ESPN to Air AbsolutePoker Pro Mark Seif's Second WSOP Win

ESPN to Air AbsolutePoker Pro Mark Seif's Second WSOP Win

Seif Topped 2,012 Players to Win First Back-to-Back Championships in 2005 WSOP Competition

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- ESPN is airing AbsolutePoker (http://www.absolutepoker.com/) pro Mark Seif's second consecutive win at this year's World Series of Poker (http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/) starting at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday, September 20. Seif made headlines at the record-setting annual event when he topped 2,012 players, the third largest field in WSOP history at the time, to become the only person to win two titles at the 2005 competition.

Seif, who is ranked number nine in the World according to CardPlayer (http://www.cardplayer.com/), just placed ninth out of 1,500 competing in the main event of the 2005 World Championship of Online Poker winning $56,000. He began playing poker professionally in 2001. Prior to his poker career, Seif graduated in the top 10 percent of his class at Loyola Law School and worked as an expert trial lawyer in sexual harassment law for national Newport Beach firm Fisher & Phillips.

At the 2005 WSOP, he won his first gold and diamond WSOP bracelet in the $1,500 Limit Texas Hold'em Shootout Friday June 17 for $181,330 and collected his second bracelet less than a week later in the $1,500 No Limit Texas Hold'em event. Seif's second victory, which included beating defending world champion Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, netted him $611,145. Earlier in the month he placed 53rd in another $1,500 No Limit Texas Hold'em event earning $7,475 bringing his 2005 WSOP earnings to $799,950.

The final nine players and their rank who competed in the event to win the WSOP bracelet and the $611,145 top prize were:

1. Mark Seif, Incline Village, NV $611,145 2. Minh Nguyen, Lake Elsinore $329,975 3. Bill Gazes, Miami, FL $202,790 4. Webber Kang, Dallas, TX $175,010 5. Peter Lee, Queens, NY $147,230 6. Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Stonington, CT $119,450 (Defending World Champion) 7. Steve Carter, Frisco, TX $91,670 8. Steve Rassi, Morton, IL $63,895 9. David "DevilFish" Ulliot, Hull, U.K. $47,225

CardPlayer Magazine posted the game's progress and the following is the play-by-play from the log for the final and winning hand -- number 184:

"Nguyen has the button, he limps, Seif raises to $100,000, Nguyen raises to $600,000, Seif pushes all in, and Nguyen calls. Nguyen shows Ad-10d, but Seif has pocket kings (Kc-Kd). Nguyen is the shorter stack, facing possible elimination on this hand. The flop comes Kh-7h-4c, and Seif has flopped a set of kings. The only way Nguyen will survive is if he catches a jack and a queen on the last two cards for a straight. The turn card is the 9c, and Nguyen is drawing dead. Minh Nguyen is eliminated in second place, earning $329,975.

"Mark Seif wins Event #22 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em), earning $611,145 and his second World Series of Poker bracelet this week."

About AbsolutePoker.com

AbsolutePoker.com is the world's fourth largest online poker destination, offering worldwide access to multi-player online games 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Driven by proprietary software, AbsolutePoker.com offers the most comprehensive, interactive online poker room, providing such features as hand history and stat retrieval, player note taking and chat, locate a player, three-table play, and representative image selection. Multi-player games offered include: Texas Hold'em, Omaha High, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, One on One, and Tournaments. Established in 2003, AbsolutePoker.com is licensed and regulated in Canada.

Source: AbsolutePoker

CONTACT: Karin Olsen of AMAZONpr for AbsolutePoker, +1-310-497-0052, karin@amazonpr.com

Web site: http://www.absolutepoker.com/ http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/ http://www.cardplayer.com/

------- Profile: Ent