Erik Seidel is an American poker professional born in New York City. He currently resides in Las Vegas where he moved in 1995. He has been playing poker full time ever since.
Seidel (just like Gus Hansen) started out as a professional backgammon player, he played that game with real poker legends such as Chip Reese, Stu Unger and Puggy Pearson. Seidel was truly impressed by them and one thing led to another. He decided to try $1/2 at the Dunes. He won the first session, even though he didn't have any real knowledge about poker, Erik was hooked.
Seidel's is a member of Team Full Tilt, his cash game numbers on the site is in the red, but Erik probably couldn't care less, since he tops the All Time Money List for Live Tournaments, with nearly $17 Million in winnings. In his first major tournament, the 1988 WSOP main event, Erik finished runner-up to Johnny Chan (the last hand of the tournament).
In 2010 Erik got voted in to the Poker Hall of Fame. He has eight WSOP bracelets, one WPT title and 14 other titles.