Twenty-two years after his last bracelet, four-time WSOP winner and 1996 Main Event champion Huck Seed is in pole position to triumph once again on poker’s grandest stage.

Seed currently leads the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better event, heads-up against Slovenian standout Blaz Zerjav. Zerjav has already turned heads this summer with a breakout win in the $25,000 High Roller 6-Handed, and now finds himself with a shot at a second bracelet.

Back at the WSOP after nearly a decade away, the former world champion has a chance to join one of poker’s most exclusive clubs. A fifth bracelet would place Seed alongside legends like Scotty Nguyen, Stu Ungar, and Robert Mizrachi.

At the time of writing, Seed chips leads Zerjav by 10,625,000 to 4,700,000, and as well as the elusive fifth bracelet, has the chance to win $153,487 for first prize, with a minimum of $102,281 already locked up.

The 6"6 former basketball star told PokerNews in an interview earlier this month that he felt his odds of winning a bracelet are better than 20 to 1. They certainly are now.

Seed on the Brink of Ending Two Decade Drought

Should he close it out, it will mark 8,084 days, more than 22 years, since Seed last won a bracelet, taking down the $5,000 Limit Razz in 2003.

It would be one of the longest gaps between bracelet wins in WSOP history, though not quite the record. That honor belongs to 1993 Main Event champion Jim Bechtel, who went 26 years between bracelets before winning the 2019 $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw.

Seed, speaking to PokerNews, admitted that the modern game is tougher than it used to be, but he’s been putting in the work.

“I’ve been back playing about three months now, every day,” Seed said. “The first month I got a lot of the rust off. My first tournament here, I was very rusty. But now that I’ve played every day for like a week, I’m starting to feel like half or maybe three-quarters of the rust is off.”

Seed, who spoke to PokerNews at the beginning of June said, “It’s just my first week back. I’ve got to play a lot of hours with the younger players and then I can probably answer that,” in response to a question about his thoughts on the newer players in the game.

In a heads-up battle with Zerjav, he will certainly find the answers he’s looking for. The Slovenian is one of the most exciting young players in the world, and will undoubtedly prove a tough nut to crack in Seed’s pursuit of history.

Eliot Thomas is a Content Executive at PokerNews, specializing in casino and poker coverage. He has reported from major events including the European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker.

Download & Play WPT Global Application In Shortly

This site only collects related articles. Viewing the original, please copy and open the following link:Huck Seed Chasing First Bracelet in 22 Years Heads-Up for the Title