The World Series of Poker (WSOP) recently announced that it had opened the 2015 public nomination process for the Poker Hall of Fame (PHOF). Caesars which owns the PHOF has a formal ceremony every year during the month of November to nominate top poker players and contributors into the PHOF.
Each year a couple of individuals at best get nominated into the PHOF but there have been some years when no individual has qualified for the PHOF. The WSOP has decided to tweak the nomination process and relax some of the stringent criteria to ensure that a minimum of one nominee gets shortlisted each year.
The WSOP has also opened the voting process to the public and fans will be able to send in their nominations till the 15th of August. They will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite player or poker industry person by going to the WSOP hall of fame nomination page.
The public will be limited to nominating only one individual by giving them a single poker star.
The criteria for a player to be nominated into the PHOF are based on the following rules. The player should have played poker against the top poker players on the circuit, must have played high stakes poker, have a consistent record of achievements, have the respect of fellow poker players on the circuit and be atleast 40 years of age during the time on nomination. Fans can nominate poker industry persons based on the fact that they must have a consistent track record of delivering positive results that has really impacted the game of poker.
The nomination process is open to the public for a period of six weeks, after which the results will be complied and then analyzed by the WSOP’s Hall of Fame Governing Council. The council sometimes makes the decision to cut down on the initial list of the top ten nominees and introducing other deserving nominees, especially poker industry persons who have contributed significantly to the industry but are not well known in the public domain.
Once the final list is complied, it then goes for review to a special panel of living Hall of Fame members and respected media representatives. They will then cast their own votes to finally determine who will be the final nominees into the PHOF. This year’s nominees could include Humberto Brenes, Chris Bjorin, Bruno Fitoussi, Jennifer Harman, Ted Forrest, Huckleberry Seed, Mike Matusow and Bob Hooks.
