poker players who are quite and pragmatic. If he is not playing poker, he spends most of his leisure time with his beautiful wife, Ruah, and their two daughters, Jamesin and Elian.

He is popularly referred to by his moniker, Seiborg or Sly. As a matter of fact, he is much known by his nicknames by his fans than his real name. Erik regularly plays cagey tournament game. He is usually seen hiding his hole cards from the glare of the television cameras. According to him, playing games like this doesn’t have anything to do with his gaming strategy. He is just simply self-conscious of the quantity of good cards he has been dealt. Sometimes ago, one of his fans produced a music video for him titled, ‘Seiborg’. This seems to be the best highlight of his biography.

Important Career Facts of Erik Seidel

Over the years, this exceptional poker player has experienced some amazing breakthroughs and all these have impacted greatly on Erik Seidel net worth. Below are some of the key successes of Erik, including his World Series of Poker bracelets.

• In 1988, Eric placed second at the World Series of Poker Event where he played against Johnny Chan. He made his first victory in Poker Tournament in that year at the 4^th Annual Diamond Jim Brady
• He won his first World Series of Poker Bracelet in 1992. Seidel won the bracelet at the $2,500 Limit Hold’em game.
• In 1993, Seidel won his second World Series of Poker Bracelet in the $2,500 Omaha 8 or Better
• In 1994, he won his 3^rd World Series of Poker Bracelet in the $5,000 Limit Hold’em event
• Four years later, he won his 4^th WSOP bracelet in the 1998 World Series of Poker $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw.
• In 2001, he went ahead to win his 5^th World Series of Poker bracelet when he participated in the $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event
• 2003 brought him another great winning at the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha of the 2003 World Series of Poker Event. He won his 6^th WSOP bracelet at this event.
• Barely two years later, Erik Seidel won his 7^th World Series of Poker bracelet when he finished in the first place at the 2005 WSOP $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event.
• In 2007, he won his 8^th World Series of Poker at the $5,000 World Championship No-Limit
• He won his 1^st WPT Title in 2008 at the World Poker Tour Foxwoods Poker Classic.
• In 2010, Seidel was inducted into the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame.
• In 2011, he made his biggest winning of $2,472,555 USD at the A$250,000 Super High Roller No Limit Hold’em event.

All the winnings, since he stepped into the poker community, have all contributed to Erik Seidel net worth and made him one of the well respected and richest professional poker players in the world. If the information given above has whetted your appetite to learn more about Erik Seidel net worth and his poker career, read the full details of the life, career, sponsorship deals, business, scandals, private life, and net worth in this blog article. Let’s get started!

Early Life of Erik Seidel

For Erik, the love for games and passion for competition started at a very tender age. As at the age of twelve, Erik had made an appearance on a television game show, titled “To Tell the Truth” It is important to mention that this game show is no longer on air. While in college sometimes in the 70s, he began to play backgammon. When he discovered his flair for the game and the huge potentials inherent in the game, he decided to drop out of school and focus on playing the game. Technically, he began to play professional backgammon game during his college days.

Seidel made up his mind to become a successful player and a rich one at that. And for about a period of eight years, starting from his early 20s to his mid-20s, Erik developed his skills and rose to become a successful professional player in the game of backgammon. While playing the game, he was always travelling around the country to participate in tournaments. And when he is not travelling for games, he would be found at the popular card room in New York, the Mayfair Club. In the course of his travelling to Las Vegas to participate in backgammon tournaments, Seidel began to develop a keen interest in poker games.

With time, the roller coaster of the life of a professional gamer began to take its toll on him. In order to maintain momentum and keep doing what he loves, he made up his mind to transit into a more conventional 9 to 5 job, working under a regular schedule and a constant paycheck. By 1985, Erik Seidel had become a stockbroker. Interestingly, his new career didn’t stand a chance as it all ended in the year 1987. The closure to his stockbroker career came at the wake of the crash in the stock market, which caused a lot of stock brokers to lose their jobs, including Seidel. With the crash in the economy, the steady 9 to 5 jobs became difficult to come by. Erik decided to go back to his first love, gaming. He returned to the Mayfair club to start playing. However, he didn’t return to backgammon. Instead, he turned to the game of poker and with time, the game became a second nature to him.

Erik Seidel net worth began to take shape with this new move as he was able to concentrate on the game he loves and he made it big at some of the tables. For real, Seidel became a strong player at the Mayfair cash games and many regulars at the table began to take good notice of him. In 1988, players at the Mayfair cash games table invited Erik to join them at the World Series of Poker of 1988 in Las Vegas. He didn’t have the money to participate at the event and had to rely on the help of those that invited him. They covered most of the fund required for his buy-in at the $10,000 Main Event. This turned out to be a good investment on the part of his sponsors because he finished as a runner up to Johnny Chan, with a winning of $280,000. Suffice to mention that Johnny Chan was the back to back defending champion.

After The World Series of Poker, Erik Seidel went back to New York and returned to work at Wall Street. While working, he continued to play at some local tournament tables. His winning at the 1988 World Series of Poker not only increased his bank roll but also significantly increases Erik Seidel net worth.

Erik Seidel at World Series of Poker

All poker players dream of participating in the World Series of Poker but only few make it to the top three. As a matter of fact, only few players have attained a level of success at the World Series of Poker that is above Erik Seidel. Johnny Chan, Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Hellmuth Jr. are the only few players that hold more bracelets than Erik.

Since stepping into the world of poker, Seidel has earned eight World Series of Poker bracelets and has made 35 final tables in the course of his World Series of Poker career. In addition to this, he is regarded as the second in WSOP cashes, having made 94 in-the-money finishes. Between 1992 and 1994, he had claimed World Series of Poker bracelets at side events in three years running. Below is the highlight of his WSOP tournaments, the years, and the prizes won. It is important to mention that all these winnings have contributed to Erik Seidel net worth.

In addition to the winnings, Seidel also walked away with the bracelets associated with the first place at the tournaments. These winnings have significantly enhanced Erik Seidel net worth to a large extent.

Erik Seidel World Poker Tour

Over the course of his career, Erik has participated in the money a total of 20 times during the World Poker Tour. He has made it to 5 final tables at the World Poker Tour and won one WPT Title. At the 6^th season of the World Poker Tour, in 2008, he won the WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic and earned a total of $992,890 USD. In April of 2011, he also made it to the runner up position at the Hollywood Open. He almost won his second World Poker Tour title at the event but finished as the runner up with a winning of $155,103. In 2017, he participated at the 2017 Poker Masters in Las Vegas, where he played at the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em Event number 3. He finished in the second place and made a winning of $576,000.

Erik Seidel net worth has also been impacted by his winning at the 2015 European Poker Tour Grand Final where he played at the €100,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Event number 14. He finished in the first place and won an equivalent of $2,222,222. The event took place at Monte Carlo.

Erik Seidel Other Notable Tournaments

In the last eleven years, starting from 2008, Erik has made some significant winnings at the table. These are with the exception of the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour events. Below are the highlights of these winnings.

2008: In January 2008, Seidel placed second at the A$10,500 No Limit Hold’em Main Event, 2008 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. He won a huge $879,028 at the event. In the April of the same year, he placed 1^st at the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em World Poker Tour Event, Foxwoods Poker Classic 2008. He made a winning of $992,890.

2010: In the January 2010, he participated in the A$10,500 Pot Limit Omaha at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship. He finished in the 1^st place and made a winning of $110,755.

2011: 2011 was an eventful year for Erik Seidel. In the January of the said month, he placed 1^st at the A$250,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller event. He won a grand $2,472,555 at the event. He also went ahead to place 3^rd at the A$100,500 No Limit Hold’em and won $618,139 in the same month. It is essential to mention that both events took place at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship in 2011. In the February of the same year, Seidel participated at the $25,100 High Roller Event of the 2011 L.A. Poker Classic. He placed 1^st and took home the grand prize of $144,570. In March, he played at the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em of the NBC National Heads-Up Championship event.

He placed 1^st at the event and made a winning of $750,000. In April, he placed 2^nd at the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event of the Hollywood Poker Open. At the end of the game, he made a winning of $155,103. In May of the same year, he played at the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Event of the 9^th Annual Five Star World Poker Classic. He placed first at this event and won a huge $1,092,780 at the end of the game. And finally in 2011, he played at the $20,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed 2011 League Main Event 12 Epic Poker League. Seidel placed 2^nd and won $604,300. At the end of 2011, Erik Seidel net worth increased by $6.53 million USD.

2012: After such a huge winning, many people in the poker community expected that the momentum will continue for Seidel during the next year but the 2012 wasn’t such a big year for him as his biggest winning was at the €50,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller event of the European Tour in Barcelona. He finished in the 6^th place and earned $188,721.

2013: In February 2013, Erik participated in the A$25,000 No Limit Hold’em event, also known as the $25,000 Challenge Aussie Millions Poker Championship. He finished in the 3^rd place and made a winning of $131,962. In the August of the same year, he placed 2^nd at the €50,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller European Poker Tour and won $745,224 at the end of the event. Also in December of the year, he played at the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event. This was at the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic event. He finished in the 2^nd place and made a winning of $650,100.

2014: He made his biggest winning in 2014 at the A$100,000 No Limit Hold’em of the 2014 Aussie Millions Poker Championship Challenge. He placed 3^rd at the event and made a winning of $963,691.

2015: Seidel placed 1^st at the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Aria High Roller 4 and won $159,230. He also finished in the 1^st place in the €100,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller during the European Poker Tour of 2015. He made a winning of $2,222,222 at this event. In May of the same year, he participated in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Aria High Roller 9 in Las Vegas. He finished in the 2^nd place and won $354,000. Seidel also placed 3^rd at the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Aria High Roller 15 in October of 2015. He made a winning of $57,600 at the end of the event.

2016: The year 2016 was also a big year for Erik Seidel, with him raking in over $3 million USD in his outings. He played at the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Aria High Roller in February of 2016. Seidel finished in the 3^rd place and made a winning of $296,800. He also participated in the €10,200 No Limit Hold’em Turbo 6Max Event number 79 at the European Poker Tour Grand Final, Monte Carlo. He placed 2^nd and took home the cash prize of $158,479. In the same month, he placed 3^rd at the $300,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Bowl. He played at the game with 888poker at Las Vegas and at the end of the game; he made a winning of $2,400,000 USD. July of the same year, he placed second at the Aria High Roller in Las Vegas and made a winning of $264,000. In October, he placed 2^nd and 3^rd in two events at Aria High Roller in Las Vegas. He won $293,125 and $127,680 respectively at these events.

2017: In February 2017, Erik participated in the Triton Super High Roller Series and placed 2^nd. He won $302,380 at the event.  In April of the same year, he played in the €50,000 No Limit Hold’em PokerStars Championship. He placed 3^rd and won $461,570. Erik Seidel went ahead in September of the same year to place 2^nd in the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em Event number 3 Poker Masters in Las Vegas. He made a winning of $576,000 at the event.

2018: In January 2018, he played in the $50,000 High Roller PokerStars Caribbean Adventures where he placed 4^th. He won $260,260 at the end of the event. In April, he participated in the €25,500 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller Event Number 2 and placed 3^rd. He made a winning of $367,706. Three days later, he played in the €101,000 No Limit Hold’em Super High Roller PartyPoker Millions Grand Final event in Barcelona. He placed 6^th and made a winning of $295,098. In May of the same year, he participated in the €25,000 No Limit Hold’em Event 24 at the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo. He placed 3^rd and made a winning of $210,650.

2019: So far in 2019, he has made two major winnings. In May of 2019, he participated in HK$1,000,000 No Limit Hold’em Triton Montenegro Main Event, Triton Poker Super High Roller. He finished in the 7^th place and made a winning of HK$3,460,000 which translates into $440,842 USD. In June of the same year, he played in the $25,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller 8-Handed Event 45 at the 50^th World Series of Poker 2019 in Las Vegas. He placed 6^th and won $264,186 USD.

In general, Erik Seidel net worth has grown significantly. All his table finishes, and earnings have contributed to his net worth. In addition to his poker tournaments, Seidel also ventured a bit into the world of online poker. It is important to mention that he didn’t play much at the online platform, but he made some earnings between January 2007 and April 2009. However, his winnings are not enough to cover his losses at the online platform. Between the times he was present at the online poker platform at FullTilt, he made a total loss of $350,762. He obviously realized that luck was not on his side at the online platform and he left to focus on live tournaments.

Erik Seidel Sponsorship Deals

Although the core area of Seidel in the world of poker is in tournaments, he was an early adopter of the online poker revolution. He teamed up with Howard Lederer to become an important member of the FullTilt initial design team. As an important member of the platform’s conception, Erik made appearances in a couple of television adverts for the website. Somewhere along the way, he lost interest in the online platform and became highly disgusted with the management of the site. He later walked out of the online poker site. It seems FullTilt still owes him some money to the tune of about $5 million USD.

Erik Seidel in the Business World

In 2018, Maria Konnikoya, the New Yorker contributor and New York Times bestselling author, planned to launch a new book focusing on poker. The book is designed to detail her year-long immersion in the world of high stakes of professional poker and apprenticed to one of the biggest and most reclusive game champions in the industry. It is interesting to note that she was referring to Seidel because she began her exploit in the world of poker under the tutelage and guidance of Erik Seidel.

Erik Seidel Net Worth

Erik is an American professional poker player with residence in Las Vegas, United States. According to thehendonmob.com, Erik Seidel net worth from his total live earnings amount to $35,658,428 USD. His best live cash was $2,472,555 USD. Seidel occupies the 3^rd position on All Time Money List and 2^nd position on the United States All Time Money List. He is 1^st on the New York, USA All Time Money List and 3^rd on the All Time Money List Current Rank. Erik Seidel also occupies the 1^st position on the All Time Money List Best Rank and 185^th on the Global Poker Index Ranking. Seidel occupies the 5^th position on Popularity Ranking.

Erik Seidel Scandals

In 2016, Seidel, alongside Zachary Clark and John Juanda were involved in a scam scandal. The trio was scammed by Seyed Reza Ali Fazeli, another poker player charged with organizing a roughly eighteen months long sports ticket scheme designed to fund high roller poker buy-in at Aria Casino in the same year 2016.

Based on the complaint filed at Clark County District Court, Seyed Reza and his organization, Summit Entertainment Group, collected a total of $1.3 million USD from Erik Seidel, Clark, and Juanda in order to buy tickets to the Super Bowl of 2017 and resell them at a significant profit through the online ticketing website, onlinetickets.com. The profits were meant to be shared 50-50 but this was never meant to be. The lawsuit regarded the business as a Ponzi scheme.

Erik Seidel Private Life

Seidel is married to Ruah and they have two daughters, Elian and Jamesin. In 1995, the family moved from New York to Las Vegas to launch Siedel career in the world of poker. He loves playing tennis and watching independent films or a good art show. He is a self-acclaimed music fanatic and loves to solve mathematics problems. Erik also loves travelling and he shares some of the pictures from his trips on his social media page.