Poker Hall Of Fame Criteria

Poker Hall of Fame criteria The main criteria to be considered when nominating someone for the Poker Hall of Fame hasn’t changed. The player must have played against top competition.
“We don’t feel it’s right for these guys from countries that can’t even spell poker to be nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame,” the OSPPDL said in a press release. “None of these players meet any of our criteria, and since we’re Hall of Famers our opinions are the only ones that matter.” The new Hall of Fame criteria.

A couple days ago, the list of the 10 final nominees for induction to the Poker Hall of Fame was published. There are four repeat nominees this year (John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, Jennifer Harman, Scotty Nguyen) and six first-time nominees (George Hardie, Brian “Sailor” Roberts, Chris Bjorin, Eric Drache, David Chiu, Thor Hansen). In the past couple of years, we’ve written about the latest inductees, Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson (2011) and Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington (2010), so if any of the nominees end up getting inducted, we’ll naturally be doing another write-up. News, names, and inductions aside, however, we think that it’s high time for a proper Poker Hall of Fame to be built.

What Does It Mean to Get Inducted?

The list of 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2019 has been announced by the WSOP. Find out who's on the ballot this year and who was left off. The criteria and application.

Election to the Poker Hall of Fame is considered to be one of the biggest honors in the game. As many of you know, while public nominations are accepted, to be eligible for enshrinement nominees must fulfill a number of strict criteria. Wikipedia has a great page with details about Poker Hall of Fame and its 42 current members. Owned by Caesars Entertainment, all Poker Hall of Fame matters are handled exclusively by the people who run the World Series of Poker.

Currently, the official “home” of the Hall of Fame is at Binion’s in downtown Las Vegas; the original home of the WSOP. There, a dedicated wall displays pictures of all Hall of Famers, dating back to Johnny Moss and the other six initial members who were inducted back in 1979. Ironically, the Poker Hall of Fame at Binion’s was originally conceived not just to honor the achievements of the game’s greatest players and proponents, but also to serve as a tourist attraction. I’ve been to Binion’s and I’ve seen the wall. Buried in the bowels of an aging downtown Las Vegas relic, however, I’ve got to say that as a poker fan I was both very unimpressed and disappointed.

Like Sports and Music or Professional Wrestling?

The head honchos over at the WSOP need to decide what sort of character they want the game’s Hall of Fame to have. Currently, it most resembles WWE’s professional wrestling Hall of Fame, which essentially exists online, “in people’s minds and hearts”, and in yearly induction ceremonies. Perhaps that type of Hall of Fame is apropos for what essentially boils down to lifetime achievement awards for excellent service to a private entertainment company. Real-world achievements in public arenas like sports and music, however, arguably deserve better. When there’s an actual shrine to visit, it elevates those enshrined that much more.

Famous Halls of Fame like in Cooperstown (baseball), Cleveland (rock and roll), Canton (football), and Nashville (country music) get millions upon millions of visitors each year and for good reason. Fans of those enshrined make pilgrimages to these edifices in order to pay tribute to their heroes and the greats of sports and music who have inspired and influenced them.

If You Build It, They Will Come

We call upon the WSOP to build a permanent home for the Poker Hall of Fame in Las Vegas at the Rio. The game of poker has so much to gain from the creation of a bona fide Hall of Fame tourist attraction. Hold the annual ceremonies there and collect memorabilia from current members, who will likely be all too happy to contribute their time and effort. Put up plaques, showcase video footage, mention it during WSOP broadcasts – we’re talking about something very highly marketable here.

World Poker Hall Of Fame

Give us tens of millions of poker fans worldwide another reason to want to come to Las Vegas. I dare say go ahead and even charge us $1 admission (payable by poker chip – how’s that for unique and innovative?) to keep the hall open 24/7 (another first) and ensure that it’ll be a moneymaker (“you know who” would be a great front man to promote it…).

Poker Hall Of Fame Criteria Baseball

2018 Poker Hall Of Fame

Poker Hall Of Fame List

So the WSOP recently released it's ten nominees for induction into the 2014 Poker Hall of Fame. The process for this appears to be a combination of a fan vote, with some additions where necessary. For example, Bob Hooks is on the list and I can't imagine he was voted in by the fans. I'm embarrassed to say that while I have heard the name before, I have no idea who he is or what his accomplishments are. If I don't know, then the only ones who would, would likely have to be poker historians. I don't think the general public is familiar with him, so I'm led to believe that his name was added by the WSOP.
This years list of nominees looks like this:
Chris Bjorin
Bruno Fitoussi
Ted Forrest
Jen Harman
Bob Hooks
Mike Matusow
Jack McClelland
Daniel Negreanu
Huckleberry Seed
Info on players here: HOF Bios
Plenty of great, and likely deserving players not on this list. Too many to mention, but a few highlights would include players like Gus Hansen, John Juanda, and Carlos Mortensen. Regardless, any list will always be open to scrutiny and second guessing, but it is surprising to see these names not on the ballot in 2014.
Should age matter?
The real question I have for all of you is this: should Hall of Fame voters choose the person most deserving of the award, or should age be a factor? About 6 years ago they instituted a rule that you must be 40 years of age or older to be inducted. This addresses one of the key criteria for induction, 'stood the test of time.' So the question is whether or not someone who is 75 years old, no longer at their peak or even playing, trumps the credentials of someone 45 years old who has been in the game for, say, 20 odd years?
What do they do in other Hall of Fames? I am not too familiar with what usually happens with other Hall of Fames so I'm genuinely asking, but instinctively I would think that the player who is most qualified based on the criteria should always be the one who gets in. So for example, If the NHL had a 40+ rule, would it make sense to induct a player like Jaromir Jagr, despite the fact that he is still playing competitively, over a player like Lanny McDonald, who is much older, but who maybe wasn't as accomplished in his career? I think so.
Maybe I'm wrong about this, I'm open to that, but it just makes sense to me to induct the most deserving person each year. For a poker example, let's look at the careers of Chris Bjorin and John Juanda. Bjorin has been a beast for ages, but if you compared the stats of both players in terms of how they meet the criteria, I think Juanda clearly gets the edge. His tournament results are better overall, and he has played the highest stakes cash games in the world, gaining the respect of his peers. Bjorin is no slouch, and I want it to be clear that I think he is a fantastic player that meets much of the criteria, but I think Juanda is even more qualified. Bjorin is 66, Juanda is just 43. Should that matter? Personally I think absolutely not.
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What role does being a nice guy play?
I don't think the HOF should be a popularity contest. Being a 'nice guy' isn't one of the criteria. I don't think anyone would classify Johnny Moss or Stu Ungar as nice guys, but both clearly have a place in the poker hall of fame. Now, Tom McEvoy is most certainly a nice guy, and I think that's one of the key reasons he was inducted last year, despite their being more qualified candidates based on the criteria.
This was my argument against Scotty Nguyen's induction being delayed because of his drunken antics during the $50k Player Championship on ESPN. On paper, Scotty fulfilled all the criteria. There is one criteria relating to non players, the builders category, that isn't really applicable to players. The criteria is listed as follows:

Poker Hall Of Fame Voting

Daniel Negreanu is the 2004 CardPlayer Magazine and World Poker Tour Player of the Year. He presents his poker strategies in one-on-one virtual training at pokervt.com and writes a weekly syndicated newspaper column.
Read all of Daniel Negreanu's poker blog and poker articles at Full Contact Poker.