After the conclusion of fan votes for the process, the final ten nominees have been named by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council. The final list contains some familiar names from last year’s process, but three newcomers to the list could sway some votes in their direction.
In his first year of eligibility, Canada’s Daniel Negreanu earned nomination for election into the Hall, a well-deserved honor. Long the vanguard of Canadian poker, Negreanu has put together a championship resume that very few in the business can match. With six World Series of Poker bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles and a rich history (no pun intended) in high stakes cash game play, Negreanu has been able to rack up almost $30 million in career tournament earnings alone, by far the leader in that category (Antonio Esfandiari is roughly $3.75 million behind him). Beyond his performance on the tables, Negreanu has also been a vocal ambassador for the game (rightly or wrongly) and his voice carries a gravitas that catches the attention of the poker world.
Another first time nominee is France’s Bruno Fitoussi. The man credited with bringing Texas Hold’em to France’s preeminent card club, the Aviation Club in Paris, Fitoussi has built a long history of outstanding cash game play. When the tournament poker boom erupted in the mid-2000s, Fitoussi picked up that discipline with several outstanding performances that include his runner-up finish to Freddy Deeb in the 2007 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship (now the Poker Players’ Championship). Although he doesn’t have a WPT, EPT or WSOP championship on his resume, the 55-year old (who will turn 56 on September 21), has earned $2.7 million in his tournament poker career.
A “blast from the past” is the final player who may draw some heavy action from the nomination committee. Considered one of the original Texas Road Gamblers, Bob Hooks blazed the trail for players such as Dan Shak, Andy Beal and others. A prominent businessman in his own right, Hooks used his poker skills and money management abilities to make his mark in the cash game poker world. Although he didn’t make any money from tournament poker (according to the Hendon Mob database), Hooks finished in fifth place in 1973 in the WSOP Championship Event and was the runner-up to Brian ‘Sailor’ Roberts (a 2012 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame) in the same event (prior to 1978, the WSOP Championship Event was a winner-take-all tournament).
There has also been some buzz on two other first-time nominees for the Hall. Ted Forrest and tournament director Jack McClelland earned their place on the list and, while some support is out there for both men, it will be a tough road in considering the other first-time nominees and the returning contenders.
Five candidates from the 2013 nomination pool – Chris Bjorin, Humberto Brenes, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow and Huck Seed – have earned another trip to the nomination round. Both Bjorin and Harman have been nominated for three consecutive years while Seed has been up for consideration three of the past four years. Matusow is in his second consecutive year of consideration for the Hall, as is Brenes, and all of them are worthy of a place among the immortals of the game of poker.
Now comes the difficult part for the Nomination Committee – determining exactly who should be inducted into the Hall. The 21 living members of the Hall and 20 industry members have received their ballots and have until October 10 to make their decisions. With 10 votes, a voting member can allocate all his (or her) votes to one player or spread them out over as many as three. Once those votes are tallied, the top two vote-getters will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and feted with a special dinner and induction festivities during the 2014 WSOP “November Nine” Championship Event final table on November 9.
