Harrington, Seidel elected to Poker Hall of Fame
Former world poker champion Dan Harrington and eight-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Eric Seidel will become the newest inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame.
The pair, the 39th and 40th members of the Poker Hall of Fame, will be inducted on Nov. 8 as part of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event Final Table festivities at the Rio.
Harrington has amassed more than $6 million in tournament poker winnings during his career, including winning the 1995 World Series of Poker’s no limit hold’em World Championship title. Harrington has reached the final table of the main event a record four times, including back-to-back in 2003 and 2004.
Harrington almost went back-to-back in 1995 and 1996. He won the world championship in 1995 and finished 17th in 1996.
Harrington, 65, originally from Cambridge, Mass., and now resides in Santa Monica, Calif., first cashed in the 1986 World Series of Poker before posting a consistent 25-year poker career. He is also a noted poker author, attorney, businessman, real estate entrepreneur and stock market trader.
Seidel, a former Wall Street trader, has won more than $10 million in tournament poker during a career spanning four decades.
His first major tournament was the 1988 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished as runner-up to Johnny Chan. Seidel won his first gold bracelet in 1992 and his most recent one in 2007. Seidel has won bracelets in five different disciplines of poker.
“I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it’s an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington,” Seidel said. “We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career.”
Seidel, born and raised in New York, now lives in Las Vegas.
The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. There are now 18 living members.
Harrington and Seidel will be inducted officially into the Hall of Fame before the heads-up final of the $10,000 buy-in no limit hold’em world championship at the Rio’s Penn & Teller Theater.
