Erik Seidel

A native New Yorker, Erik Seidel's winnings as a professional poker player surpassed the $7 million mark in 2007.

That's quite a feat for a former and not-so-successful tournament backgammon player, who later played the stock market before becoming a poker pro. If there's one thing that can be said of Eric Seidel, he certainly has an adventurous streak.

That streak seems to have served him well in poker. He's been a winner from the very start. In only his first major poker tournament, Seidel managed to land in second place. What boggles the mind is that the tournament was the 1988 World Series of Poker (WSOP) main event, which featured the best poker players in the world. And in that tournament, only eventual world champion, Johnny Chan, played better than Seidel. If you want to catch a glimpse of the Chan-Seidel showdown, check out the popular poker movie Rounders where their final hand is immortalized.

And what a final hand that was. Chan had a J, 9 against Seidel's Q, 7 hole cards. The flop was Q, T, 8, giving Chan a 8-Q straight and Seidel a pair of queens. Chan bet $40,000. Seidel raised $50,000. Chan called. The turn was 2, which was irrelevant. Though Chan was already hugely favored with a straight, he checked. Seidel thought Chan had an incomplete hand and was still going to draw. He moved all in. Big mistake. Chan had reeled him in. Chan called and became the world champion of poker.

From that early experience, Seidel went on a tear. He became a constant threat to win every major poker tournament he played in. As of 2007, he has won eight WSOP bracelets. His major victories include the 1992 $2,500 Limit Hold'em ($168,000), 1993 $2,500 Omaha 8 or better ($94,000), 1994 $5,000 Limit Hold'em ($210,000), 1998 $5,000 Deuce to Seven Draw ($132,700), 2001 $3,000 No Limit Hold'em ($411,300), 2003 $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha ($146,100), 2005 $2,000 No Limit Hold'em ($611,795) and 2007 $5,000 World Championship No-Limit Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball ($538,835).

Earlier in life, Seidel spent eight years as a tournament backgammon player. Then, he discovered his love for poker at the renowned Mayfair Club. Together with fellow club members Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington, Seidel soon blazed a trail on the poker tournament scene, attaining both fame and fortune. He has not looked back since.

Today, Seidel lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. He still ranks as one of the top poker players in the world.