LAS VEGAS (Oct. 19, 2021) – Following nearly two weeks of open nominations for the Poker Hall of Fame, today the list of ten finalists was announced. These finalists will now be considered by living members of the hall of fame, who will allocate a ballot of ten total points to any or all of the nominees to decide who will be inducted. The 2021 Finalists are (in alphabetical order):
• Eli Elezra
• Antonio Esfandiari
• Chris Ferguson
• Layne Flack
• Ted Forrest
• Bertrand ”ElkY” Grospellier
• Mike Matusow
• Michael Mizrachi
• Matt Savage
• Isai Scheinberg
There are 3 new finalists in the 2020 class, Layne Flack, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Michael Mizrachi.
The Poker Hall of Fame criteria remain the same as previous years,
• A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Be a minimum of 40-years-old at 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 enshrinement ceremony is now held on Wednesday, Nov. 17 in concert with the final table of the Main Event and the Hall of Fame Bounty tournament at Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. All living Poker Hall of Fame members are invited to freeroll into the $1,979 No-Limit Hold’em tournament, with the buy-in priced in honor of the Hall of Fame’s founding year. This event will be open to all players. Each participating Hall of Famer will have a bounty corresponding to the year they were inducted into poker’s most exclusive club. The 2021 inductee will be announced during the event.
The entire list of 59 Poker Hall of Fame members includes (alphabetical):
o Tom Abdo ‘82
o Crandell Addington ‘05
o Bobby Baldwin ‘03
o Billy Baxter ‘06
o Lyle Berman ‘02
o Joe Bernstein ‘83
o Benny Binion ‘90
o Jack Binion ‘05
o Bill Boyd ‘81
o Doyle Brunson ‘88
o Todd Brunson ‘16
o Johnny Chan ‘02
o T.J. Cloutier ‘06
o Nick Dandolos ‘79
o Eric Drache ‘12
o Barbara Enright ‘07
o Mori Eskandani ‘18
o Fred “Sarge” Ferris ‘89
o Henry Green ‘86
o T “Blondie” Forbes ‘80
o Barry Greenstein ‘11
o Jennifer Harman ‘15
o Dan Harrington ‘10
o Murph Harrold ‘84
o Phil Hellmuth ‘07
o John Hennigan ‘18
o James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok ‘79
o Red Hodges ‘85
o Edmond Hoyle ‘79
o Phil Ivey ‘17
o Linda Johnson ‘11
o Berry Johnston ‘04
o John Juanda ‘15
o Jack Keller ‘93
o Jack McClelland ‘14
o Felton McCorquodale ‘79
o Tom McEvoy ‘13
o Chris Moneymaker ‘19
o Roger Moore ‘97
o Carlos Mortensen ‘16
o Johnny Moss ‘79
o Daniel Negreanu ‘14
o Scotty Nguyen ‘13
o David Oppenheim ‘10
o Henry Orenstein ‘08
o Walter “Puggy” Pearson ‘87
o Julius Oral Popwell ‘96
o Thomas Austin “Amarillo Slim” Preston ‘92
o David “Chip” Reese ‘91
o Brian “Sailor” Roberts ‘12
o Huck Seed ‘20
o Erik Seidel ‘10
o Mike Sexton ‘09
o Jack “Treetop” Straus ‘88
o Duane “Dewey” Tomko ‘08
o David “Devilfish” Ulliott ‘17
o Stu “The Kid” Ungar ‘01
o Red Winn ‘79
o Sid Wyman ‘79
For more information on the Poker Hall of Fame, visit http://www.wsop.com/pokerhalloffame/.
ABOUT THE POKER HALL OF FAME
The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though the Hall of Fame is virtual in nature, its membership includes poker's most influential players and other important contributors to the game. There are now 32 living members, and 58 members have been bestowed the honor of Poker Hall of Famer. The Poker Hall of Fame traditionally elects one or two members annually. The enshrinement ceremony is now held in concert with the final table of the Main Event of the WSOP, held in Las Vegas.
About the World Series of Poker
The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $3.29 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet, globally recognized as the sport’s top prize. Featuring a comprehensive slate of tournaments in every major poker variation, the WSOP is poker’s longest-running tournament in the world, dating back to 1970. In 2019, the event attracted 187,298 entrants from 118 different countries to the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and awarded more than $293 million in prize money. In addition, the WSOP has formed groundbreaking alliances in broadcasting, digital media and corporate sponsorships, while successfully expanding the brand internationally with the advent of WSOP Europe in 2007 and the WSOP Asia-Pacific in 2013 and the WSOP International Circuit Series in 2015. All WSOP events are subject to the then-current and applicable WSOP tournament rules. For more information, please visit www.wsop.com.