Erik Seidel won the largest ever buy-in tournament in poker recently. Seidel’s biggest threat for the Super High Roller Event title came from the on-fire Sam Trickett – winner of the AU$100K Aussie Millions event earlier in the week. As heads-up play began, Trickett held over 80% of the five million chips on the table. However, Seidel fought back through a series of double ups and maintained the momentum after the chips stacks had evened out. The final hand saw Trickett check-raise all-in with As-Qh on a 3s-5h-9h flop. Seidel swiftly called with Jh-9c showing top pair, and two blanks followed giving the popular poker pro another prestigious title.

Seidel has been in great form since the turn of the year, winning over US$3.3 million in January alone. A fourth-place finish at the 2011 PCA High Roller Event – worth US$295K – was followed by a third-place finish in the AU$100K Aussie Millions tournament last week for a further US$618K. His latest AU$2.5 million (US$2.47 million) haul moves him up to third in the all-time career tournament money list, one place below Phil Ivey.