The Poker Hall of Famer and World Series of Poker legend Erik Seidel won an epic 10^th WSOP bracelet as he took down the $50,000 Super High Roller WSOP Paradise event for $1,704,400. Winning gold at a final table that included legends such as Orpen Kisacikoglu, Jason Koon, Alex Foxen and Adrian Mateos, Seidel further cemented his already legendary ‘everyman’ status in the poker game, having won consistently for half a century in the game.

Paradise Filled with Poker Legends

There were 137 entries in the $50,000-entry Super High Roller Event #7 that marks the approximate halfway stage of the 2023 WSOP Paradise festival. The prizepool stood at a whopping $6.85 million, and with just 21 players paid, stars of the felt such as Sam Greenwood (19^th for $85,200), Chris Brewer (13^th for $106,500) and Timothy Adams (9^th for $162,800) missed out on the official eight-handed final table.

Once there, it was a very evenly spread final table in terms of chips. Seidel led with 60 big blinds but even that wasn’t a huge lead, with players such as Alex Foxen hunting him down. The first player to leave in eighth place was Adrian Mateos, who lost out with when Seth Gottlieb’s hit a board of on the flop and never looked like troubling the American, who took the lead by winning that pot. Mateos left with $205,000 in eighth place.

Next to go was Jonathan Jaffe in seventh place for $261,400. Jaffe three-bet shoved with but Erik Seidel’s call was correct with and the flop of immediately gave him the nut flush. “Spades are good for you today, Erik.” Commented Gottlieb as Jaffe stood and left the table with just half a dozen players left.

Koon Won’t Be King

With six players left, Alex Foxen’s former dominance of the table had faded to him having the shortest stack. Calling it off in the big blind, Foxen’s were two live cards against the of Erik Seidel, who had shoved from the small blind. The board of gave Seidel two pair and sent Foxen home with a score of $337,300.

Soon after, Japanese players Koichi Chiba was out too. All-in for just over 11 big blinds with he was in horrible shape against his caller Orpen Kisacikoglu, who held . The flop of gave Chiba some gutshot straight out, but the turn changed that and after the river, Chiba was on the rail with $440,500.

Jason Koon was the player at the final table who Seidel would have been most hoping to avoid taking on. Koon has proven for many years that in high roller events, he isn’t so much a favorite as a lock for the business end of these sorts of events. So when Koon three-bet shoved with and Kisacikoglu called with , there was no doubt what Seidel was hoping for. The board of sent Koon home as the Turkish player had quads and Koon cashed for $582,100 just outside the podium places.

Seidel Scores 10^th WSOP Title

The final three players were ready to battle and after an early exchange between Gottlieb and Seidel, Kisacikoglu had the lead. The Turkish player was on 16.5 million, with Seidel slightly behind on 14.6 million and Gottlieb slightly further back on 10.5 million. Seidel used the early three-handed exchanges to build a bigger lead, so that he was then in place to call off Kisacikoglu’s shove with . Seidel held and his dominating hand prevailed after a board of landed, with the Turkish player heading home with $778,300.

Heads-up, Seidel had 26 million chips, with Gottlieb a way back on 15 million. Seidel won an early pot with two pair and built a 4:1 chip lead, which allowed him to make his final move with the protection of knowing he would still be ahead if it all went wrong. As it happened, it did, and Gottlieb doubled up with holding against Seidel’s .

Soon after, however, a limp from Seidel with and check from Gottlieb with saw both players reach a flop of . Both players checked to the turn where Gottlieb bet 700,000 and with the gutshot, Seidel called. An on the river gave Seidel his straight and Gottlieb’s bet of 2.8 million was raised to 9.5 million by Seidel. Gottlieb shoved, Seidel made a quick call and responded positively when Gottlieb asked if he had the winning hand.

“Yeah, you got it!” Gottlieb said when he saw Seidel’s hand and the two men warmly shook hands as Seidel triumphed, bringing himself level with his fellow legends, only now behind Phil Hellmuth in the WSOP all-time bracelet list.

Here’s how Seidel saw the final hand confirm him as champion. His win was worth $1.7 million, a victory that puts him in seventh place on the All-Time Money List on The Hendon Mob with over $45 million in live poker tournament winnings.

Headline image: Matthew Berglund for Pokernews.