Eric Seidel Wins National Heads-Up Poker Championship

Eric Seidel overcame one of the toughest fields in tournament poker to win the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championships. The victory earned Seidel $750,000, bringing his earnings for the current year up to a staggering $4.2 million.

This year’s appearance in the finals was the second straight for Seidel – a marked turnaround from his first five appearances in the tournament, where he was eliminated each time in the first round. Last year, Seidel lost to Annie Duke in the finals.

In this year’s final, Seidel faced off against 2003 World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker, who surprised many pundits by making it through the field to the final. Last year, Moneymaker lost to Seidel in the “Sweet 16” round, but this time the stakes were much higher.

Seidel jumped out to an early lead by winning the first battle in the best-of-three series. In the second match, Moneymaker attempted to bluff on a 9-5-5 flop with king high, only to run into the 54 of Seidel, which was more than enough to take down the title. Moneymaker took home $300,000 for his second place finish.

Earlier in the day, the players played the quarterfinal and semifinal matches. The final four pit Moneymaker against 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel, while Seidel was pitted against Andrew Robl. Duhamel and Robl each received $125,000 for making the Final Four.

Players eliminated in the quarterfinals received $75,000, and included Vanessa Selbst, David Oppenheim, Oliver Busquet and David Benyamine.

Seidel faced a difficult road on his way to winning his first National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Many of his opponents would be considered among the best players in the world, especially his early round foes: Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon and Selbst.

Seidel becomes the second player to lose in the finals of a National Heads-Up Poker Championship, only to return to the finals the next year. Chris Ferguson also pulled off this feat, losing in both the first and second editions of the tournament (to Phil Hellmuth and Ted Forrest respectively), before returning a third time to claim victory in the tournament.