Congratulations to Erik Seidel, Champion of the 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship!
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What can we say about Erik Seidel that hasn't already been said -- in the last two months? Seidel is having a monster 2011. At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January, Seidel finished 3rd in a $5,000 6-max event ($46,560) and 4th in the $25,000 High Roller event ($295,960). He then shifted locations to Australia, where he banked $618,139 for a 3rd-place finish in the $100K High Rollers before taking down the $250K Super High Rollers for $2.4 million.
In February Seidel returned to the U.S. to play in a few events at the LA Poker Classic. Although he didn't cash in the $10,000 World Poker Tour Main Event, he did final table a few side events. He took 5th in the $5K Heads-Up event ($14,500) and then won the $25k High Rollers event for another $144,570.
Now Seidel can lift over his head the trophy of NBC National Heads-Up champion and add $750,000 to his already bloated bankroll.
This prize just barely eluded Seidel last year. After five straight years of failing to get out of the first round, Seidel made it all the way to the finals. There he fell in three matches to his good friend Annie Duke.
Seidel's path to the finals this year wasn't easy by any means. He had to defeat, in order, Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Vanessa Selbst and Andrew Robl. Then, in the finals, he had to deal with a very tough Chris Moneymaker, who felled several legends of the game on his own path to the finals.
The year is only two months old and already Seidel has $4.3 million in cashes. Those cashes have vaulted him into 1st place on the all-time money list. Who knows how many more millions in cashes he'll add before the year ends?
That wraps up our coverage of the 2011 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. If you're still jonesing for a fix of poker coverage, click over to the live reporting of The Big Event at the Bicycle Casino, where a crack PokerNews live-reporting team has already been hard at work for two days.
Until the next time Erik Seidel wins an event (tomorrow?), you can find us at the bar.