Las Vegas Weekly

September 9, 2009 · 7:33 AM

Nominee list for Poker Hall of Fame is down to nine players

By Robin Leach

Poker legend Doyle Brunson with poker pros Daniel Negreanu and Johnny Chan at Blush in the Wynn.

Photo: Brian Steffy/Blush

The Poker Hall of Fame has narrowed the list of nominees for the 2009 class, and all that remains is for the 15 Hall of Fame members and the 15-member media panel to cast their votes before we know the inductees. Voting gets underway this week.

Nine people remain eligible for induction in 2009. The induction ceremony will be part of a Hall of Fame dinner on Nov. 7 at The Rio during the Main Event World Series of Poker Final Table.

The candidates are Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy, Men Nguyen, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and Mike Sexton. The voters must determine who among that list most deserves to be inducted in 2009. Names on this finalist list who don’t receive more than 75 percent of the votes will not make the cut but will remain eligible for induction in future years.

The voters take five factors into consideration: A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition; played for high stakes; played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers; stood the test of time; and for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council commented on Tom Dwan, who was initially nominated this year but rejected for consideration: “With all due respect to Mr. Dwan, one of the game’s most exciting young players, he does not currently meet the criteria for Hall of Fame selection. We wish him well and expect he will again be considered once he has stood the test of time.”

For the first time, the inductees will be invited to the induction dinner, where they will give an induction speech and be awarded their commemorative trophy. The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though the Hall of Fame is virtual in nature, its membership includes poker's most influential players and other important contributors.

There are 15 living members, and 37 members have been bestowed the honor of Poker Hall of Famer. The Poker Hall of Fame traditionally elects one or two members annually. The enshrinement ceremony is now held in tandem with the Final Table of the Main Event of the WSOP, held each November in Las Vegas.

The list of the 37 Poker Hall of Fame members includes famous names such as Nick “The Greek” Dandolos, “Wild Bill” Hickok, Bill Boyd, Doyle Brunson Benny Binion, Thomas Austin, “Amarillo Slim” Preston, Stu “The Kid” Ungar, Johnny Chan, Bobby Baldwin (head honcho at MGM’s CityCenter project), Jack Binion, Phil Hellmuth and Barbara Enright, the only woman in the boys club, according to Wikipedia.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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