In a brilliant PR move, the WSOP has put together its first ever series of Grudge Matches, occurring tomorrow (Thursday). Three Grudge Matches will be played, featuring Johnny Chan versus Erik Seidel, Johnny Chan versus Phil Hellmuth, and Chris Moneymaker versus Sammy Farha.
Each of these matches is reenacting a milestone moment in the history of poker. Chan and Seidel’s famous 1988 WSOP heads-up match was made famous in the movie “Rounders.” In it, we witnessed the cold professional, Chan, take down the up-and-coming new kid, Seidel. The result of Moneymaker and Farha’s battle sparked the biggest poker boom in history. And Hellmuth was the kid who took down the reigning champion, Johnny Chan, in a sweating-bullets finish in the 1989 WSOP finale, launching Hellmuth’s career as the most decorated WSOP player in history.
Below are original videos from these fascinating matches, to help you prepare for round two of these epic moments in poker:
Moneymaker vs. Farha:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgdnUlIdvxE
Hellmuth vs. Chan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIGp8B82AxE
Chan vs. Seidel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC_BETBgWxk