The hottest poker player of 2008 is eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel. He’s widely considered to be one of the best all-around poker players in the world, with bracelet victories in five different variations of the game. This year he’s been on fire so far, to the dismay of his opponents. Seidel just won his first WPT championship at the Foxwoods Poker Classic on April 9th, pocketing $992,890. That was just over a week after finishing 16th at the World Poker Challenge for a payday of $28,099.

Those two cashes, added to his second-place finish in the Aussie Millions last January ($880,000) has given Seidel a sizable lead on the professional leaderboards. He currently has a 660-point lead over Michael Binger.

With Seidel winning a WSOP bracelet almost every year, he could carry his lead all year long. It’s not a surprise to see him atop the tournament leaderboards.