Huck Seed Wins WSOP Tournament of Champions

Huck Seed navigated an all-star field consisting of 27 of the world’s greatest poker players on his way to winning the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions. Seed defeated Howard Lederer heads up to claim first place and the $500,000 prize.

Seed used a relatively patient strategy to take down the world’s toughest competition. He came into the final day second in chips, and slowly increased his stack as players were eliminated from the final table.

After Johnny Chan was eliminated in third place, Seed faced off against Lederer, who held the chip lead. It appeared as though Lederer would win the tournament when Seed put all of his chips at risk with 96 against Lederer’s pocket tens on a six-high flop. However, Seed hit runner-runner cards to make a straight, doubling up and taking control of the heads-up battle.

Just a few hands later, Seed took the rest of Lederer’s chips. With a short stack, Lederer moved all-in preflop with Q8 of clubs. Seed called to show A2 of spades, putting him ahead. Neither player improved on a 766 flop; a turn for a 9 gave Lederer the chance to make a straight, but also put a flush draw on the board for Seed. The river was the ace of hearts, eliminating Lederer and making Seed the Tournament of Champions winner. For second place, Lederer won $250,000.

Huck Seed isn’t one for the spotlight that comes with huge publicity, but he’s still well known as one of the world’s premiere poker players. Seed has already won four World Series of Poker Bracelets, including winning the 1996 Main Event. He was also the winner of the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. According to the Hendon Mob database, Seed has now won over $5.8 million in his tournament poker career, good for 38^th on the all-time money list.

The 2010 Tournament of Champions marked the fourth time the event was held at the World Series of Poker. Previously, the tournament was held from 2004 through 2006. The previous winners were Annie Duke (2004), Mike Matusow (2005), and Mike Sexton (2006). The tournament is a freeroll; this year’s edition featured a total prize pool of $1 million.