It’s hard to conceive nowadays, but in 1988, when 167 players ponied up the $10,000 World Series of Poker main event entry fee, this was considered a huge field. It was the largest in the 19-year history of the event, and created a prizepool big enough to persuade Erik Seidel to buy in, despite having already played and lost nine single-table satellites.

It was the New Yorker’s first main event, and he was curious to see if his cash game success would translate to the tournament circuit. By the time the 167 had been whittled down to the final nine he was still in contention, and so were some grizzled veterans of the scene, including TJ Cloutier and reigning world champion, Johnny Chan.

Seidel did the damage in early play, taking out Cloutier and grabbing the chip lead.