Eight 2026 Nominations for Poker Hall of Fame Announced in Las Vegas

From Justin Bonomo to Isaac Haxton, Scott Seiver to Chris Moorman, the nominations for the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame inductees are many and varied. There are players who have just ticked past the 40-year-old minimum age boundary, while others have been nominated multiple times. Which poker legends will make it into the hallowed Hall of Fame? Let’s take a look.

The Young Guns

Of the eight nominees, five are eligible for the first time in 2026, but well profile just four of that group with the other of their number making it into another category. Chris Moorman has only recently turned 40 and the British nominee – one of only two nominees from outside the United States – can lay claim to the validity of his inclusion thanks to being the best tournament online poker player on the planet. Starting a $15m online empire from a $70 freeroll, Moorman build the mother of all bankrolls from scratch, has won two WSOP bracelets and countless other live titles to align with his online dominance.

Jason Koon is another nominee who has basically been waiting until he turns 40 to be inducted. A 12-time Triton event winner, the West Virginian has won two WSOP bracelets too and is closing in on the summit of The Hendon Mob rankings where Bryn Kenney currently sits. Having represented both GGPoker and PokerStars, Koon knows the game inside out and is a passionate advocate for fair play in the game.

A seven-time WSOP bracelet winner, Scott Seiver has every chance of being the first player inducted. Largely rumored to be down to the final two in 2025 only to be pipped by Nick Schulman, Seiver’s inclusion in 2025 would have happened if more than player could be voted in. It seems impossible that the 2024 WSOP Player of the Year misses out in 2026.

Finally, our last man who has turned 40 in the run-up to this year’s nominations is Shaun Deeb. The eight-time bracelet winner and reigning WSOP Player of the Year is going for back-to-back titles in that regard in 2026, where he currently sits in fifth place behind the current leader, Alex Foxen. Deeb’s dominance of POY races in recent years – he’s one of only two double winners of the award – is just one facet of his immense skillset and four of his bracelets have come in the last five years, making him more relevant than ever.

Controversial Characters

Of the eight nominees, two are more controversial than others, leading many to wonder how they managed to obtain enough nominations to make this list in the first place. Justin Bonomo has been away from the live game for the most part in the past two years, with his views on the war in the Middle East causing any in the industry to protest at his inclusion on this list.

The fact remains that unless Bonomo has been multi-accounting (again) that others must have nominated him for inclusion, but the rules of the Poker Hall of Fame certify that any inductee must garner the respect of their peers, and in many cases, Bonomo’s respect levels are way off.

The same cannot be said for Isaac Haxton, with ‘Action’ being one of the most respected players in the world. The reason his inclusion is a slight surprise? Well, his decision to maintain mask-wearing at the felt several years after the infection risk of COVID was downgraded mean a certain section of the voting – and therefore nominating – public have taken against the American. Personally, we don’t mind anything that keeps a poker table germ-free but you can’t please everyone, which possibly says exactly how respected Haxton’s poker game itself really is that he still made the shortlist.

Old Hands

Two of the inductees that have been nominated this year are of the ‘old school’ group of poker legends who many feared would be overlooked in 2026. Mike Matusow, also known as ‘The Mouth’, reached the WSOP Main Event final table twice in four years in the early part of the century, with a sixth-place finish in 2001 followed by a ninth-place result worth $1,000,000 in 2005.

Bridging the gap between pre and post Moneymaker eras with his brand of firecracker humor, Matusow turned 58 this year. He’s not the oldest nominee, however, with the 79-year-old Israeli-Canadian Isai Scheinberg taking that honor. The PokerStars co-founder and former co-owner is largely credited with helping to launch poker to online players and grow the game we know and love today.

There was a whiff of controversy about Scheinberg in 2011 when he was indicted on criminal charges relating to Stars, eventually paying a fine of $30,000. That said, his handling of the company and the growth of poker during the period where he was at the helm has only seen positive feedback emerge from former employees, so there is clearly a lot of love for Scheinberg across the board.

Unlucky to Miss Out

While several members of poker’s glorious history have missed out this time round and we could name a dozen players and ‘builders’ of the game who deserve to be in, several prominent names spring to mind. Lon McEachern and Norman Chad are fixtures of the WSOP and after all these years might deserve to be inducted, as would Matt Savage who has 10 previous nominations, with only Matusow (12) being given more without induction.

Alex and Kristen Foxen have both won bracelets this summer and with 10 between them, along with two careers of perfect ambassadorship of the game, might consider themselves unlucky not to get a nomination between them. The legendary British player and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Barny Boatman is unfortunate not to be nominated, especially given his own historic work in growing the game by co-creating The Hendon Mob.

Finally, the seven-time WSOP bracelet winner and Poker Players Championship finalist Josh Arieh should definitely be on the list rather than some of his younger and less ready peers. It could be that the WSOP Will crown a new PPC champion who is not in the Hall of Fame as he celebrates his eighth WSOP victory. Presuming Shaun Deeb gets in, that would be the biggest number of bracelets won by any player outside the Hall of Fame… a tough beat indeed.