Some might remember Jason Senti from last year’s WSOP…

With Jason Senti earning his spot among the November Nine, I figured this was a decent time to refresh everyone’s memory.

Senti made back-page headlines in last year’s WSOP $10K heads-up championship when his opponent, Erik Seidel, showed up late.

Some might remember Senti from last year’s WSOP as well. Here’s the story, from the August, 2009 issue of MNPokerMag:

Minnesota Nice
By Phil Mackey

Erik Seidel received a little taste of “Minnesota Nice” at the WSOP during the $10,000 buy-in heads up event.

Upon reaching the 3^rd round, Jason Senti, an online professional from St. Louis Park, MN, found himself matched up against 8-time bracelet winner Seidel. The only problem? Seidel didn’t show up to the table for 15 minutes.

Now, the WSOP tournament staff doesn’t sit around and wait patiently for players to show up. Even legends like Seidel. The tournaments begin when scheduled, regardless of empty seats.

At this point, the obvious option was for Senti, who plays online as “PBJaxx,” was to steal Seidel’s blinds and build an early chip lead. That’s probably the path most people would choose.

Instead, however, Senti chose to stall.

“I actually knew that he was in the building playing another event, as a friend had text me that,” Senti told Minnesota Poker Magazine. “I wasn’t really sure what the proper etiquette was in the situation. I knew that the other tables with missing players were just stealing the blinds, but I felt that if he was likely to show up soon, I should give him some time.

Erik Seidel

“Basically, I decided I would give him up to 20 minutes to show up, and then I would have to play. The deeper structure in the beginning of the match is where my edge is biggest, so I didn’t want to go too long during that period without playing.”

Senti’s act of sportsmanship drew plenty of attention from PokerNews, Cardplayer and other poker news outlets. “Senti Stays Classy” and “Classy Move By Jason Senti” were just a couple of the headlines.

“In the end, I did what seemed to be right in the situation,” Senti said. “I wouldn’t fault anyone for stealing the blinds. We are there to win, and the winner of this match was guaranteed $18,000. Obviously that is a lot of money, but I followed what I decided was proper etiquette.”

As it turns out, good karma followed Senti, and he knocked Seidel out with  against , all in preflop on the final hand. The victory earned Senti a $17,987 cash before he was bounced in the 4^th round.

After the match, Seidel wrote on his Twitter page, “Busted in the Heads Up vs Jason Senti very tough young player.”

Senti’s feelings toward Seidel were mutual.

“So far, all my experiences with the well known “live pros” have been very good,” Senti said on his blog after the match. “Despite what Joan Rivers thinks, most poker players I have met seem to be good people.”