In about two weeks, Event #92, the $1979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty tournament, will take place during the 2025 World Series of Poker. As a matter of ceremony, the newest inductee for the Poker Hall of Fame will be named before the start of the tournament (for which all Hall members have a free pass and a bounty on their heads). But who will be the one person who will receive induction into the Hall? Let’s break it down and attempt to handicap the field towards who will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame on July 11.
Three Newcomers Enter 10-Person Field
Of the ten people chosen to have the chance at induction into the Hall, three of them are freshly eligible for the 2025 Poker Hall of Fame nominations. Because of the ‘Chip Reese Rule,’ which designates that inductees must be a minimum of forty years old, Phil Galfond, Nick Schulman, and Scott Seiver have never earned nominations to the Hall. While all three of these men are qualified for consideration, other things should be examined – let’s table this trio for the moment.
That leaves seven others who are under consideration. One of those is also a first-time nominee, the late ‘Miami’ John Cernuto, who passed away on February 10 of this year. One of the notable grinders in the world of poker, Cernuto held the record for most cashes in a career until just recently when Ari Engel topped him. Because of his passing, we are going to table Cernuto too…for just a moment.
The other six nominees have multiple nominations – but no inductions – between each other. These are the people who have been nominated in 2025 for the Hall (in alphabetical order):
Jeremy Ausmus
Ted Forrest
Kathy Liebert
Mike Matusow
Matt Savage
Isai Scheinberg
Here is the rub of it all…every one of these people has more than a viable reason for induction into the Hall. Of the six, it is possibly Matusow who is the WEAKEST candidate, so he is a long shot for induction. Likewise (and I say this with great reluctance), Savage and Scheinberg have multiple nominations under their belt. The problem lies in that it is the living members of the Poker Hall of Fame doing the voting, and players are wont to vote for players and not tournament directors or contributors. Thus (again)…Savage and Scheinberg are on the outside looking in.
Down to Seven
We have now whittled the field to seven, but let’s take it down by two more. Kathy Liebert was a groundbreaker for women in the world of poker, but there have only been THREE women – Barbara Enright (2007), Linda Johnson (2011), and Jennifer Harman (2015) – inducted into the 61-member Hall. Suffice it to say that the odds on Liebert are quite high. Forrest, while one of the greatest cash game players of all-time, has been out of the limelight for a bit, so he is not readily on the minds of the voters – we can also put Forrest on the “long shot” list.
Although he remains a force on the “High Roller” circuit, Ausmus has not exactly shone on poker’s largest stage lately, so we can bump him to the side. That leaves the first-time nominees on the list, and that is problematic.
The Poker Hall of Fame has unfortunately become a “what have you done for me lately?” organization, one that rewards a “flavor of the day” rather than actually delving into the history of poker to determine who should be inducted. This is demonstrated by the most recent inductees into the Hall, Brian Rast (2023) and Patrik Antonius (2024), who were fast-tracked to induction despite the factor that much of their success wasn’t until this century (fun fact: there are no inductees who were voted in from the 20th century remaining; Lyle Berman and Johnny Chan were both inducted in 2002) and completely ignoring the very thing they are supposed to be honoring – the history.
That’s going to have to be covered in an essay…
Four First-Timers, One Induction
That leaves us with the four first-time inductions. While Schulman has picked up a bracelet this year and will be fresh in the minds of voters, he falls victim to the “he’ll get in eventually” syndrome. Seiver was a triple bracelet winner in 2024, but…“what have you done for me lately?” AND “he’ll get in eventually.”
Down to two now…Phil Galfond and ‘Miami’ John Cernuto.
Galfond will eventually be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. But, because the voters for the Poker Hall of Fame are all people who played against him, they will be looking to honor someone who was a beloved member of the poker community (if you want to call it “sentimentality,” then so be it). The person who will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2025 will be ‘Miami’ John Cernuto, who will receive one more honor in his storied poker career.