Once again, the running joke that is the Poker Hall of Fame has its 10 candidates for the year. Terrence Chan (former Pokerstars employee) pushed for the inclusion of Pokerstars founder Isai Scheinberg, but it didn't happen.
2013 Poker HOF thread:
http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...ates-announced
2014 Poker HOF thread:
http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...ates-Announced
My post on why the point system to elect people is completely (and intentionally?) broken, allowing small voting blocs to force friends in:
http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...l=1#post292573
SrslySirius' post on why the HOF is a complete joke:
http://pokerfraudalert.com/forum/sho...l=1#post292764
Tom McEvoy was one of the two elected in 2013 (lol).
Jack McClelland was one of the two elected in 2014 (again, lol).
Amazingly, David Chiu fell off the ballot after 2013, but he's back this year.
Here are the candidates for 2015:
At most, two will be elected.
The new ones for this year are
Dan Druff, Terry Rogers, Matt Savage, Devilfish, and Max Pescatori.
David Chiu and Carlos Mortenson came back after being gone in 2014.
Ted Forrest, Humberto Brenes, Huck Seed, and Mike Matusow, on last year's ballot, are gone.
So who is Terry Rogers?
Many consider Terry Rogers Ireland’s ‘Godfather of Poker’ but the colorful character is also one of the most influential people in all of Europe in terms of impact on the game of poker, sports betting and horse racing. Rogers founded The Eccentric Club and started the Irish Poker Open in 1980, the longest running tournament in Europe, and the second-longest overall, behind only the World Series of Poker. Rogers was a frequent attendee at the World Series of Poker in the 1970’s, and took the game of Hold’em back to Europe with him and helped bridge the game between continents. Rogers was a bookmaker by trade and credited with changing the face of sports betting in Ireland by revolutionizing betting shops and making them accessible to the ordinary man. Rogers was quite a showman too who was involved in the Muhammad Ali fight that took place in Dublin in 1972. Born in 1928, Rogers passed away in 1999. He dabbled in poker himself including a runner-up finish in the Alaskan Stakes tournament in 1983, but it was beyond the felt where he had the greatest impact. He was instrumental in the career of Noel Furlong, the only Irish WSOP Main Event Champion, who won the event in 1999 and also convinced the likes of Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar, Amarillo Slim, Chip Reese and Tom McEvoy to travel to Dublin for Rogers’ tournament.
He "dabbled in poker" and is up for the HOF? Sad.
I also object in general to tournament directors, casino owners, media people, or any other non-players being in the poker HOF, unless they make a separate section (and separate election) for non-players. How can Terry Rogers be competing in the same election with David Chiu?
Hopefully Chiu will finally get the election he deserves.
Here are my past writeups on the 5 candidates we've seen in 2013/2014:
Chris Bjorin: No. This is someone who is consistent and has racked up big numbers simply by playing for a lot of years, but isn't HOF material. Few would mention Chris Bjorin as one of poker's all-time greats.
Jennifer Harman: Maybe. She is known for her ever-presence at high stakes cash games, but I am hearing conflicting reports as to whether or not she really wins at them. She has struggled in tournaments in recent years. It is possible she is a net loser in tournament play overall. On the plus side, Andy Beal considered her one of the toughest opponents in the infamous $100,000/$200,000 nosebleed heads up games awhile back, and she generally has a good reputation for her cash skill.
Bruno Fitoussi: No. Big guy for poker in France, but otherwise does not have HOF numbers, nor is he known for being a big cash game winner. (I played with him on Stars last decade, and actually found him to be one of the weaker LHE players at the higher games.) I understand the argument that Fitoussi did a lot to popularize poker in France, but again, that should not be a reason for induction -- at least not alongside players.
David Chiu: Yes. This guy owns in all kinds of games, and is one of the most underrated in the game. I believe he currently holds the Limit Hold 'Em all time WSOP cash title (I'm 10th on that list), but he also has bracelets in Stud and O8. He's cashed $7.7 million since 1996.
Carlos Mortensen: Maybe. This guy has had some big hits at both the WSOP and WPT, racking up almost $11.5 million in cashes. However, he is nonexistent at cash games, and has just 27 WSOP cashes despite many years of play and a ton of events.
Regarding the new candidates:
Terry Rogers: No. He almost never played poker. Perhaps could be considered for a non-players' HOF, but should never hold a spot that could be given to a player.
Matt Savage: No. See reasons above for Terry Rogers.
Max Pescatori: Maybe. But he's not a cash player, and has "only" cashed $4 million, which is fairly low considering all of the big buyin events he has entered. His four WSOP bracelets and influence over the Italian poker scene are the main arguments to let him in.
Devilfish: No. Only one WPT title and one WSOP title. Not known to be a cash player. Was probably nominated only because he died this year.
John Juanda: Yes. $17 million in cashes, 5 WSOP bracelets, and EPT/WPT/APT/PPT titles. Also, he apparently was one of the big anti-Lederer and anti-Bitar forces at Full Tilt, who attempted to create a bloc of part owners to get those clowns out.
If I had to vote, I would go for Chiu and Juanda.