Poker Hall of Fame changes cutthroat induction process

The 2026 WSOP has been full of changes, and there’s been none that has been bigger news than the Poker Hall of Fame process getting a long-overdue revamp.

For several years, the Poker Hall of Fame had inducted a maximum of two players until 2020, when the Poker Hall of Fame reduced that number to one. After years of the poker community agreeing that the process was severely flawed, the WSOP announced they will adopt a new voting process that mimics the Baseball Hall of Fame voting process.

Poker Hall of Fame criteria

As in previous years, here are the criteria to be inducted:

• Must be at least 40 years old at the time of nomination.
• Must have played for high-stakes.
• Played against acknowledged top competition.
• Must have played consistently well and gained the respect of peers.
• Must have stood the test of time.
• For non-players, they must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The public can submit nominations on the WSOP website, and the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council will review all submissions. The top eight vote-getters will make the final list, and the 33 living Poker Hall of Famers will cast their votes.

In the past, only the top vote-getter would be inducted, which has created real gridlock, with several more-than-deserving players having to wait far too long for their induction. However, unlike previous votes, the 33 Poker Hall of Famers will get to vote for up to four players on the list. Nominees who receive two-thirds of the votes will automatically be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. It’s mathematically possible that up to six players could be inducted in 2026.

Potential Poker Hall of Fame inductees

There are a huge number of players who are newly eligible in 2026, including Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, John Racener, Ike Haxton, Chris Moorman, Justin Bonomo, Timothy Adams, Christoph Vogelsang, and Joe Ingram.

Other players and contributors to the game who have been eligible and haven’t been chosen in previous years include Josh Arieh, Jeremy Ausmus, Barny Boatman, Norman Chad, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Galfond, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Lon McEachern, Scott Seiver, Matt Savage, David “ODB” Baker, Gus Hansen, Maria Ho, Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers, Robert Mizrachi, Chino Rheem, and many more.

Poker Hall of Fame members

The initial Poker Hall of Fame was established in 1979, with Johnny Moss headlining the initial seven inductees.

There have been 65 players inducted into the Hall of Fame, with Nick Schulman getting voted in last year. However, after winning both the Poker Players’ Championship and the WSOP Main Event to take his total bracelet count up to eight, the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council decided to induct him immediately.