A panel of Hall of Famers and media members have selected poker player John Hennigan and television executive Mori Eskandani as the 2018 inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame. The WSOP announced the selections as the final table of the WSOP Main Event got underway on July 12.
Hennigan is an underrated all-time great
John Hennigan enters the Hall of Fame in his first year as a finalist. Several notable professionals, including Daniel Negreanu, have called Hennigan the toughest opponent they have ever faced.
Jul 03, 2018 Of course, the living members of the Poker Hall of Fame and the media panel that votes new members in may feel the need to induct a player. If that’s the case, they may lean towards Matusow. He is certainly a name the public will recognize and ticks off most of the boxes on the criteria list.
Hennigan’s nickname is “World,” purportedly because of his willingness to bet on virtually anything in the world. Prior to poker, he was a professional pool player.
Since picking up poker, he has earned over $8.1 million in tournament winnings alone. He holds five World Series of Poker bracelets and a World Poker Tour championship.
Hennigan remains a top professional today. In fact, he is likely to be the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year after making six final tables at this year’s series.
Those final tables include a win in the $10,000 HORSE event and a second-place finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Of all this year’s finalists, Johnny World was perhaps the most deserving.
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Eskandani brought poker into your home
Mori Eskandani is the man largely responsible for bringing poker into your home. He is responsible for virtually every major poker program on television.
Eskandani is the creator of Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, The National Heads-up Championship, and several other game-based shows. He is now the producer for ESPN’s coverage of the World Series of Poker.
Eskandani began production company Poker Productions in 2003. Roulette adds up to 666. Though he did not invent the hole-card camera, his use of it quickly became the standard in televised poker.
In fact, it is likely that his use of the hole-card camera had an equally profound effect on poker’s popularity as Chris Moneymaker‘s 2003 WSOP Main Event win. When viewers could “play” alongside the players, poker truly became a spectator sport, and it became possible to provide on-the-spot expert analysis of play, similar to other athletic events.
Eskandani’s affinity for poker stretches back decades. In fact, he was well-known as a high-stakes player in the 1980s.
However, his greatest impact has been away from the table. Nevertheless, he is clearly a deserving member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
A look ahead to the 2019 classPoker Hall Of Fame Members
The 2018 Hall of Fame class arose from a ten-person list of finalists. Those eight men who were not chosen are eligible for consideration next year.
They are:
According to the Hall of Fame criteria, inductees must be over the age of 40 and have made a lasting impact on poker, either at or away from the table. With that in mind, here are some people who might be nominated or will become eligible.
The 2019 class will likely be a well-known group of players and poker professionals. Stay tuned.
Lead image courtesy of World Poker Tour/Flickr
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Home » Poker News » WSOP Announces 10 Hall of Fame Finalists
As the 50th Annual World Series of Poker flew past the halfway mark last week, there was more going on behind the scenes than tabulating prize pools and payouts. It was time to gather the names of all of the poker legends nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame and narrow the list down to the 10 people with the most votes.
On June 23, the list of the 10 finalists was announced.
Most of the nominees will come as no surprise, as they have been nominated at least once in past years. The only new name on the list this year is Antonio Esfandiari.
2019 HOF Finalists
Without further ado, the names of the 10 finalists for induction into the 2019 Poker Hall of Fame, in alphabetical order, are: Full tilt poker download.
Chris Bjorin
David Chiu
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Mike Matusow
Chris Moneymaker
David Oppenheim
Huckleberry Seed
As mentioned, Esfandiari is the only new name on the list. Oppenheim made his debut on the list in 2018, and Chiu, Matusow, and Seed have now been on the list for three years running. Bjorin and Moneymaker had been nominated in 2018 and in previous years.
Ten finalists for Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2019 unveiled:https://t.co/Jj0c5t7m2c
Final voting to be conducted by 30-person HOF panel and 21-person poker industry media panel. Induction July 15. pic.twitter.com/0JkMRRye6R
— WSOP (@WSOP) June 23, 2019
Many poker fans will remember the 2018 Poker Hall of Fame inductees.
Poker player, producer, and content creator Mori Eskandani was inducted last year, as was poker pro John “Johnny World” Hennigan.
Final Voting Process
From this point, the public voting is over, and the rest is left up to two groups, all members with equal voting rights. One group consists of the 30 living Poker Hall of Fame members, and the other is a 21-person panel of members of the poker media.
Ballots will be sent to all of the 51 voters, and they must return them to the WSOP Governing Council by July 8. That council will tally the votes and determine the inductees for 2019. This could be one, two, or even three people, depending upon the outcome of the voting process.
The names of the final inductee(s) will be announced soon after the July 8 voting deadline, and the awards ceremony will take place alongside the WSOP Main Event final table action on July 15. It will be televised as a part of the ESPN broadcast.
Inductee Qualifications
All of the nominees have already met the basic qualifications, but the criteria for inductees will be more seriously examined during on the final ballots. The qualifications for induction are as follows:
–Must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
–Must be at least 40 years old at the time of nomination
–Must have played for high stakes
–Must have played consistently well and gained the respect of his or her peers
–Must have stood the test of time
Non-players can be considered if they have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker with indelible positive and lasting results. In the 2019 list of finalists, this may apply – with other criteria – to Chris Moneymaker, who rarely plays high-stakes poker.
Poll: Should Chris Moneymaker be voted into the Poker Hall of Fame?
— Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) September 14, 2016
It can and should be noted that all of the nominees in 2019 are male, and most are based in the United States with the most notable exception of Chris Bjorin. Elezra, Chiu, and Esfandiari have globally diverse ethnic backgrounds but all claim the US as home.
Can we just all agree to change the official name to ´American Poker Hall of Fame´?
— Milko @ WSOP (@DegenOnTour) June 24, 2019
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