Online Poker

September 10, 2009

The 10 finalists to be considered for entry into the Poker Hall of Fame have been decided, and the list includes Full Tilt Poker’s Phil Ivey.

Established in 1979, the Poker Hall of Fame has inducted 37 of the best poker players of all time. In 2009, that number will be brought up to 39, as two more legendary poker players will be honored with a place on this prestigious list.

The finalists for nomination to the Poker Hall of Fame in 2009 are:

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

This year, the Hall of Fame began accepting nominations from the public. In order to be eligible for nomination, though, a nominee had to have played against acknowledged top competition, played for high stakes, played consistently well, and stood the test of time, or else have contributed to the overall growth and success of poker. The list of nominations was then whittled down to 10 finalists. Now that the potential inductees have been decided, the 15 living Hall of Fame members, as well as 15 select media figures, will vote and finalize their decision by 2 October. Any player who receives 75% support or more will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held at the Rio on 7 November.

Some finalists have a better chance than others of being chosen for the Hall of Fame in 2009. Phil Ivey may be young, for instance, but he is considered to be an astonishingly good player. There’s a reason that Full Tilt Poker features him so strongly in its promotions. With his position in the WSOP Main Event final table this year, it would be very fitting for the Hall of Fame members to induct Ivey, as he could become the youngest player to have joined their ranks.

PokerStars’ Daniel Negreanu also has a good chance given his ever-increasing popularity and public image. With the Million Dollar Challenge TV series that is soon to be filmed, the voters may figure that given his excellent record and impending mainstream exposure, a Hall of Fame entry for the man may be of great benefit to the image of poker in general.

Every one of these finalists has the potential to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, but not all of them are realistically in the running to be granted the honor this year. Tom Dwan from Full Tilt Poker, for instance, is only 23 and thus may not be considered by the voters to have ‘stood the test of time’ given his career has lasted only slightly more than 5 years. A young gun like Dwan is just plain unlikely to be chosen when there are much more successful poker players like Erik Seidel, Scotty Nguyen, and Men Nguyen in the line-up, as well as important figures like Mike Sexton.

Poker.com wishes all the Poker Hall of Fame finalists good luck, especially Phil Ivey going into the WSOP final table in November. Players who’d like to play with some of these poker legends should join Full Tilt Poker as a real money player, where Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, and Erik Seidel play online. New Full Tilt players can earn a deposit bonus of 100% that’s worth up to $600, keeping them in the game for longer.