Phil Ivey leads the 10 finalists for the 2017 Poker Hall of Fame, which was announced on Sunday. Ivey is a first-ballot Hall of Fame candidate, as he turned 40 this year.
The list is one of the strongest in memory, including a variety of American and European card players and a couple of can’t-miss non-player contributors. Currently, the Poker Hall of Fame has 52 members, including 21 members who are still living.
The Poker Hall of Fame was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, in order to maintain the name recognition and legacies of the world’s greatest poker players. When Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) bought the rights to the World Series of Poker in 2004, it assumed control of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Phil Ivey: 10 WSOP Bracelets
Phil Ivey has a sparkling World Series of Poker career, with 10 WSOP bracelets, 31 final tables, and 55 money finishes. Ivey also has 1 World Poker Tour title, 9 final table finishes, and 13 cashes. On top of that, Phil Ivey has 1 final table and 3 money finishes on the European Poker Tour.
Ivey received the nickname “The Phenom” after winning 3 WSOP bracelets in 2002. He also made the final table in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, after the field expanded into the thousands; he eventually finished 7th in the event. Phil Ivey has been playing poker since his teenage years, when he secured a fake ID to play in his native Atlantic City (where he gained the nickname “No Home Jerome”).
Ted Forrest: 6 WSOP Bracelets
Ted Forrest is one of those no-brainer inclusions, though the 52-year old has been overlooked many times before. Known by such colorful nicknames as “The Hitman”, “Professor Backwards”, “The Suicide King”, and “Spooky”, Ted Forrest brings versatility as a card player and 6 WSOP bracelets. Forrest has won bracelets in Seven-Card Stud, Razz, Omaha, and Hold’em.
Huck Seed: 4WSOP Bracelets, ’96 Main Event Champion
Huckleberry Seed was the 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and 4 overall WSOP bracelets. Huck Seed is one of those players who flourished before the Poker Boom and after the Poker Boom. Seed is known for his consistently good play; he has over $100,000 in tournament winnings in 22 different years.
David Chiu: 5 WSOP Bracelets
David Chiu is often cited as one of the players most deserving of inclusion in the Poker Hall of Fame. David Chiu not only has 5 WSOP bracelets and 60 career WSOP cashes, but he also is seen as a preeminent high-stake cash game specialist. Chiu’ll get in eventually, but he probably should be included already.
Thor Hansen: Godfather of Norwegian Poker
Thor Hansen is vastly popular in his home country of Norway, where he is known as “The Godfather of Norwegian Poker”. Thor Hansen has 2 WSOP bracelets and 46 career WSOP finishes. Though he never won a championship in the EPT and WPT, many Norwegian players consider him their inspiration and mentor. Compared to David Chiu, it is hard to see how Thor Hansen would win inclusion this year.
David Ulliott: Popular, Charismatic UK Player
The late-David “Devilfish” Ulliott was one of the most popular European players in the years of the Poker Boom, and he remains one of the most famous UK card players. At the same time, Devilfish Ulliott was a controversial figure before his death in 2015. His flamboyance won him a lot of fans in the boom years, though he has only 1 WSOP bracelet and 33 career cashes at the world’s biggest poker tournament. Before his colorful poker career, David Ulliott was a safecracker and a convinct; he spent 9 years in Leeds Prison.
Victoria Coren of the Observer summed up her friend quite well in her review of his 2010 book, “Devilfish: The Life & Times of a Poker Legend”. Coren wrote, “I was nervous to review it, in case it was bad. Dave Ulliot is a friend of mine. And he has a gun. But I needn’t have worried. The book is, like the man, fast, funny, scary, smart, cocky, colourful, and I adore them both.”
Max Pescatori: 4 WSOP Bracelets
Max Pescatori has 4 World Series of Poker bracelets and 46 career money finishes, so he is a bit more comparable to David Chiu than his fellow Europeans. His 7 money finishes on the World Poker Tour and 3 cashes on the European Poker Tour also help. Pescatori is credited with growing the game of poker in his native Italy, where he co-authored two popular books on poker: “Giocare e vincere a poker online” (2009) and “A scuola di poker” (2010).
Mike “The Mouth” Matusow: 4 WSOP Bracelets
Mike Matusow has similar statistics to Max Pescatori: 4 World Series of Poker bracelets, 13 final tables, and 43 money finishes. He also has 5 final tables on the World Poker Tour and 10 cashes on the WPT. Mike “The Mouth” Matusow gained fame during the Poker Boom for his loud and brash television personality. He’s done broadcast work with “The Circuit” and “The Mouthpiece”, and wrote a 2009 autobiography called “Check Raising the Devil”.
Mike Matusow also bankrolled Scotty Nguyen’s 1998 champion run in the World Series of Poker. He staked Nguyen in a small satellite event, then was repayed $333,000 when Scotty Nguyen went on to take the WSOP Main Event title.
Matt Savage: Poker Tournament Directors Association
Matt Savage was a founder of the Poker Tournament Directors Association. Savage was an inaugural inductee to the Poker Room Manager’s Hall of Fame in 2003, while he continues to build the legend, as he remains an active tournament director to this day. Matt Savage officiated in the seminal years of the the World Series of Poker, 2002 through 2004, and even cashed in an event in 2009. He also has officiated at events like the Poker Dome Challenge and King of Vegas, as well as the WPT’s Bay 101’s Shooting Star event.
Mori Eskandani: Poker PROductions
Mori Eskandani is one of two non-players who made the list of 10 finalists. Through his Poker PROductions, made a huge contribution to television poker broadcasts. Eskandani created Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and the National Heads-Up Championship. He continues to produce WSOP coverage to this day, while contributing with PokerGO content.
Poker Hall of Fame Eligibility Requirements
To become a member, a gambler must meet four requirements. The poker player must have played against the acknowledged top competition. He or she must have played “consistently well” and gained the respect of peers. The card player needs to have played for high stakes during their career, and finally, he or she needs to have “stood the test of time”.
Non-players have their own eligibility requirement. As the Poker Hall of Fame puts it, the non-player must have “contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.” Non-player members include people like Bill Boyd (Golden Nugget), Edmond Hoyle, Benny Binion, Jack Binion, and Jack McClelland (WSOP Director).
To increase public interest in the Hall of Fame voting in 2009, the WSOP allowed the public to nominate players. This led to the nomination of 23-year old Tom Dwan (“durrr”), an online poker player of some note at the time who had never won a WSOP bracelet. This led to the stipulation in 2011 that a player has to be at least 40-years old to be included in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Poker Hall of Fame Comments
When Todd Brunson joined his father, 1988 inductee Doyle Brunson, in the Hall of Fame in 2016, he said, “I literally grew up attending these ceremonies and have always respected and admired its members. To join their ranks is the honor of a lifetime.”
Carlos Mortensen was inducted in the 2016 ceremony, too. Mortensen said in his induction speech, “I’ve always wanted to be included among the great players who make up the Poker Hall of Fame. To be included with the legends makes me very happy.”
T.J. Cloutier, who placed in the Top 5 of the WSOP Main Event four times and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006, said of the honor, “It’s one of two things I’ve always wanted to win.”
Daniel Negreanu, when he went in as a first ballot Hall of Famer in 2014, said of the experience, “There’s something about winning tournaments and player of the year awards that’s fabulous. But when you’re voted for by your peers and recognised by the media and those that are already living members of the Hall of Fame, that’s irreplaceable. Once you’re in the Hall of Fame they can’t kick you out. It’s the epitome of acknowledgement for what we do.”
Poker Hall of Fame 2017 Inductees
Updating the previous article, Phil Ivey and Dave Ulliott were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2017.
