The amiable giant Huck Seed overcame a star studded Tournament of Champions (TOC) field, to add to his previous four World Series bracelets and probably his most impressive victory since his 1996 Main Event triumph.

Seed, who was not really on the radar through the first two days, gradually built his stack culminating in victory heads-up against Howard Lederer. The event ran for nearly a week on and off, with the final day lasting an energy sapping 16 hours. The chip leader changed hands several times over the 3 days, with Mike ‘the mouth’ Matusow leading day one and Daniel Negreanu day two. But it was Seed who prevailed, scooping the $500,000 prize and the title of Tournament of Champions winner 2010.

The winner Seed is a friendly, quiet man who goes about his business in a respectful and understated way, but no one should underestimate him, as he probably playing as well as anyone in the world at present. In fact, the runner-up Lederer acknowledged this when commenting afterwards Lederer said “Huck is underrated in terms of poker history. He’s playing as well as anyone in the world right now, that’s not named Ivey.” The tournament was filmed by ESPN and will be broadcast at a later date. It should make for entertaining viewing, with Matusow and Hellmuth both displaying their usual understated behaviour to full effect early on.

Seed has now amassed over $5.5 million in tournament prize money and may well be one to watch over the next few months. Talking to WSOP reporters afterwards Huck said “I not much of a self-promoter, I just love to play poker. Sometimes, when you love to do something it shows and it produces results.” Congratulations Huck, I could not think of a more suitable Champion to represent the game.

The final table positions in WSOP 2010 Tournament of Champions:

Huck Seed: $500,000

Howard Lederer:  $250,000

Johnny Chan: $100,000

Joe Hachem: $25,000

Barry Greenstein: $25,000

Daniel Negreanu: $25,000

Jennifer Harman: $25,000

Annie Duke: $25,000

TJ Cloutier: $25,000