Poker Hall of Fame Taking Nominations for 2020 Class
The Professional Poker Hall of Fame is officially taking nominations for its 2020 class. On Tuesday, the World Series of Poker announced that the nomination process for the Poker Hall of Fame is underway. Fans have until December 11th to make their nominations.
Poker Hall of Fame Nomination Process Underway
Back during the summer, there was some doubt as to whether we’d see anyone inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2020. The global pandemic has caused chaos in the poker world and has caused numerous shutdowns in the global gambling community.
ANOTHER ELECTION?!?
Nominations now open for 2020 Poker Hall of Fame via @WSOP
& @WSOPcom. All the info here:https://t.co/Lh9wQTsvVw#poker #Elections2020 #HallOfFame #pokerlife— US Poker (@uspoker) December 2, 2020
However, once the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event was announced, WSOP officials also revealed that there will be an inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2020. The nomination process will begin at WSOP.com and will continue until December 11th. Fans can go to the website where they can nominate a single person along with why they feel they are worthy of induction.
Nominations will be taken until Friday, December 11th, at which point the votes will be tallied.
Finalists From Last Year Will Roll Over to 2020
During Tuesday’s announcement, the WSOP revealed that they will roll over last year’s finalists to this year’s list. Last year, Chris Moneymaker and David Oppenheim were inducted into the Hall of Fame, leaving the other 8 finalists to roll over to this year.
The list of finalists includes Ted Forrest, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Bjorin, Eli Elezra, Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Huck Seed, and David Chiu. In the announcement, the WSOP said that the list of finalists will be 8 to 10 individuals long. As such, only a maximum of two nominations will appear from fan voting.
Fans can nominate anyone they wish for the Poker Hall of Fame, but only those meeting the following criteria will be considered for the list of finalists:
- A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
- Be a minimum of 40-years-old at the time of nomination
- Played for high stakes
- Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
- Stood the test of time
- Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.
The list of finalists will be announced on December 16th. That list will then be voted on by the 32 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame. The sole inductee will be announced prior to the heads-up finale of the 2020 WSOP Main Event on December 30th.
Who Will Be Inducted in 2020?
There’s a lot of speculation as to whom will be inducted into the 2020 Poker Hall of Fame. A name that some are advocating for is Isai Scheinberg. You may remember that he recently resolved his Black Friday charges in the United States. It is well-known that those charges are the sole reason he is not already in the Hall of Fame.
Editorial: Poker Hall of Fame Needs to Induct More, Not Less, New Members https://t.co/kVihY8wYLg
— Poker News Daily (@pokernewsdaily) December 4, 2020
However, since this year’s vote is being done by the living member of the Hall of Fame only, it is much more likely a player will be inducted. Of those two players, it is likely we will see Ted Forrest or Chris Ferguson inducted. Forrest is one of the best poker players in history not already in the Hall of Fame. He is a six-time WSOP bracelet winner and has played the highest stakes in the world. Out of all players, he is probably the most respected out of the living HOF members.
Chris Ferguson is a controversial mention, but Ferguson certainly has the resume for induction. However, his role at Full Tilt Poker will keep media members from voting for him. That’s not going to be a problem this year. If there is a dark horse in this year’s voting, it is Ferguson. If Ferguson is going to get in, this is the year it will happen.