Op-Ed: The Poker Hall of Fame Fixed the Voting Process – Now It's Time to Work on the Nominations

^{The Poker Hall of Fame at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, the casino where the World Series of Poker goes down every year. (Photo: courtesy of WSOP.com)}

The Poker Hall of Fame recently announced the eight people nominated for induction into its hallowed organization. While the list of nominees was impressive, there was also something that seemed a bit off about the nominations – only one of the nominees suggested by the public was from the pre-“poker boom” days in the 2000s.

The Poker Hall of Fame may have fixed their voting process for inducting new members, but now it’s time to work on the nomination process.

Changes to Voting Process Could Increase Inductees

Only the 33 living members of the Hall vote on who can be inducted, but there have been some changes to the voting process. In the past, Hall members were given 10 votes to hand out as they saw fit, with the nominee with the most votes receiving the prized induction into the Hall. Under these new regulations, the living Hall members could induct as many as six new members, a whiplash-inducing move to try to clear the backlog of potential candidates. 

With the new rules, Hall members now get only four votes, which they can still cast on one nominee or on four different ones. The bottom line of the process is that if a potential inductee is named on 22 of the 33 ballots, that person gets automatic induction into the Hall. If no nominee secures 22 votes, only the top vote-getter receives induction. 

The math creates a possibility of six simultaneous inductees (132 available votes, divided by 22 per induction), something unheard of since the Hall's creation in 1979. While this could correct some previous oversights by the Poker Hall of Fame, the new voting rules can only do so much. Without fixing the nomination process, it will be a “garbage in, garbage out” situation until they change something.

Why the Nomination Process Falls Short

Currently, nominations for the Poker Hall of Fame are in the hands of the public. Through a process on the WSOP website, anyone can nominate a person whom they believe is worthy of induction into the Hall. The intent is a nice touch by the Poker Hall of Fame, giving the public a chance to have their voices heard, but it is problematic because the general public doesn’t always have enough appreciation for poker’s history to name worthy nominees.

Here is the problem with “fan voting.” For those who consider themselves etymologists, the word “fan” comes from the base “fanatic,” which means someone “who is extremely enthusiastic about and devoted to some interest or activity,” according to Merriam-Webster.  It is conceivable that those who nominate candidates for the Poker Hall of Fame do so not on historical grounds but on the basis of popularity, ignoring those from the past who would be more deserving of the honor.

The Poker Hall of Fame removed the media from the process years ago, thereby silencing one of the most knowledgeable groups of people who could lend gravitas to the process – historians, writers, and other media professionals who know the game and its history well.

By removing this group from the process, you end up with nominations that skew more toward “what have you done for me lately” than “what have you done for the game and its advancement.” Thus, the Hall SHOULD consider a media/historian group to make substantive nominations for induction. 

What Poker Could Learn From the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

On this point, it would be worth following the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s nomination process. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has a 36-member Nomination Committee that meets annually to determine the nominees for induction. Each committee member can present two potential candidates, and the committee's votes determine who will be nominated for the Rock Hall. 

In the case of the Poker Hall of Fame, you could gather thirty people who have demonstrated their knowledge of poker and its history and do the same thing. They would be the ones who could choose an eight-member class (yes, it isn’t against the law to nominate women), and the voice of the media and historians would be heard. It would be a much better process than having those with a passing fancy or a popularity bias choose potential nominees who pale in comparison to those from the past, such as tournament director Matt Savage, international players like Terry Rogers and Liam Flood, the late Thor Hansen, or Bruno Fitoussi.

Here’s an example of how fickle the public’s opinion can be. Of the ten nominees from last year, only three of them – Mike Matusow, PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, and Scott Seiver – earned nominations again in 2026. Others, such as “Miami” John Cernuto, Jeremy Ausmus, Ted Forrest, and Savage, obviously didn’t do enough in the past year to keep their names in the spotlight, so they were kicked to the curb. 

It shouldn’t be like that…

Handicapping the 2026 Nominations

These are the eight men who were chosen by the public for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame:

• Justin Bonomo
• Shaun Deeb
• Isaac Haxton
• Jason Koon
• Chris Moorman
• Mike Matusow (nominated in 2025)
• Isai Scheinberg (nominated in 2025)
• Scott Seiver (nominated in 2025)

Of these eight men, we can immediately eliminate Bonomo, Haxton, Koon, and Moorman – they just haven’t yet reached that point in their careers where they can say they “stood the test of time.” The other four – Deeb, Matusow, Scheinberg, and Seiver – present some difficult choices for the living Hall members. 

Since the Hall is primarily comprised of “old school” poker players, you can count the induction of Matusow as an automatic. He's one of the most recognizable names from poker's televised boom in the 2000s, with a Player of the Year title and millions in live tournament earnings. Over the years, Matusow has been bypassed for more high-profile or “sexy” inductions, but it should be no problem for him to garner 22 of the 33 Hall members to vouch for him. 

Of the final three, Deeb is the most likely choice for induction. He is perennially in the chase for the World Series of Poker Player of the Year race, as the reigning 2025 WSOP Player of the Year. His experience puts him behind such men as Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, Erik Seidel, Johnny Moss, and Benny Glaser. Glaser, 37, is the only one from that group who isn’t yet in the Hall since he hasn’t had enough time in the spotlight yet. 

The final decision comes down to Isai Scheinberg and Scott Seiver. Despite Scheinberg’s role in building online poker with PokerStars, I don’t see him getting the support from the “old school” Hall members. Seiver, for no particular reason, may have to wait for another year simply because he cannot earn the 22-member votes necessary.

With all this said, the improvements to the Poker Hall of Fame voting process were long overdue. The next step is fixing how nominees get on the ballot in the first place, so that figures like Matt Savage, broadcasters Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, and historically significant writers and players from poker's earlier decades have a real chance at recognition, rather than competing against whoever happens to be popular in a given year. Get that fixed, and the Poker Hall of Fame will finally get on firmer footing in honoring the legends of the game rather than just its latest stars.