Eight is Great: Lowballin' Seidel-Style!

By Matthew Showell Jul 6, 2007 | 2 years ago

Erik Seidel wins Event 54, $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball with re-buys, 2007 WSOP

In one of the most pro-packed fields found anywhere, Erik Seidel was able to outlast them all and take down a remarkable eighth WSOP bracelet. His second in this category, Seidel took a few minutes after his win to tell us about the heads-up match with Chad Brown and his road to victory.

This is your eighth bracelet so you're no stranger to this, but what does this one mean to you, coming through such a tough final table in this event?

It means a great deal to me. It was such a tough line-up, every table. It was one great player after another so to be able to get through all that I was very fortunate. I feel like I had the luck at the right times. I don't know; I just feel very fortunate to have one! (Laughs.)

Three-handed.

How do feel about your play? Is this a win you can attribute one hundred percent to the way you played?

I caught a lot of breaks but you have to in order to win a tournament like this, so full of such great players. I felt okay about the way I played. It's inevitable that you're going to make misjudgments along the way but when you win you just feel like no matter what you did it was exactly right. (Laughs.) Winning is the best way to cover up the mistakes you've made.

All-in.

So even after seven previous bracelets you still enjoy the win?

Oh yeah. It's wonderful, it really is. It's so special because it's so hard to win now because the fields are so much tougher; you're fighting against all these young guys. And the fields are so big. So a lot of the time it seems so difficult to win one and to have everything go your way and win it feels great.

Showell-cam.

I feel bad for Chad because I thought he played extremely well the whole time. We had a couple of situations which were just coin-flips and he lost them. I think in the beginning he was getting the better of the draws and in the end I was getting the best of it.

At a final table with so many great players, were you happy to go heads-up against Chad Brown?

You know, I was really just hoping to get heads-up. I wasn't really thinking abut who I'd be playing. I think everyone there plays very well so I didn't really have a preference. I was just hoping that somehow or other I would end up heads-up and have a chance to get lucky and win another bracelet.

Let's talk a bit about No-limit Deuce-to-Seven Lowball. Tell us about how you think it compares with more popular versions of the game and what it takes to be a good player in this variant.

Erik Seidel

I don't know, it's funny. It's not played anymore; you hardly ever see it played. And it's too bad because it's a great, great game. It's a great gambling game. I was really impressed because I thought everyone was playing very well and no one gets a chance to play it much. It's very special to me to have won this event twice because there are always a lot of tough players.

What skills do you think are most important in this game?

Well, it takes a lot of gambling judgment. You have to take risks and you have to hit your draws (Laughs.) that's the real skill! It's a lot of judgment though. There's a fine line between bluffing and not bluffing and you have to find that. But it's a really fun and interesting game. They used to play at least one every year but lately it just hasn't been dealt that much. It's a shame.

I felt like towards the end like here we are, we're all at the same table, and most of us have played many hours together, only now we're playing with other people's money which is much more fun.

One final question on the bracelet: You've got eight now which is getting pretty far up there, so how much do these records and things mean to you as a person and as a player compared to just playing your best poker and feeling good about playing well whether you win or lose?

Number 8!

I don't know. It's always special to win one here, but I don't really feel like I'm threatening Phil Hellmuth or anything. He's still three away and he seems to be playing really well. Maybe I can sneak up on him but it'll probably take a lot of years.

Chan and Hellmuth are both in their prime and Doyle is a terrific player. I think it's a lot to ask for me to get up there into their territory but I'm happy where I am. It's cool to be part of the history of this tournament though. It's very special.

Thanks Erik and congratulations.

A pioneer of the game, Seidel still takes great satisfaction in his victories as well as his place in the poker world. At a final table populated with names like Todd Brunson, Freddy Deeb, Andy Black, Sean Sheikhan and Chad Brown, Seidel was still able to add one more bracelet to his resume, even though it's doubtful whether his wrists will have any more room to accommodate it.