Poker Hall of Fame Members and Criteria

The WSOP Poker Hall of Fame is a hall for the best poker players of all time and people from the poker industry who have a great impact on the game, its perception and / or popularity in society. It was created during a World Series of Poker tournament in 1979 by one of its founders, one of the most recognizable and influential people in poker history, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, Benny Binion.

The Purpose of Poker Hall of Fame

When Benny founded the Poker Hall of Fame, it was to pursue two goals.

The first was to preserve in history, praise and honor names of greatest poker players of all time, workers of industry and entertainers who constantly show respect and love to the game and help to build a good reputation of poker. This one remains relevant throughout the history of the hall.

The second was to attract tourists to Benny’s casino and to interest them in poker. This goal is non-relevant anymore since rights to Poker Hall of Fame shifted their owners twice alongside the WSOP brand: firstly in 2004 to Caesars Entertainment, then directly to WSOP that in 2024 became part of GGPoker network.

For all of its history the hall stays a virtual establishment without material benefits for its inductees. But despite that, being a member of this hall of fame is still considered in the poker community among the greatest honors that any player or industry person can get during their career.

Poker Hall of Fame Members (Updated 2025)

Player	Country	Year Inducted	Note
Patrik Antonius	FI	2024	One the most respected high stakes European players who constantly plays and wins expensive events
Brian Rast	US	2023	Six-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Layne Flack	US	2022	Six-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Eli Elezra	IL	2021	Four-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Huck Seed	US	2020	4 Bracelets winner, Main Event winner 1996
Chris Moneymaker	US	2019	Main Event winner in 2003 (triggering the poker boom)
David Oppenheim	US	2019	Oppenheim is considered one of the best all-around cash game players in the world
John Hennigan	US	2018	Five-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Mori Eskandani	US	2018	Producer of many American television poker shows such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker
David Ulliott	UK	2017	–
Phil Ivey	US	2017	Ten-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Carlos Mortensen	ES	2016	Main Event Winner 2001
Todd Brunson	US	2016	–
Jennifer Harman	US	2015	Two-time WSOP Bracelet winner
John Juanda	ID	2015	Five-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Daniel Negreanu	CA	2014	6 WSOP Bracelets, Two-time WSOP Player of the Year
Jack McClelland	US	2014	McClelland was a WSOP tournament director and manager of the Bellagio poker room from 2002 to 2013
Scotty Nguyen	US	2013	5 WSOP Bracelets, Main Event winner 1998
Tom McEvoy	US	2013	Main Event Winner 1983
Brian ‘Sailor‘ Roberts	US	2012	Main Event Winner 1975
Eric Drache	US	2012	Drache was tournament director of the World Series of Poker from 1973 to 1988, inventor of satellite tournaments
Barry Greenstein	US	2011	Three-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Linda Johnson	US	2011	Johnson was editor of Card Player Magazine and was instrumental in founding the Tournament Director’s Association (TDA)
Dan Harrington	US	2010	1995 Main Event winner, poker book author
Erik Seidel	US	2010	Nine-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Mike Sexton	US	2009	Played in 21 WSOP final tables
Henry Orenstein	PL	2008	Orenstein is inventor of the Hole-Cam, which allows spectators to see players’ hidden cards
Duane ‘Dewey‘ Tomko	US	2008	Three-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Barbara Enright	US	2007	3 WSOP Bracelets, Main Event 5 place winner 1995
Phil Hellmuth	US	2007	16 WSOP Bracelets, Main Event winner in 1989
Billy Baxter	US	2006	Seven-time WSOP Bracelet winner
T.J. Cloutier	US	2006	Six-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Crandell Addington	US	2005	One of the founders of the WSOP
Jack Binion	US	2005	Binion was the first host of the WSOP in 1970
Berry Johnston	US	2004	Main Event Winner 1986, Annual WSOP Cashes from 1982 – 2010
Bobby Baldwin	US	2003	Main Event Winner 1978, CEO and CFO of several Las Vegas casinos
Johnny Chan	US	2002	Main Event Winner 1987 and 1988
Lyle Berman	US	2002	Three-time WSOP Bracelet winner
Stu ‘The Kid‘ Ungar	US	2001	Main Event winner 1980, 1981 and 1997
Roger Moore	US	1997	–
Julius Oral ‘Little Man‘ Popwell	US	1995	–
Jack Keller	US	1993	Main Event Winner 1984
Thomas Austin ‘Amarillo Slim‘ Preston	US	1992	Main Event Winner 1972
David ‘Chip‘ Reese	US	1991	Reese is widely considered the best cash game poker player of all time
Benny Binion	US	1990	Founder of the Horseshoe Casino and the WSOP
Fred Ferris	US	1989	–
Doyle Brunson	US	1988	10 WSOP Bracelets, 2 Main Event titles
Jack ‘Treetop‘ Straus	US	1988	Main Event winner 1982 (“Chip & Chair”)
Walter Clude ‘Puggy‘ Pearson	US	1987	Main Event winner 1973, inventor of the Freeze-Out tournament
Henry Green	US	1986	–
Red Hodges	US	1985	–
Murph Harrold	US	1984	Considered one of the best lowball poker players of all time
Joe Bernstein	US	1983	–
Tom Abdo	US	1982	Died of a heart attack while playing the game
Bill Boyd	US	1981	Director of the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, paved the way for the game of Omaha
T ‘Blondie‘ Forbes	US	1980	Inventor of Texas Hold’em
Edmond Hoyle	UK	1979	Game expert in the 18th century
Felton ‘Corky‘ McCorquodale	US	1979	Merit is credited with bringing the game of Texas Hold’em to Las Vegas in 1963
Johnny Moss	US	1979	Three-time WSOP Main Event winner
Nick ‘The Greek‘ Dandolos	GR	1979	Highroller in the early years of the game of poker
Red Winn	US	1979	Professional player in the early years of the game
Sid Wyman	US	1979	Owner of several Las Vegas casinos
James Butler ‘Wild Bill‘ Hickok	US	1979	Hickok was the most famous poker player in the world before the 20th century

Most Famous WSOP Poker Hall of Fame Members

Poker Hall of Fame Induction Criteria And Voting

Since 2009, Poker Hall of Fame accepts nominations openly from the public in online form with name, surname and brief explanation why this person is nominated.

You can’t just nominate whoever you want because each candidate must match mostly subjective criteria (except the age restriction):

• A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination
• 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

After the nomination period is over, the special commission studies all candidates and makes a poker hall of fame list of the top 10 among them for voting. The final voting regarding who to induct is held by Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council. Traditionally, there can be one or two new inductees depending on Council’s decisions.

Almost every year the solemn ceremony of the new Poker Hall of Fame member or members induction takes place at the same time as the WSOP Main Event final table.

Women in Poker Hall of Fame

Since female poker players are widely under-represented in the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame, in 2008 one of the most passionate advocates for women in poker Lupe Soto founded the alternative Poker Hall of Fame for female players and women in industry only.

Note: Before that Lupe created the first ever online poker forum for women in 2002 and founded Ladies International Poker Series (LIPS) in 2004 that continues to successfully welcome female poker players for 20 years straight.

So, for 16 years WiPHOF inducted women in one and only Class category but from 2024 it has another one — Pioneer for “trailblazers aren’t well known”. The first ever Pioneer was the old-school poker player Starla Brodie who competed in poker long before women had a chance to play the game freely as men always have.

As of 2024, Women in Poker Hall of Fame includes 27 members in Class category and 1 member in Pioneer category. The latest inductees in Women Poker HoF were Kristen Foxen (Bicknell), Jeanne David and Starla Brodie.

Three Fun Facts About Poker Hall of Fame

• When in 2009 WSOP opened the door for the general public to propose candidates for membership in the hall, the community voted then 23-year-old online poker star Tom Dwan. Since he was too young for this honorary induction and this situation shows the flaw in the system, organizers decided to add a “Chip Reese Rule” — an age requirement to candidates of being at least 40-year-old.
• Linda Johnson and Jennifer Harman were both inducted in the Women in Poker Hall of Fame in 2008 and 2010 respectively a few years before they were voted to the WSOP Poker Hall of Fame in 2011 and 2015.
• Two personal records related to this hall are held by Mike Matusow who is not even a member yet. First is the biggest number of nominations to induct in the hall — he was nominated 10 times. The second is the number of years of being nominated in a row — as of 2024, Mike was nominated 10 years in a row.