Erik Seidel Wins 2008 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic.

Erik Seidel, one of the most feared tournament poker players in the world - and owner of a handful of WSOP bracelets, can FINALLY add a World Poker Tour title to his impressive resume.

Seidel entered the television final table with a decent chip lead ($3.2m in chips) over heavy favorite and high stakes pro Ted Forrest (who had $2.3m in chips himself), and was hoping to use his stack to push around his other competitors. However, it would be Forrest who would actually be the first to get knocked out, with his pocket Jacks falling to amateur Robert Richardson’s pocket Aces!

Going out soon after that would be Adam Katz and Frank Cieri, who would earn $151k and $200k, respectively, for their hard work. After those eliminations, the WPT would entertain the longest 3-handed battle in the tour’s history.

Trading chips back and forth for more than 6 hours, it seemed that it would NEVER get down to heads-up play. Then, after Seidel made it $280,000 to go from the button, Andrew Barta would move all-in instantly from the big blind - which would draw a fairly fast call from Erik. Barta’s AQ didn’t improve when Seidel hit a set of Jacks (with his JJ) on the flop. From there, history would be made yet again…

After the audience was witness to the longest 3-handed session in WPT history, they would also be apart of the fastest heads-up session in WPT history. On the first hand of heads-up play, Robert Richardson unusually pushed all-in for his last $1.2 million in chips on the turn. Erik Seidel would insta-call with his top pair Aces (with A J), and would be surprised to see that Richardson would only have a pair of 9’s (with his 9 7). The river wouldn’t offer any help, and it would be Seidel who would earn his very first World Poker Tour title.

Here are the final table results:

1. Erik Seidel - $992,890
2. Robert Richardson - $558,792
3. Andrew Barta - $281,011
4. Frank Cieri - $200,261
5. Adam Katz - $151,811
6. Ted Forrest - $103,360

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