THE PUBLIC HAS SPOKEN AND CHOSEN THEIR CANDIDATES FOR THE 2009 CLASS OF THE POKER HALL OF FAME

PRESENTING THE PUBLIC’S TOP TEN NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2009 CLASS

LAS VEGAS (July 9, 2009) – After a five-week process that saw hundreds of votes cast weekly on WSOP.com, the public has made clear who they think should be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. It will now be up to the current Hall of Famers and a panel of media members to determine who actually does join this exclusive club.

The following represents the Top 10 nominated individuals at WSOP.com from May 26-July 2.

NAME

TOM DWAN

BARRY GREENSTEIN

DAN HARRINGTON

PHIL IVEY

TOM McEVOY

MEN NGUYEN

SCOTTY NGUYEN

DANIEL NEGREANU

ERIK SEIDEL

MIKE SEXTON

*Listed alphabetically without correlation to amount of nominations received

Now the process moves forward with the vetting of these candidates by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, who will select the final list of candidates eligible for induction in 2009. That will be followed by the voting of the final nominees by current Hall of Fame members and a 15-person media panel. Only the 15 current Poker Hall of Fame members and the 15-person Media Panel cast votes for induction.

The criteria they will consider in their vote are as follows:

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 2009 Class of the Poker Hall of Fame will be inducted as part of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table festivities in November.

41 different names received multiple nominations during the public nomination process. All of these individuals are still eligible for future consideration. Among the people receiving nominations, but not enough to continue on in the process this year were:

Patrik Antonius
Humberto Brenes
Mike Caro
Norman Chad
Allen Cunningham
Ivan Demidov
Eric Drache
Annie Duke
John Duthie
Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Andy Glazer
Bertrand Grospellier
Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harmon-Traniello
Jay Heimowitz
Rob Hollink
Jesper Hougaard
Phil Laak
Howard Lederer
Marcel Luske
Mike Matusow
Chris Moneymaker
Luca Pagano
Greg Raymer
Matt Savage
David Sklansky

An interesting side note to this process. Existing Poker Hall of Fame members still received multiple votes! Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Stu Ungar each had public nominations despite the fact they are already in the Poker Hall of Fame!

ABOUT THE POKER HALL OF FAME

The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though the Hall of Fame is virtual in nature, its membership includes poker’s most influential players and other important contributors to the game. There are 15 living members, and 37 members have been bestowed the honor of Poker Hall of Famer. The Poker Hall of Fame traditionally elects one or two members annually. The enshrinement ceremony is now held in concert with the final table of the Main Event of the WSOP, held each November in Las Vegas.