Back-To-Back Wins for Seif
Winning one World Series of Poker Bracelet is an accomplishment many would dream about. Imagine though, winning two, in a row!
Mark Seif did just that at the 2005 WSOP.
After struggling for many years to make his mark, he made a bold one after beating out lots of other pros, including World Champion Greg Raymer, to win bracelets in the Limit Hold'em Shootout and the no-limit event.
Question: How did you get started in poker?
Answer: I started in poker when I was six years old. I played in a home game with my parents and other family members. Whenever they were short a player, I would play. That is pretty much how I got started playing.
Question: What was it like to go back to back and win two bracelets?
Answer: It was pretty crazy. I had played in the World Series for many years and played many events and not done well. I basically choked. I know I made one final table in the $3,000 no-limit in 2003. I went out ninth. To win that first one was incredible. It was the greatest feeling in the world, and after that win, within 45 minutes I was on a plane going to Miami to an affiliate conference for absolutepoker. I spent three days there, and basically my girlfriend and I just slept. I was supposed to have all these meetings, but I didn't do it, I was so exhausted.
Then we came back the night before the next event. I played in that, and by the end of Day One I had like 276,000 in chips. It's what I'm told is an all-time World Series record of the most chips ever accumulated in one day, including the $10,000 main event. I was very proud. It was an incredible day, but I was also very, very lucky. I had a lot of momentum going in; I played a very focused game. Except for some portion of Day Two and a little bit at the final table, I was pretty much the chip leader for most of the tournament.
Question: Do you consider this your greatest poker accomplishemt?
Answer: Yes, of course. There's no doubt that it was by far my biggest poker accomplishment. It's not going to be my biggest forever, but for now it is.
Question: What tournament did you feel was tougher to win, the shootout or the no-limit?
Answer: I'll tell you what: I fought for hours at the shootout. I got heads-up with a very tough Canadian player, and we battled back and forth for about five hours. I was way down, I was down like 14,300 to 700 at one point when we were heads-up, and I came back to win that. After I won that, I pretty much cruised through my second table, and then the final table was really tough. At five or six in the morning, I finally won it. I fought really, really hard for that bracelet. That's not to say that I didn't fight hard for the no-limit, but having such a huge lead the whole tournament, I felt more comfortable in the no-limit.
Question: Do you feel any added pressure after winning 2 bracelets in a row?
Answer: I'd be lying to you if I said that I didn't feel any pressure, but pressure is what I'm all about. I was a trial lawyer for years, and that's pressure, when someone's life hangs in the balance, someone's reputation, someone's lifelong earnings. When you are responsible for that, that's pressure. I do well in those situations. This is a game, a game I love to play. Don't get me wrong, I take it very seriously, but it is pressure that I can handle.
And handle that pressure he does. We expect to see Mark doing just as well at the World Series for the coming years.