After a two-month period, the public nomination period has closed and the final ballots have been tabulated. In an announcement from the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council on Friday afternoon, the final nominees for the Class of 2016 has been determined and, from a look at the overall list, it is going to be a difficult choice for the selection committee.
Overall, the ten men who make up the list of nominees for the 2016 Poker Hall of Fame have no flaws and all deserve induction. However, it is thought that only two of these ten men will be inducted during ceremonies surrounding the 2016 World Series of Poker “November Nine.” Of the ten men, seven have been previously nominated and three are new nominees.
Topping the list of new nominees (Phil Ivey, it was found after some research, was ineligible for election in 2016 due to the “Chip Reese Rule” of not being 40 years old at the time of nomination) is 2003 WSOP Championship Event victor Chris Moneymaker, who arguably sparked the “poker boom” of the early Aughts. Joining him on the “new nominee” list is Eli Elezra and Todd Brunson, two mixed game wizards who have been a longtime threat on the table.
Six of the remaining seven men – Chris Bjorin, Bruno Fitoussi, Carlos Mortensen, Max Pescatori, Matt Savage and David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott – were nominated for induction in 2015, giving them potentially a leg up as they are fresh in the minds of the voters. A previous nominee, Humberto Brenes, fills out the 10-man list for induction into the Hall.
So who has the best shot at making it to the dais come the beginning of November for induction?
Unfortunately, both Brenes and Bjorin are going to get overlooked due to the quality of the field that exists. This is one reason why there should be an expansion of the Hall’s rules to allow for three inductees per year; in the next decade, there’s going to be a tremendous backlog of players and contributors that should be in the Hall that won’t be there simply because of a silly cap (and, to add a thought, if the National Football League can come up with six nominees every year, think the history of poker can come up with three!).
The same comment made about Brenes and Bjorin could be said for Fitoussi and Pescatori. These two men, any other year, might be at the front of the line for induction. With some of the names up for induction this year, however, the “godfathers” of poker for both France and Italy will have to wait for another time to be inducted.
Both Brunson and Elezra are intriguing choices for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. While he has a lengthy career of high stakes play (the battle against billionaire Andy Beal as documented by Michael Craig’s The Professor, the Banker and the Suicide King), Brunson isn’t exactly first-ballot induction worthy. That could be said as well for Elezra, who has had a strong career of high stakes cash game play and tournament success (three WSOP bracelets), but lacks that “must be in the Hall” panache that you have to have to be voted in on the first ballot.
These eliminations leave us with four men –
Chris Moneymaker
Carlos Mortensen
Matt Savage
David Ulliott
Savage is more than deserving of the nomination, but even he I believe would contend that he’s not done writing his career book as of yet. Hence, he would even say “wait” on his induction into the Hall. With both Linda Johnson and Jack McClelland in front of him for their contributions to the poker world as tournament directors and innovators overall, it is only right that Savage join them…eventually.
This is going to be a controversial choice to some but, to me, this is a no brainer and you might even question if he deserves the nomination (nothing against him personally). Moneymaker’s inclusion on the nominee list is more of a tribute to his contribution for the “poker boom” rather than any outstanding achievement in the world of poker. Of his $3.6 million in career earnings, $2.5 million of them were garnered in his WSOP win in 2003. Moneymaker also has no other “major” tournament achievements to hang his hat on. While he has been an outstanding ambassador for the game, I would question whether Moneymaker belongs in the pantheon of the game.
With this method of elimination, we’ve now come to the two choices that I believe will be standing on the stage for induction into the Hall this fall.
I was against Ulliott’s induction last year simply because it was more of an emotional vote following his death from cancer in April 2015 than that of voting on his poker achievements. A year removed from the Devilfish’s untimely passing, it is now time to put him into the Hall for his “any game, anywhere in the world” attitude, his WSOP bracelet and World Poker Tour win and his general contribution to the game in the United Kingdom. (I’ve also come to the realization that it is going to be very difficult to get any historical Europeans, such as Terry Rogers or even Thor Hansen, into the Hall because few remember them.)
If Ulliott is going to go into the Hall, let’s make it an entirely European affair by also putting in Mortensen (as if he doesn’t deserve to go on his own merits). Mortensen is the only man to win both World Championship events at the WSOP and the WPT and he also holds the record for most WPT titles (three). Mortensen has also traversed the world playing at the highest stakes possible while being an ambassador of the game of poker to his fellow Spaniards. Alongside Ulliott, Mortensen is the only logical choice for induction.
So who do you see as the two inductees for the 2016 Poker Hall of Fame (and wouldn’t it be nice if there were a PHYSICAL Hall of Fame to visit and honor these inductees…but I digress)? It will definitely give us something to talk about over the next couple of months but, after the votes of the 25 living members of the Hall and a 20-member media panel are compiled, we will know for sure.
