'Disgusting' – Erik Seidel busts with epic bad beat deep in $5K WSOP event

The poker gods pay scant regard to status. 

Erik Seidel is a poker legend – a Poker Hall of Famer with 10 WSOP bracelets and over $46M in tournament winnings – but he has to surf variance the same as us mere mortals. 

And, on Thursday night at the 2024 WSOP, he suffered one of the worst runouts we've seen.

Seidel was deep on Day 3 of Event #16: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed), with $660,284 up top, when the hand went down. He'd started the day with a short stack, chipped up, and found what he must have thought was the perfect spot to get among the leaders.

From a stack of 890K, Seidel called from the small blind with and Sami Bechahed checked with . 

The flop was almost perfect for Seidel, giving him top pair and a better flush draw for 96% equity in the hand. Seidel bet 50K and Bechahed called. 

The turn gave both players the flush, although Bechahed had a one-outer for a straight flush. Seidel's equity had increased to 98%.

Seidel checked, Bechahed bet 135K, Seidel raised to 450K, Bechahed moved all-in, and Seidel called. 

Seidel was feeling pretty good about things at this point in the hand

A truly disgusting runout for Seidel

Remko Rinkema, on PokerGO commentary, called the situation perfectly, saying, "Bechahed drawing to one card, and if he hits it, we're about to go viral on the internet."

You'll already know that the dropped to give Bechahed the straight flush. "That's insane," said a player at the table. "That is disgusting," said Rinkema. 

We concur.

Seidel cashed for $26,007, while Bechahed couldn't use Seidel's chips to get to the final table, dropping in 15th for $32,059. 

Play broke with seven left on Thursday night, and these players will return to battle for the bracelet and $660K first prize, with the action being livestreamed on PokerGO starting with a delay at 4pm. You can follow all the action with the same delay on PokerOrg Instant.

Eddie Ochana has a big chip lead with 14,115,000, which is good for 88 big blinds when play resumes. 

$5,000 No-Limit Hold'em (8-Handed) final seven