The Poker Hall of Fame was created in 1979 in Las Vegas by Benny Binion, the Horseshoe Casino owner. It’s the highest recognition a professional Poker player can get in the game. Some requirements which are necessary for a player to be inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame are –
· Played Poker against acknowledged top competitors
· Played for high stakes
· Played consistently well, gained the respect of peers
· Stood the test of time
Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of Poker, with indelible positive and lasting results
So far, 58 people have been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. 31 of them are still with us in this living world; let us take a quick look at all of them.
1. Johnny Moss (1979) – The “Grand old man of Poker” was the fist man to be inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame. He has won 9 WSOP bracelets and is considered one of the Poker greats.
2. Nick Dandolos (1979) – Nick is known for his famous 5-month Poker duel with Johnny Moss, where he reportedly lost $2 Million and then on the last hand stood up and said, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.” It was a treat for all the spectators.
3. Felton McCorquodale (1979) – Felton “Corky” McCorquodale is credited for introducing Texas Hold ’em to Las Vegas in 1963.
4. Red Winn (1979) – J.H. Red Winn is considered an all-around poker player and was also inducted in the inaugural year.
5. Sid Wyman (1979) – Sid was a hotel owner and then became a professional poker player and a co-owner of several Las Vegas Casinos like the Sands, Riviera, Royal Nevada, and the Dunes.
6. James Butler Hickok (1979) – Hickok is known as one of the best players of Poker before the 20th Century. He literally died while playing Poker when he was shot in the back in 1876. People say that when he was shot, he had two aces and two eights in his hand, which is now famously called the ‘Dead Man’s Hand’
7. Edmond Hoyle (1979) – Edmund Hoyle was known to be the writer of the rules and regulations of the card games. The phrase “According to Hoyle” was referred to whenever a person wanted to describe the game’s strict rules.
8. Blondie Forbes (1980) – T. “Blondie” Forbes was a poker player and road gambler who was the sole 1980 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame.
9. Bill Boyd (1981) – With four WSOP bracelets to his name, Bill was also the Director of operations at the famous casino Golden Nugget from 1946 to 1982. He was also responsible for establishing Robert Turner’s game Omaha Hold ’em onto the casino tables.
10. Tom Abdo (1982) – Abdo was also one of the three players to have died while playing Poker. He died from a heart attack. According to the legends, after suffering a heart attack, he asked the other player to count his chips and save his seat.
11. Joe Bernstein (1983) – With a total WSOP winning of $21,000, Joe had one WSOP bracelet to his name.
12. Murph Harrold (1984) – Murph was considered as the best Deuce-to-seven lowball player of his time.
13. Red Hodges (1985) – Another poker legend of his time, Red Hodges, is known for his excellent reading of the game.
14. Henry Green (1986) – Henry was another great player from Alabama who was inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame considering his gaming exploits.
15. Walter Clyde Pearson (1987) – Walter has 4 WSOP bracelets to his name and has a total winning of $265,580. He is also credited for coming up with the idea of Freeze-out tournaments.
16. Doyle Brunson (1988) – Known as Texas Dolly, Doyle Brunson is considered the best player of his time and has an impressive 10 WSOP bracelet collection. Apart from this, Doyle also wrote the book “Super/System,” which is considered a very influential book for Poker.
17. Jack Straus (1988) – Jack “Treetop” Straus has 2 WSOP bracelets on him but is known to the poker world for his extraordinary comeback in the 1982 WSOP tournament where he was left with only one chip and still managed to win the tournament. This started the phrase “A chip and a chair” which meant never give up on the game.
18. Fred Ferris (1989) – Fred Ferris has one WSOP bracelet with him and was a consistent performer at the top level.
19. Benny Binion (1990) – Benny Binion was the Horseshoe Casino founder and the World Series of Poker.
20. David Reese (1991) – David has three WSOP bracelets to his name but is still best known for his cash-game play.
21. Thomas Preston (1992) – Thomas is a four-time bracelet winner at the WSOP. He has also hosted the Second most prestigious poker event at that time, the Super Bowl of Poker.
22. Jack Keller (1993) – The three-time WSOP bracelet winner was known for his brilliant game reading skills.
23. Julius Oral Popwell (1995) – “Little Man Popwell” was considered a great player of his time and was also good at Billiards when he was young. He has also played with legends like Johnny Moss.
24. Roger Moore (1997) – He is a one-time WSOP bracelet winner and also has a total winning of around $600,000.
25. Stu Ungar (2001) – Stu has five WSOP bracelets on him, out of which two were back to back the main event wins in 1980 and 1981, respectively. He is the only player along with Johnny Moss to win the main event three times.
26. Lyle Berman (2002) – With total career winnings of around $1.6 Million, Lyle has three WSOP bracelets.
27. Johnny Chan (2002) – Also called the “The Orient Express. The great wall of China”, He is one of the four players to have won ten or more bracelets so far.
28. Bobby Baldwin (2003) – Bobby has 4 WSOP bracelets on him and has also worked with several casinos because of his poker expertise.
29. Berry Johnston (2004) – With 5 WSOP titles to his name, Berry also holds the record for the longest streak of cash wins at 29 years.
30. Jack Binion (2005) – Binion was the first host of the WSOP in 1970 and the Horseshoe legacy’s successor after his father’s demise.
31. Crandell Addington (2005) – Crandell was also one of the World Series of Poker’s founders.
32. T.J. Cloutier (2006) – Cloutier has six WSOP bracelets on him and is the only one to win bracelets in all three types (Pot limit high, Limit High and Limit 8-or-better high-low split) of Omaha.
33. Billy Baxter (2006) – Billy Baxter is one of the few players who have won seven or more WSOP bracelets and also fought the state and won the right to count his winnings as earned income.
34. Barbara Enright (2007) – The female legend has three WSOP bracelets to her and is the only women to have advanced to the main event of the WSOP table.
35. Phil Hellmuth (2007) – Also known as the poker brat, Phil Hellmuth is one of the best poker players the poker world has ever seen. He also became the youngest player to win a WSOP event at 24. He has an impressive 15 bracelets to his name and has the record number of cash and wins.
36. Dewey Tomko (2008) – With 3 WSOP bracelets on him, he has also played in every WSOP event since 1974, which is the longest streak ever.
37. Henry Orenstein (2008) – Henry is the Hole cam’s patent holder, which allows players to view other players’ hole cards. He also has a WSOP bracelet on him.
38. Mike Sexton (2009) – Mike has been a commentator in the World Poker tour since season 1 and also has a WSOP bracelet win in his pocket.
39. Dan Harrington (2010) – Dan is the co-author of the “Harrington on Hold ’em” and “Harrington on Cash Games” series of books. He also has two WSOP bracelets and a main event win.
40. Erik Seidel (2010) – Seidel has captured eight WSOP bracelets to his name and was the runner up in the 1988 main event where he got beat by Johnny Chan.
41. Barry Greenstein (2011) – Also known as the ‘Robin Hood of Poker’, Barry donates all of his winnings to charities. He has three WSOP bracelets on him as well.
42. Linda Johnson (2011) – She is called ‘the first lady of poker’ and was also the publisher of Card Player Magazine. She has won a WSOP bracelet as well.
43. Eric Drache (2012) – Drache was the World Series of Poker tournament Director from 1973 to 1988. He is also credited with the idea of Satellite Tournaments.
44. Bryan Roberts (2012) – The 1975 WSOP main event winner has two WSOP bracelets on him.
45. Tom McEvoy (2013) – Tom has 4 WSOP bracelets on him, and a main event win in which he got his seat through a satellite. He has also written many books on Poker.
46. Scotty Nguyen (2013) – Scotty has won 5 WSOP bracelets and has a career total winnings of about $11 Million.
47. Jack McClelland (2014) – Jack had worked in Poker Operations for many years, including Director of the WSOP tournaments in early 1980’s.
48. Daniel Negreanu (2014) – Daniel has a total of 6 WSOP bracelets on him and has won several other tournaments, which has helped him reach 2nd spot on the all-time WSOP money list.
49. Jennifer Harman (2015) – Jennifer was the first woman to win two WSOP bracelets in open events. She is also the only woman who plays regularly at the big games in Bellagio.
50. John Juanda (2015) – John had been inducted in the hall of Fame in 2015 and has had a great career ending with a total of five WSOP bracelets as well.
51. Todd Brunson (2016) – The son of famous poker player Doyle Brunson, has still taught himself to play Poker on his own and has a WSOP bracelet on him.
52. Carlos Mortensen (2016) – Holder of two WSOP bracelets, Carlos won the 2001 main event.
53. David Ulliot (2017) – The English poker player is a WSOP bracelet winner and is a mainstay at televised Poker.
54. Phil Ivey (2017) – Also known as the ‘Tiger Woods of Poker’, Phil Ivey is tied at 2nd with Johnny Chan, and Doyle Brunson for the most WSOP bracelet wins ever (10).
55. Mori Eskandani (2018) – Mori was a producer of programs like the WSOP, Poker after dark, and High stakes poker.
56. John Hennigan (2018) – John has five WSOP bracelets and a Poker players Championship win in 2014. He had also won the World Poker Tour title in 2007.
57. Chris Moneymaker (2019) – Chris won the WSOP main event in 2003 after earning his seat in an $86 online satellite.
58. David Oppenheim (2019) – With ten money finishes so far, David is the most recent induction in the Poker Hall of Fame. His total career winnings so far are around $1.2 Million.
Written By
Shashwat Nishant
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