Babe Ruth, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Montana, Michael Jordan. Reaching any sport’s hall of fame comes with a certain status cachet. A player has achieved the pinnacle of competition and is recognized not only among fans, but among peers. The World Series of Poker officially unveiled the final 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame last week.
The hall may be virtual, but players and fans take the nominations as seriously as those famed institutions in Canton, Ohio, and Cooperstown, New York. Getting there isn’t easy. Players must be at least 40 and have played high stakes against top competition. Industry insiders must have contributed greatly to the overall growth and success of the game.
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With the final 10 nominations, the hall’s living members now vote on which becomes the next inductee. The Hall of Fame ceremony is set for July 10 in conjunction with the Main EVent. As the WSOP plays out in Las Vegas, The Sporting News spoke with several players about being nominated.
Josh Arieh
The 2021 WSOP Player of the Year has four bracelets and $10.5 million in live tournament winnings. He’s been in the game for decades and saw a resurgence over the last few years. His inclusion as a first-time nominee is an honor, but Arieh focuses more on staying consistent and bringing his best to the table.
“I've always drowned out the noise and believed in what I do and just try to stay positive,” he said. “So I'm not really worried about recognition or praise from everybody. But for me, it was about my kids.
“It's pretty cool to be nominated. If I were inducted, it would just be really cool for my kids to be able to say, ‘Oh, my dad's in the Poker Hall of Fame. He's not just a poker player. He's actually one of the best.’ And so it's mainly just for them.”
If he doesn’t get the induction nod, Arieh believes Brian Rast and Matt Savage are deserving.
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Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
This legend of online poker has also scored big in the live game, accruing two WSOP bracelets, one World Poker Tour title, and $14.8 million in winnings. He has millions more at the online felt as well.
“It’s an honor to be included for the second year among so many great players,” he said. “Last year I was also included and that was pretty special as I had just turned 40.”
If Grospellier isn’t included himself, he’d like to see PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg get the nod for his importance to the industry. He said seeing Layne Flack get inducted posthumously would also be nice.
Kathy Liebert
One of the game’s more prominent women, Liebert began playing at the Dunes in Las Vegas at age 21 – not even knowing how to play in her first game. She now has $6.5 million in live tournament winnings, one WSOP bracelet, and five WPT final table appearances
“I was happy to see it,” she said. “I was surprised because I've been old enough for a while now, so it's great. It feels good to be on the list.
If Liebert isn’t added, she believes Michael Mizrachi is the most deserving among the group.
“I just think he's the one that has had the most success in tournaments in my era,” she said. “I've played with him a lot, I respect his game, he's done extremely well, and he’s a great tournament player. He won the Poker Players Championship three times. That would be my vote. I like Layne Flack a lot, but I think ‘Grinder’ is overall a more deserving candidate.”
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Lon McEachern and Norman Chad
These commentators go on the nominee list as a pair for their commentary on WSOP broadcasts. They were part of classic moments including Chris Moneymaker’s historic 2003 Main Event win. Chad stays humble in being nominated again, but believes other players should be included first.
“I'm just honored to be nominated for the Hall of Fame,” he said. “So it's just awesome to be in that position. I don't think we should be going in before many, many players who have deserved it for a long time. So I wish they would actually break out an influencers, builders, contributors category, so people like Matt Savage would have been in it already. And that would be nice, but it's just a great honor to be nominated.”
If the broadcasting team isn’t added this year, Chad isn’t quite sure who he’d select but definitely believes numerous players are deserving.
“To be honest with you, I’d have to take a look at the others closer,” Chad said. “We again have contributors like Scheinberg, Matt Savage, and Lon and me. But as far as the other ones go, the players, Brian Rast is a Hall of Famer whether it's this year or five years from now, for sure.”
Matt Savage
As the longtime executive tour director with the WPT, Savage has been a leader in the industry for decades. He worked as tournament director for the WSOP during the poker boom and has also run major series at numerous other properties. A co-founder of the Tournament Directors Association, Savage remains a major influence on the game. He’s been nominated numerous times to the hall and takes a humorous approach to that fact.
“It feels good to be the most nominated person in the history of the Poker Hall of Fame,” he joked.
Brian Rast
This is another well-known poker pro who came of age during the Moneymaker boom during the 2000s. His record includes five WSOP bracelets including two wins in the illustrious $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Rast isn’t a fan of the nomination process, but feels it would be an amazing experience to be inducted.
“Just the fact that I was nominated and included in this is definitely an honor,” he said. He added that being inducted “would mean a lot. Because basically it's the people that are in the Hall of Fame, which are a bunch of great players, many of whom I've actually played with a lot, are basically saying that one person on the list is worthy of it. I think professional respect from your peers is a cool validation of what I've spent basically my adult life doing so far.”
While he doesn’t offer a choice among the other nine nominees, Rast hopes the WSOP opens the induction process to more players and adds a builders category. Many players who began playing during the 2000s poker boom will soon become eligible, he says, and numerous talented players should be included in the coming years.
Mike Matusow
The man known as “The Mouth” became a regular feature during televised events of the 2000s poker boom. Emotional and talkative, fans enjoyed seeing Matusow at a final table and he has four bracelets and two Main Event final table appearances. He’s glad to be among those nominated and feels he deserves moving on to the induction stage.
“Anytime you get into something where your peers recommend you … it's always a good feeling,” he said. “I feel like I've done a lot for the game. I think this year is the best chance I have to get in.”
Michael Mizrachi
This poker pro became one of the poker heavyweights during the poker boom, accruing five WSOP bracelets, two WPT titles, and $17.4 million in live tournament winnings. Mizrachi has also won the WSOP Poker Players Championship three times. He views simply being among the nominees as a major feat in itself.
“It's just an amazing accomplishment,” he said. “Just to be a nominee in back-to-back years when I just turned 40 is amazing. So it's exciting for me. It's what you dream of as a kid. You never think you'll make it to the hall of fame..”
After poker pro Layne Flack’s death in 2021, Mizrachi would include the old school pro for the hall if not himself.
“Mike Matusow is my boy too, so it would be amazing for him to win it too,” he said. “And Kathy Liebert is a friend too, but I would probably want to see Layne Flack win it for now. He was around poker forever.”
Other Finalists
As noted, Flack leaves a major legacy to the game. The six-time bracelet winner and WPT champion had $5.1 million in live tournament winnings before his death in July 2021. He gained popularity in the 2000s on televised poker shows and many remember his big personality as well as his skills at the table.
“He would make you laugh about anything, even serious matters,” Phil Hellmuth said after his passing. “He was lightning quick, and so fun to be around.”
Another nominee served as a massive figure in online poker. Scheinberg founded PokerStars in 2001, revolutionizing the virtual game with better software than anything else on the market at the time. Scheinberg helped grow online poker with Stars eventually becoming the world’s top operator. In recent years, players like Daniel Negreanu lobbied for Scheinberg to be included in the hall.
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