Erik Seidel wins gold bracelet number seven, and takes $611,795 in no-limit championship
The standing-room only crowd packed inside the Rio Pavilion expected to see a memorable final table. They weren’t disappointed. The nine finalists, and particularly the last trio of rivals, gave the audience and ESPN television cameras numerous thrilling moments. In a classic confrontation in which the chip lead was taken at various stages by five different players, the gold bracelet came down to the three tournament veterans who had previously won championships at the World Series. At the end of the night, widely-respected tournament pro Erik Seidel of Las Vegas, won his seventh gold bracelet and took $611,795 in prize money. For Seidel, the victory was in many ways more satisfying than wins from years past.
“Walking into the room and seeing this many people is incredibly exciting,” Seidel said afterward. “Anytime you make it through a field of this size, it’s even more meaningful to win.”
There were 1,403 entries for the third open no-limit hold’em event so far at this year’s World Series. Each player paid $2,000 to enter. The final table included three former gold bracelet winners – Erik Seidel (with 6 wins), Perry Friedman (with 1), and Cyndy Violette (with 1). The early chip leader was Morgan ‘the Machine’ Machina, who enjoyed a whopping 3 to 1 advantage over his closest rival. With over a million at the start, it seemed that this was Machina’s tournament to lose:
THE FINAL TABLE: SEAT 1: Chris Wunderlich Higley, AZ 110,000.00
SEAT 2: Cyndy Violette Atlantic City, NJ 305,000.00
SEAT 3: Erik Seidel Las Vegas, NV 354,000.00
SEAT 4: Soulier Fabrice Paris, France 224,000.00
SEAT 5: Perry Friedman San Marcos, CA 219,000.00
SEAT 6: Morgan Machina Mission Viejo, CA 1,052,000.00
SEAT 7: Paul Sexton San Diego, CA 362,000.00
SEAT 8: Bill Blanda Houston, TX 46,000.00
SEAT 9: Harry Demetriou London, England 184,000.00
Players were eliminated as follows: 9th Place – Bill Blanda lasted about an hour. He was down to his last 40,000 in chips with blinds and 8,000-16,000 and moved ‘all in’ with A-4, which was covered by Perry Friedman’s 9-9. A nine on the turn – making trips for Friedman -- basically ended Blanda’s last hope and put him on the rail in 9th place. This was Blanda’s first-ever WSOP final table appearance. He earned $51,630
8th Place – Chris Wunderlick found himself short-stacked and picked up A-K on his final hand. Paul Sexton called with J-J and watched with delight as the flop came J-7-7, good for a full-house. That knocked Wunderlick out in 8th place, good for $77,445. Wunuderlick, a retired investment broker, was making his third lifetime cash at the WSOP.
7th Place – On his final hand, Soulier Fabrice got into a showdown holding A-10 versus A-J. Completely dominated, Fabrice’s vocal French supporters chanted “dix! dix!” For some reason, the odd chants raised a few eyebrows. A ‘dix’ (the French word for ‘ten’) failed to rescue Fabrice, which meant the former TV director was cut. Soulier Fabrice, who has cashed numerous times in Europe, and here in the US as well, collected $103260 for 7th place.
6th Place – Midway into the finale, chip leader Morgan Machina has played relatively few pots, and seemed content to allow players to be eliminated, then get into a short-handed game. An exception was when he played a big pot against Harry Demetriou. Machina was dealt A-K raised and was re-raised with the rest of his chips by Demetriou (with Q-J). Demetriou’s bold move backfired. The final board showed A-Q-2-K-6, giving Machina two pair and more than half of the chips on the table. Meanwhile, Englishman Harry Demetriou staggered away from the final table in 6th place, which paid $123,915. This was his second final table appearance, so far this year.
5th Place – That proved to be the high point for Machina. He lost half of his chips when he tried to bluff Paul Sexton out of a big pot, then watched hopelessly as Erik Seidel seized the chip lead. Machina’s misery continued when he doubled up Cyndy Violette. Actually, Violette got a huge break on the hand when she was holding 10-8 against Machina’s K-10. She rivered an eight to stay alive.
The chip lead changed for the third time when Paul Sexton took a bad beat against Perry Friedman. Sexton was dealt pocket Aces and made a large raise, which was called by Friedman. A ten flopped – good for a set -- and Friedman foresaw a great opportunity to double up. Friedman moved ‘all in’ which committed Sexton to the pot. Friedman won the pot and took the chip lead. Meanwhile, Sexton was on life support. He busted out a few hands later. Paul Sexton, who was making his first WSOP final table appearance is a student at the University of San Diego. He earned $147,145 to help pay tuition.
4th Place – The firecracker that was Morgan ‘ the Machine’ Machina finally exploded about six hours into play. The player some were expecting to win based on his impressive chip lead, finally ran out of momentum. Machina was low on chips and tried to make a move at the pot with his last 180,000 in chips. He raised ‘all in’ with K-8 and was called instantly by Cyndy Violette, holding A-Q. The sequence was brutal for Machina, as he flopped a king, then watched in horror as an ace and queen on the turn and river came as the final two nails in Machina’s coffin. Machina, a.k.a. ‘the Machine’ is a professional poker player and owner of Home Poker Pros, which stages poker events. Machina collected $170,380.
3rd Place – Perry Friedman, a.k.a. ‘The Baiter’ (questions as to nickname origins were unasked) is one of the famed “Tiltboy” group, a fun-loving elite group of former Stanford grads who have made poker their private playpen. Friedman may be jovial on the outside, but he certainly plays great tournament poker – proven by his gold bracelet won at the 2002 World Series. Friedman went out the hard way on his final hand of the night, with pocket queens, which were crushed by Erik Seidel’s pocket aces. It was a nightmare situation for Friedman, unaccustomed to praying for miracles to stay alive. A queen failed to provide salvation, and Friedman vanished. Third place paid $196,455.
2nd Place – Cyndy Violette has developed a well-deserved reputation as a top seven-card stud player. However, this was her third time to cash at this year’s WSOP -- all in hold’em events. Violette, who professes the importance of physical and emotional equilibrium and practices meditation before tournaments and during breaks, went on the wildest ride of the night. She was down to only 50,000 in chips at one point, and somehow clawed her way into the chip lead during one stage when play was heads-up against Seidel. Violette’s money card was an eight when she was ‘all in” with 10-8 early in the finale, and against the dominant K-10, she spiked an eight to survive. That catapulted Violette into several double-up situations, and at one point it looked like this might be Violette’s night. But nothing could prepare Violette for what was about to come.
The final hand was exhilarating for both players and the audience, as Violette came over the top with an ‘all in’ re-raise holding 9-9. Seidel was holding 8-8 and called. With the outcome of the tournament and a difference of $300,000 in prize money in the balance, it looked like Violette might deliver a victory. With her father in the audience watching, smiles turned to shock when the flop came 8-5-5. Incredibly, Seidel had flopped a full-house, with eights-full. With the turn of the dealer’s wrist, Violette had gone from a 7 to 1 favorite to an 11 to 1 underdog. Desperate for a nine, the crowd shouted for a miracle card, which stayed buried in the deck, a most satisfying end for Erik Seidel.
Cyndy Violette collected $295,970, her biggest payday ever. Even Seidel was quite sympathetic towards Violette as the runner up. “It was fun to have all the crowd around the final table cheering – mostly for Cyndy,” Seidel said. “If I wasn’t playing against her, I would have been cheering for her, too.”
1st Place – Erik Seidel has been a professional poker player for nearly 20 years. The former stock trader from New York moved to Las Vegas after finishing as the runner up to Johnny Chan in the 1987 world championship. He has since won bracelets in five different events. This was his second win in no-limit hold’em.
“This is a big deal for me. It’s really special. The World Series of Poker is where history is made. It’s the biggest and the best tournament. It has the best structures in poker. So, it’s very important for me to do well here.”
For Erik Seidel….seven was a lucky number.
Official Report by Nolan Dalla – World Series of Poker Media Director
World Series of Poker Circuit Director of Operations – Ken Lambert
World Series of Poker Tournament Director – John Grooms
Rio Poker Room Manager – Michael Matts
Rio Poker Tournament Director – Robert Daily
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The 2005 World Series of Poker is off and running. I have seen the holy palace and played in the first big event. Now who is it exactly that knows how big this event is, or was. Harrah's announced it to have 2305 participants, and they arrived at that number via 2200 starters plus 105 alternates. My count and understanding is somewhat different however. We began with 220 tables of ten each, and then late on the night of the second an eleventh player was added to every table, which gave us 2,420 players and when we add the 105 alternates we get 2525 starters. Has Harrah's forgotten that they made the tables eleven handed? Or am I missing something here? Clearly, in all cases, if they had been properly prepared for more players last years final event brick and mortar record number of entrants would have been challenged, and likely surpassed.