Huckleberry Seed, the 1996 WSOP champion, joins the Poker Hall of Fame



Seed, whose poker career includes 53 cashes and four bracelets during the World Series of Poker and live tournament winnings more of nearly $7.5 million, was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame last month as the group’s 60th member.

Huckleberry “Huck” Seed won the World Series of Poker’s Main Event in 1996 when the tournament drew just 295 entries and his winnings were just $1 million.

Seed, whose poker career includes 53 cashes and four bracelets during the World Series of Poker and live tournament winnings more of nearly $7.5 million, was elected to the Poker Hall of Fame last month as the group’s 60th member.

The 31 living members of the Hall of Fame elected Seed among the 10 nominees. The World Series of Poker, which oversees the Poker Hall of Fame, is owned by Caesars Entertainment.

Seed, a Las Vegas resident, said the induction brought back memories of his early poker days, “walking into the Binion’s Horseshoe, about to start a poker session, admiring all the Poker Hall of Famers on the wall.”

Seed won the 1996 $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold ‘em Main Event when the tournament was still held at Binion’s. He defeated Bruce Van Horn in heads up play. The Main Event – along with the entire World Series of Poker – has steadily grown in size and prize. The 2019 Main Event champion, Hossein Ensan of Germany, defeated a field of 8,569 players and won $10.2 million.

The coronavirus pandemic forced this year’s World Series of Poker online and the event was scaled down.

“It feels good to be included with all the poker legends that I once idolized and competed against over the years,” Seed said. “Thank you, everyone.”

Seed, whose 6-foot-7-inch stand out in the poker room, was an all-state basketball player in Montana for Corvallis High School.

He played basketball at The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, where he studied electrical engineering.

Seed has been a fixture at high stakes cash games for several decades. He won the 2009 NBC Heads up Tournament for $500,000 and the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, a freeroll all-star event in which players and fans voted in the competitors.

“I felt like this was a team thing; me and everyone who voted for me,” Seed said at the time. “There were a lot of great players in this event. It was fun to compete. It was like a reunion of the old school players.”

Away from the table, there are many tall tales of Seed’s wagers. Nicknamed the “Master of the Prop Bet,” additional Seed bets included he could train his long frame to do a standing backflip within six months and not shave for an entire year.

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.

This article is a reprint from CDCGamingReports.com.  To view the original story and comment, click here


Sign-up for the OSGA Newsletter!

Every week get news and updates, exclusive offers and betting tips delivered right to you email inbox.