Erik Seidel came breathtakingly close to winning yet another big title yesterday at the WPT Hollywood Poker Open. Seidel lost heads-up to Mike Scarborough and had to settle for second and $155,103.

Having won more than $4 million since January 1st, 2011 could hardly get any better for Team Full Tilt pro Erik Seidel.

The New York-born American has been on a live tournament tear throughout the whole of the year, destroying all competition in one of the best runs ever to be recorded in modern poker history.

Yesterday, Seidel had the chance to improve his record even further, as he entered the final table of the World Poker Tour's Hollywood Poker Open stop with the table's third largest stack, ready to fight for yet another title.

Seidel found himself facing tough competition on the six-player final table, which counted among others Tom Marchese and William Reynolds, but still the experienced pro managed to fight his way all the way to the defining heads-up duel.

Here he squared off with Cincinnati pro Mike Scarborough, who himself had been displaying strong play, especially in the latter stages of the event.

Scarborough held a 4-1 chip lead against Seidel once heads-up play began, and even though Seidel did his best to topple his opponent, he would never get near securing himself the title.

Instead, Scarborough managed to take home the win after just twelve hands, as his Jh Th came out on top of Seidel's Ad 9d on a Tc 9s 7h flop. The 8s turn gave Scarborough a straight and left Seidel drawing dead for a chop, and the Td river offered no help, instead giving Scarborough the pot, the match and the WPT title.

Scarborough's first major tournament win earned him $273,664, while Seidel's second place was worth $155,103.

The runner-up will have reason to celebrate despite his near miss at the title shot, as he managed to consolidate his lead on the all-time money list with career winnings of $14,852,400, some $700,000 more than number two, Daniel Negreanu.

2010 PCA Main Event winner William Reynolds came in third for $110,788, while last year's winner of the NAPT LA event, Tom "kingofcards" Marchese, earned $77,551 for taking fourth.

Source: Poker.org