The 40th Annual World Series of Poker in running full speed here at the Rio in Las Vegas, with two weeks down and another five to go. There is another competition, however, that has reached its halfway mark and will be just as interesting as the battle for the bracelets that are occurring.
Nominations for the Poker Hall of Fame have been running since May 26th and, as of today, have approximately three weeks before they are cut off on July 2nd. Through the WSOP website, anyone with an interest in poker has been able to nominate the person that they feel is deserving of the highest honor bestowed in the poker world. As of today, WSOP officials report that over 1,000 names have been proposed.
Criteria for entrance into the Poker Hall of Fame – which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year – is potentially the most strict of any Hall in existence. To be considered, a player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition, played for high stakes, played consistently well and have stood the test of time. For people that are not professional poker players, they must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker with indelible positive and lasting results, such as one of the people inducted last year in Henry Orenstein (the inventor of the “lipstick cam” for viewing players’ hole cards).
One name that has been on the minds of many in the poker community for nomination is poker professional/WPT announcer and Poker News Daily guest columnist Mike Sexton. Party Poker – a room that has had Mike as its poker ambassador since its inception – has been at the forefront of a massive drive to have people nominate him for his lifetime of work in and for poker. Perhaps what is more important is that some of his fellow players, including bracelet winners Howard Lederer and Annie Duke and former WSOP Europe champion Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, have also been issuing the call for Sexton’s induction.
Other top professionals as well as some who have contributed to the development of poker have been nominated. Top pros who have been discussed for nomination include Barry Greenstein and former World Champion Chris “Jesus” Ferguson. A name mentioned that isn’t a player but who was quite influential in what has become the “poker media” is the late Andy Glazer, who brought his excellent writing abilities to tournament coverage before media attention became the norm.
After the next three weeks are over and the final votes have been tallied up from the WSOP website, the Top Ten nominations will be announced during play at the Championship Event of the WSOP. Then the real work will begin as the surviving members of the Hall of Fame (there are currently sixteen members alive) will be joined by a like number of poker media and industry representatives to choose two people for induction into the Hall. For any nominee that receives over 75% of the votes of the panel, the Poker Hall of Fame awaits; the induction ceremonies will be held during the Final Table of the Championship Event in November.
Although the list of other media and industry reps who will fill out the voting bloc hasn’t been fully announced, Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra has been tapped for his vote in this year’s Hall of Fame procedures. “It is a thrill and an honor for me and Poker News Daily to be included in the board that will help choose this year’s Poker Hall of Fame inductees”, Dan noted during a break in his coverage of the WSOP. “Voting alongside the sixteen living Hall of Famers is a distinction I will remember for quite some time.”
While he didn’t give any indications as to where his votes will go, Dan encouraged people who haven’t already done so to get their nominations in. “I encourage the poker playing public to cast their nominations for the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame class”, he said. “Although there will be some really noteworthy candidates this year, potentially our own Guest Columnist Mike Sexton, I will be as impartial as possible in assessing all the potential inductees proposed to us. I am looking forward to the process.”
