Nominations Now Open for 2023 Poker Hall of Fame

Nominations for the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame are now open. The public can recommend players who qualify through a form on the WSOP’s website.

Layne Flack Poker Hall of Fame

Layne Flack, 2022 Poker Hall of Fame inductee.(Image: WSOP)

Then, each of the 33 living members of the Hall of Fame will be invited to assign 10 votes to the top-10 nominees. The person with the most votes gets in, that simple. 

Hall of Fame voters are instructed to weigh these values:

  • A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
  • Played for high stakes
  • Be a minimum of 40 years old at the time of nomination
  • Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
  • Stood the test of time
  • For non-players, nominees must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results

Until 2020, the Hall of Fame regularly inducted two individuals per year. In a controversial move, Hall officials cut that number in half because, as WSOP executive director Ty Stewart explained, officials want to make the honor “more of a lifetime achievement award for that rare player who is not just a success, but a legend.”

The one-per-year policy has created a bottleneck with many talented people stuck in line who deserve the recognition and came close in past votes. Just take a look at last year’s nominees:

  • Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
  • Brian Rast
  • Isai Scheinberg
  • Josh Arieh
  • Kathy Liebert
  • Lon McEachern & Norman Chad
  • Matt Savage
  • Michael Mizrachi
  • Mike Matusow

The Hall of Fame was part of Binion’s Horseshoe until Ceasars acquired the WSOP brand in 2004. It’s supposed to be relocated to the poker room at the newly rebranded Horseshoe Las Vegas, but it hasn’t happened yet. They’re going to need plenty of wall space, because there are many members.

NameYear Inducted
Johnny Moss1979
Nick “The Greek” Dandolos1979
Felton “Corky” McCorquodale1979
Red Winn1979
Sid Wyman1979
James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok1979
Edmond Hoyle1979
Blondie Forbes1980
Bill Boyd1981
Tom Abdo1982
Joe Bernstein1983
Murph Harrold1984
Red Hodges1985
Henry Green1986
Puggy Pearson1987
Doyle Brunson1988
Jack “Treetop” Straus1988
Fred “Sarge” Ferris1989
Benny Binion1990
David “Chip” Reese1991
Amarillo Slim1992
Jack Keller1993
Julius Oral Popwell1996
Roger Moore1997
Stu “The Kid” Ungar2001
Lyle Berman2002
Johnny  Chan2002
Bobby Baldwin2003
Berry Johnston2004
Jack Binion2005
Crandell Addington2005
T.J. Cloutier2006
Billy Baxter2006
Barbara Enright2007
Phil Hellmuth2007
Dewey Tomko2008
Henry Orenstein2008
Mike Sexton2009
Dan Harrington2010
Erik Seidel2010
Linda Johnson2011
Barry Greenstein2011
Eric Drache2012
Brian “Sailor” Roberts2012
Scotty Nguyen2013
Tom McEvoy2013
Daniel Negreanu2014
Jack McClelland2014
Jennifer Harman2015
John Juanda2015
Carlos Mortensen2016
Todd Brunson2016
David “Devilfish” Ulliott2017
Phil Ivey2017
John Hennigan2018
Mori Eskandani2018
Chris Moneymaker2019
David Oppenheim2019
Huck Seed2020
Eli Elezra2021
Layne Flack2022
???????????2023

Tips, corrections, comments or kudos? CardsChatBob@gmail.com.

Written by
Bob Pajich
Bob Pajich is a poker news reporter, creative writer, and poker player who never met suited connectors he didn't like. Tips, corrections, complaints and kudos should go to CardsChatBob@gmail.com.

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