Poker Hall of Fame: Nominations and Reactions

The nominee list for the Poker Hall of Fame was released this week, and it’s an interesting mix that has brought a wide range of reactions from across the pokerverse.

The reason for the unique assortment of nominees: this was the first year that the nomination process was handed over to the public for a vote. The top ten vote-getters make up the nomination list, and that list is then sent to the fifteen living current members of the HOF and fifteen media members. Each gets two votes, and any nominee that gets chosen by 75%+ of the panel gets in.

The list, from A-Z:

Tom Dwan
Barry Greenstein
Dan Harrington
Phil Ivey
Tom McEvoy
Men Nguyen
Scotty Nguyen
Daniel Negreanu
Erik Seidel
Mike Sexton

Just like the baseball hall, there are no clear brightlines for what constitutes a HOF career in the poker world. Instead, voters are directed by a few basic, vague guidelines that they can obviously override in favor of personal preference. Those guidelines are:

(1) Must have played against top competition.
(2) Played for high stakes.
(3) Played consistently well, gaining respect of their peers.
(4) Stood the test of time.
(5) Contributed to the overall growth and success of poker with positive and lasting results.

The one guy that everyone seems to agree on: Mike Sexton. It’s hard to discount the role Sexton played in the poker boom of the early 2000’s through his work with Party and the WPT. While online poker would have likely taken off in the US without Sexton’s help, the magnitude and immediacy of the public immersion in the game is largely to his credit. Doyle Brunson, who holds a vote, agrees: “If he isn’t one of the people selected, something is wrong. I know of 3 votes from the living members at the HOF that Mike will get. Binion and Crandell Addington both assure me Mike will be their 1st choice, also.”

The biggest surprise, for some: Tom Dwan. At 22, it’s hard to argue that he meets the #4 criterion, although one could easily note that in terms of sheer hands played, Dwan actually has a longer career than some of the other names on the list, but Daniel Negreanu makes the point that there’s a difference between hands played and time spent: “Don’t get me wrong, I know he is a great player, but he’s 22… a lot can happen in a kids life between 22 and 28. I know, because I was once a great 22 year old poker player, as well as an awful, tilted 24 year old poker player. I bounced back, but not everyone does, and that’s why one of the criteria is “stood the test of time.” I don’t doubt Durrr will continue to excel at the highest levels, but he has to do it first, for a little while longer.”

Some names likely to generate controversy: Men Nguyen and Scotty Nguyen. Men has been dogged by reports of cheating during various points in his career, and Scotty’s ‘loveable drunk’ persona really took a hit with his behavior, caught on camera in excruciating detail, in the 2008 WSOP.

Names likely to arrive DOA: Tom McEvoy, who really only rolled onto the list thanks to a big push from PokerStars, and Daniel Negreanu, who’s a bit too young and hasn’t had the sort of recent success that might override that issue in the minds of some voters.