Each summer season, a legend that the poker world hasn’t seen in fairly a while pops up on the World Collection of Poker (WSOP). This yr, that particular person is Huck Seed, the 1996 world champion.
PokerNews caught up with the Poker Corridor of Famer to search out out why he is again within the recreation after almost a decade away, and to see if he thinks he can hold with the new-school execs. Seed, previous to the interview, bumped into and shared a healthful embrace along with his previous pal and fellow poker legend Gus Hansen contained in the Horseshoe Occasions Heart. The 2 hadn’t seen one another shortly.
Poker Champ Talks 1996 WSOP Primary Occasion Win
The 2 former Full Tilt Poker execs performed collectively for years. Seed, whereas undermining his personal 1996 WSOP Primary Occasion victory, mentioned their friendship dates again three many years.
“A lot of the gamers have been fairly misplaced again then,” the common-or-garden Seed mentioned when requested to remember on his Primary Occasion title. “It wasn’t actually that massive of an accomplishment. I used to be simply speaking to (Gus Hansen), he was staying with me. He was simply studying no-limit maintain’em at the moment. He was watching me win that, and on the finish, he mentioned ‘you have been the one individual in there taking part in the sport of no-limit maintain’em.”
Bookmark this web page! All it’s essential know concerning the 2025 WSOP is right here.
“A lot of the gamers have been fairly misplaced again then. So, it wasn’t actually that massive of an accomplishment.”
Seed’s Primary Occasion win, regardless of his humble feedback, was a serious accomplishment even when it was towards a discipline of simply 295 gamers. He received $1 million and beat Bruce Van Horn heads-up for the bracelet. The seven-figure rating continues to be his largest poker event money, though he is received thousands and thousands in money video games and numerous prop bets.
Seed, who late registered Wednesday on Day 2 in Occasion #18: $10,000 Sellers Alternative 6-Handed Championship, mentioned that seeing his 1996 world championship banner overlooking the Horseshoe poker tables would not deliver again any reminiscences about his best poker accomplishment.
What Introduced Huck Seed Again to the WSOP?
Seed, a 2020 Poker Corridor of Fame inductee, was noticed taking part in the Hanoi Collection of Poker (HSOP) in Vietnam two years in the past. He advised reporters on the time he has “no plans to play after this.” The four-time WSOP bracelet winner has since modified his tune.
“What introduced me again is that this Phenom Poker, this new group, crypto experiment poker website,” Seed defined. “I performed on there a bit during the last three years. Performed a event, performed some money video games. Performed on the on line casino, performed on-line. However this simply felt completely different. It was an excellent group, enjoyable video games, all of the blended video games. I assume it was the mix of the crypto and the community-owned. It wasn’t simply the identical previous massive firm taking all of the rake off of you.”
“It was an attention-grabbing experiment, and by some means I obtained enthusiastic about poker once more taking part in by the positioning.”
Seed, who stands 6’6″, hasn’t cashed on the WSOP since 2016. His final event rating of any significance got here in 2013, a $147,882 money for eleventh place within the $50,000 Poker Gamers Championship. He secured his first money of the summer season on Tuesday, a 59th place end out of 1,239 entrants for $4,525 in Occasion #15: $1,500 Combined Pot-Restrict Omaha Hello-Lo 8 or Higher.
The exit from the event, although it ended with a money, did not sit nicely with the Poker Corridor of Famer. He exited the event space in frustration, and he admitted “they did not get me. I gave it away.”
Seed acknowledges the sport is harder lately, and he had some rust to work off. However he is beginning to get again into the circulation of the poker grind.
“I have been again taking part in about three months now, every single day,” Seed mentioned. “So, the primary month I actually obtained quite a lot of the rust off, after which the primary event I performed right here, I used to be very rusty. However now that I’ve performed every single day for like every week, I am beginning to really feel like half or perhaps three-quarters of the rust is off.”
The poker champion mentioned he is not fairly certain but what to consider most of the new-school poker gamers.
“It is simply my first week again. I’ve obtained to play quite a lot of hours with the youthful gamers after which I can in all probability reply that,” Seed mentioned in response to a query about his ideas on the newer gamers within the recreation.
Seed would not have an evaluation but on the present poker era. However the 56-year-old former basketball star from Northern California likes his possibilities to compete for a bracelet this summer season. The percentages he’ll win one? He is not certain, however he believes they’re higher than 20-1, and we’re speaking about one of the crucial legendary prop bettors in poker historical past, so who’s to guess towards it?
