The man who patented the “Hole Card Cam” will be enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame in November. Entrepreneur and World Series of Poker Bracelet winner Henry Orenstein will be honored during the WSOP Main Event final table on November 9th at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
Orenstein won the $5,000 Seven Card Stud event during the 1996 World Series of Poker, earning $130,000 for his efforts. However, the inventor is best known for patenting over 100 products and ideas, including Sesame Street toys, Snoopy toys, and Transformers. His most famous concept became U.S. Patent 5,451,054, which gave him the exclusive right to detect and display hole cards at poker tables.
The “Hole Card Cam” is a camera that displays a player’s face-down cards to television viewers. In most cases, it is found within the rail of the table and players are instructed to display their cards while in front of the camera. The idea first became popular in 1999 when the “Late Night Poker” program began using it during televised tournaments on British Television. It picked up steam during the 2002 ESPN broadcast of the Word Series of Poker and helped modernize the game as we see it today.
Poker ambassador Mike Sexton also credits the hole card cam for the growth of the World Poker Tour. “I think the World Poker Tour is successful because of the WPT cameras that allow you to see the players’ hole cards,” Sexton said in an interview with Poker News Daily. “It’s reality TV at its finest.”
Joining Orenstein in the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2008 is Duane “Dewey” Tomko, a three-time WSOP bracelet winner and two-time WSOP Main Event runner-up. He also has a pair of World Poker Tour final tables under his belt and over $4.8 million in career tournament earnings.
Tomko, a former kindergarten teacher, finished second in the WSOP Main Event both in 1982 (to Jack Strauss) and 2001 (to Carlos Mortensen). He has played every WSOP Main Event since 1974, which is currently the longest active streak.
According to a press release distributed by the WSOP, the main criteria for the Poker Hall of Fame included:
–A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition.
–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 37 members of the Poker Hall of Fame include Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, T.J. Cloutier, David “Chip” Reese, Stu Ungar, and Johnny Moss. Phil Hellmuth and Barbara Enright were last year’s honorees.
This year’s ceremony and viewing of the WSOP final table will be free of charge and available to the general public. All seating will be on a first come, first serve basis. The Main Event final table resumes at the Rio’s Penn and Teller Theater on Sunday, November 9th at 10:00am. Heads-up play begins the next day at 10:00pm local time and will occur until a champion is crowned. The tournament will air on ESPN on Tuesday, November 11th, to millions of poker fans.
