Ten Finalists Announced for Induction into Poker Hall of Fame
The 10 finalists who have been selected to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year are Max Pescatori, David Ulliott, Matt Savage, Jennifer Harman, Chris Bjorin, Bruno Fitoussi, John Juanda, David Chiu, Terry Rogers, and Carlos Mortensen. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) has formally announced this list, which was selected through a public voting procedure that was closed last month.
Savage and Roger are the only poker industry representatives to make it to the list of finalists this year. Rogers, who founded the Irish Open, is known as the Irish “Godfather of Poker,” and Savage is the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) present executive TD and its tournament director.
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Two of the finalists are no more. Rogers breathed his last in 1999, and Ulliott lost a tough battle against cancer early in 2015.
Jack McClelland, the tournament director, and poker pro Daniel Negreanu were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame last year.
Although Harman has become a Poker Hall of Fame finalist for the past several years, she has never been inducted. She told Card Player: “I think getting into the Hall of Fame means that your peers respect what you have done with your life and career. That’s really important.”
Bjorin, the all-time poker tournament earner of Sweden, has narrowly missed being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in the last few years.
A media panel comprising 16 members of the poker media and the 23 members of the Poker Hall of Fame who are still alive, will vote for two of the finalists this September.
These two finalists will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame on the occasion of the finals of the WSOP Main Event. A special induction ceremony, including a grand dinner, will be organized in Binion’s Gambling Hall. Although the exact date has not yet been announced, it is likely to be between the dates of Nov 7 and Nov 10, 2015.
Any poker personality who has played high stakes poker “against acknowledged top competition” and played “consistently well” while “gaining the respect of peers” is considered eligible to be inducted, provided he/she has completed his/her fortieth birthday. The player also ought to have withstood “the test of time.” Non-poker players are also eligible provided they have “contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.”
Every year, two deserving poker personalities are inducted.
