2013 Poker Hall of Fame candidates announced

[Dan Druff]

CHRIS BJORIN
HUMBERTO BRENES
DAVID CHIU
THOR HANSEN
JENNIFER HARMAN
MIKE MATUSOW
TOM McEVOY
CARLOS MORTENSEN
SCOTTY NGUYEN
HUCKLEBERRY SEED

Here is the write-up for each of them:

CHRIS BJORIN
Bjorin, a 65-year-old Swedish-born poker player who now resides in London, England, has earned more than $5.5 million playing poker in his distinguished career. The two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner sits in fifth on the all-time on the WSOP cash list with 68 and ranks fifth all-time in WSOP Main Event cashes with seven. A model of consistency, Bjorin has cashed for six-figures in 19 different calendar years, including the last 13 consecutively. He hold’s Sweden’s all-time money and cash records and is WSOP Europe’s all-time cash leader as well.



HUMBERTO BRENES
The man known as “The Shark” may be best known for his gregarious and outgoing personality, but Humberto Brenes has a lot of poker bite to back up all his barking. Fourth on the all-time WSOP cashes list with 72 in-the-money finishes, Brenes has been one of the most consistent WSOP performers for the better part of 25 years. What stands out among those cashes is his track record in the WSOP Main Event, a tournament he has made the money in on nine separate occasions, including a fourth place showing in 1988. That puts him second on the list of most Main Event cashes behind only Berry Johnston. In addition to his $6 million in tournament earnings, the winningest Costa Rican player in poker history has also played a crucial role in helping to develop the poker scene in Latin America.



DAVID CHIU
Born in China, David Chiu moved to the United States when he was an 18 year old exchange student. Originally a restaurateur in Colorado, Chiu first started in poker as a dealer before transitioning into one of the most successful tournament players in poker history. The 53 year-old is a five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner with wins in Limit Hold’em, Seven Card Stud, and Omaha Eight or Better and cashes in 60 WSOP events. Chiu’s most recent bracelet victory came this summer at a stacked $2,500 Stud final table where he defeated the likes of Michael Mizrachi, Frank Kassela and Scott Seiver to earn his fifth bracelet. Chiu’s success extends beyond the WSOP though, and also includes a memorable victory over Gus Hansen in the 2008 WPT World Championship. That win earned Chiu an impressive $3.3 million and, over the course of his career, Chiu has raked in almost $7.7 million in career tournament earnings since he first started playing tournaments back in 1996.



THOR HANSEN
Since starting in poker in the late 1980s, Norwegian poker pro Thor Hansen has cashed in more than 175 tournaments, racking up more than $2.9 million in career earnings. His list of cashes is certainly long and includes some notable highlights like two WSOP gold bracelets, won in 1988 and 2002 , and an appearance at the $50,000 HORSE final table at the WSOP in 2007. Known in Europe as the “Godfather” of Norwegian poker, Hansen is one of the earliest supporters of the now-thriving European poker scene. In addition to his extensive tournament results, the 66 year-old Hansen is also an accomplished cash game player who was notoriously backed by Larry Flynt to play in high stakes cash games in the 1990s.



JENNIFER HARMAN
Jennifer Harman has a long list of tournament accomplishments, including nearly $2.7 million in earnings, two WPT final tables, 12 WSOP final tables, and the honor of being the first woman to win multiple WSOP bracelets in open events. However, what might be even more impressive than her tournament results is her skills in the cash games. The Reno, Nevada native has been a staple in the biggest cash games in Vegas for more than a decade and is one of the only women to play cash at such high stakes. The 48 year-old mother of two also dedicates much of her time to using poker to raise money for charitable causes, including the National Kidney Foundation and the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.



MIKE MATUSOW
Mike “The Mouth” Matusow has plenty to talk about when it comes to his poker accomplishments. The 45 year old is a four-time bracelet winner with $9 million in career tournament earnings. A poker dealer turned poker pro, Matusow has final tabled the WSOP Main Event twice in 2001 and 2005, made 11 other WSOP final tables, and appeared at five WPT final tables. Never one to bite his tongue, Matusow developed a reputation of being a tough player and a tough talker, as he frequently speaks freely at the tables. Poker fans have been seeing a lot of The Mouth this year, as he won the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship back in March, then followed that up with his fourth WSOP bracelet win in the $5,000 Stud Hi/Lo event. This year marks the fourth time in Matusow’s career that he has posted seven-figures in tournament results.



TOM McEVOY
One word to describe Tom McEvoy would be “timeless.” The 68-year-old four-time WSOP champion has led a sterling poker career spanning five decades. Originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, McEvoy left a career in accounting in the late 70’s and moved to Las Vegas to pursue his ambition on the felt. That ambition led him to victory in the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event. A consummate tournament player, McEvoy has posted consistently solid results for more than 30 years. His amicable nature and love for poker made him a true ambassador for the game as he competed in countless tournaments across the country. In addition to his tournament success, McEvoy is also credited with spearheading efforts that now prohibit smoking in poker rooms. He is also a noted poker author, having penned over a dozen strategy books and countless columns for Card Player.



CARLOS MORTENSEN
When it comes to tournament poker and ROI, no one can compare to Carlos “The Matador” Mortensen. The 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion has won more money on the World Poker Tour than any other player in history despite playing significantly fewer events. His almost $6.5 million in WPT earnings combined with over $3 million in WSOP earnings and assorted other cashes put his career earnings at almost $11.5 million. The 41-year-old is also the only player to have won both the WSOP Main Event and the WPT Championship event. Hailing from Alicante, Spain but now residing in Vegas, Mortensen is still one of the top players in the game, just narrowly missing out on this year’s November Nine, bubbling the final table in 10th place.



SCOTTY NGUYEN
“You call and it’s gonna be all over baby!” That jib to Kevin McBride before he won the 1998 World Series of Poker Main Event personifies the man they call “The Prince,” Scotty Nguyen. With a style and charisma all his own, Nguyen is one of poker’s most recognized and well-liked personalities. Nguyen backs his flare and bravado with undeniable results that include over $11.7 million in career earnings, 19 WSOP and 8 WPT final tables and five bracelets. Nguyen is also the only player to have won both the WSOP Main Event and the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. From an 11-year-old refugee from war-torn Vietnam, Nguyen has become an incalculably long way to live his dream as a professional poker player.



HUCKLEBERRY SEED
It isn’t just Huckleberry Seed’s tall frame that helps him stand out among his competition at the table. The California native and Caltech alum is a four-time bracelet winner with $7.5 million in career tournament earnings. There is truly nothing Seed can’t play at the tables, as his varied list of results include bracelets in Razz and PLO, a victory in the NBC Heads-Up Championship, two final table appearances in the $50K Poker Players Championship, a win in the WSOP Tournament of Champions in 2010, and, of course, winning the WSOP Main Event in 1996. Since Seed first started playing tournament poker back in 1990, he has posted six-figures worth of results all but four years he has played.

No more than two will be inducted.

Humberto, Matusow, Mortenson, and Huck Seed are new this year. The other six were holdovers from last year, after failing to be inducted in the 2012 class.

The criteria for voting is:

A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination
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.

Here is how I feel about each candidate:

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.

Humberto Brenes: No. This is another person who racked up a lot of cashes over a long period of time, but is better known for his "shark" nonsense than his great play.

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.

Thor Hansen: Maybe. He is another whose numbers are inflated by hos longevity, but at least he was also a successful cash player for a time, and was really a big factor in bringing poker to northern Europe. However, his raw numbers aren't super-impressive ($2.9 million in cashes dating back to the '80s).

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.

Mike Matusow: Probably. Despite all of his personal and financial problems, the guy is a great tournament player. He final tabled the WSOP Main twice (once with a big field), made 13 WSOP final tables overall, and was at five WPT final tables. He has 4 bracelets and seems to consistently rebound from various life problems with big tournament scores. The one knock against him is that he's not much of a cash game player. Then again, neither is Phil Hellmuth.

Tom McEvoy: Hell no. I'll give this guy credit. He won the WSOP in 1983, when the field was very small, and has parlayed that into a 30-year promotional career based upon that one hit. Do you know Jack Keller, who won the next year in 1984? Probably not. Tom is a great self-promoter, but he has done very little at the poker table, and in fact wrote at one point that he felt overmatched by the invasion of young players in the 2000s.

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.

Scotty Nguyen: Yes. All drunkenness aside, this guy has a lot of accomplishments and plenty of poker fame, and is considered one of the greats of the game, at least from a tournament standpoint.

Huck Seed: No. After being one of poker's hottest up and comers in the '90s and early 2000s, he hit a wall and has generally been regarded as a has-been over the past decade.

My vote (which doesn't count): David Chiu and Scotty Nguyen.

[shortbuspoker]

David Chiu and Thor by cancer sympathy vote?

[Dan Druff]

Does Chiu have cancer?

Makes me feel bad about bad beating him in a big pot at the $5k Limit event this year.

 

Not really.

[chinamaniac]

Agree with most everything you posted Druff but doesn't matusow do well in those 300-600 400-800 cash live mix games(I know he was a huge fish in hsnl online)?


One thing that tilts me is when they say 3.9 million in earnings etc.... Thats like someone saying they have won 60 million in cash games which can be true but when you deduct losses you could be a loser! I think sharkscope started factoring in buyins but I am not sure if they do it for every event.

[shortbuspoker]

Does Chiu have cancer?

Makes me feel bad about bad beating him in a big pot at the $5k Limit event this year.

 

Not really.

No. I meant Chiu straight up and Thor by cancer vote.

[simpdog]

Does Chiu have cancer?

Makes me feel bad about bad beating him in a big pot at the $5k Limit event this year.

 

Not really.

this is not typical druff

 

did fluffer get your password?

[BeerAndPoker]

Top 5 in order:

1. David Chiu
2. Scotty Nguyen
3. Carlos Mortensen
4. Mike Matusow
5. Jen Harmon

[Deal]

I would go for:

Nolan Dalla
Jack McClelland
Lee Jones

Forget the broke players borrowing money to stay in the game long after it's past them by.

[sonatine]

Jen Harmon. Shes the only one on that list that I recognize *and* cant think of any horrific scandals associated with her *and* she has tits.

Runner up, Huck Seed, who lost a #1 spot due to lack of tits.

[BeerAndPoker]

Jen Harmon. Shes the only one on that list that I recognize *and* cant think of any horrific scandals associated with her *and* she has tits.

Runner up, Huck Seed, who lost a #1 spot due to lack of tits.

She was associated with Full Tilt as many of these nominees were and she also had a failed reality tv show.

[Dan Druff]

Jen Harmon. Shes the only one on that list that I recognize *and* cant think of any horrific scandals associated with her *and* she has tits.

Runner up, Huck Seed, who lost a #1 spot due to lack of tits.

She was associated with Full Tilt as many of these nominees were and she also had a failed reality tv show.

She was not responsible for the fail that occurred there, and almost surely didn't know about it, but at the same time she continued wearing the patch post-scandal, and never was known as one of the people to have stood up to Howard (unlike guys like Perry Friedman and John Juanda).

Basically she made a LOT of money over the years from Full Tilt that she didn't deserve (even if she didn't know it at the time), and never offered to help with any kind of repayment of players (prior to Pokerstars bailing out the situation).

[Dan Druff]

Top 5 in order:

1. David Chiu
2. Scotty Nguyen
3. Carlos Mortensen
4. Mike Matusow
5. Jen Harmon

This is almost my exact list, except I'd put Matusow SLIGHTLY ahead of Mortensen.

[Steve-O]

Here is how I feel about each candidate:

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.

Humberto Brenes: No. This is another person who racked up a lot of cashes over a long period of time, but is better known for his "shark" nonsense than his great play.

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.

Thor Hansen: Maybe. He is another whose numbers are inflated by hos longevity, but at least he was also a successful cash player for a time, and was really a big factor in bringing poker to northern Europe. However, his raw numbers aren't super-impressive ($2.9 million in cashes dating back to the '80s).

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.

Mike Matusow: Probably. Despite all of his personal and financial problems, the guy is a great tournament player. He final tabled the WSOP Main twice (once with a big field), made 13 WSOP final tables overall, and was at five WPT final tables. He has 4 bracelets and seems to consistently rebound from various life problems with big tournament scores. The one knock against him is that he's not much of a cash game player. Then again, neither is Phil Hellmuth.

Tom McEvoy: Hell no. I'll give this guy credit. He won the WSOP in 1983, when the field was very small, and has parlayed that into a 30-year promotional career based upon that one hit. Do you know Jack Keller, who won the next year in 1984? Probably not. Tom is a great self-promoter, but he has done very little at the poker table, and in fact wrote at one point that he felt overmatched by the invasion of young players in the 2000s.

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.

Scotty Nguyen: Yes. All drunkenness aside, this guy has a lot of accomplishments and plenty of poker fame, and is considered one of the greats of the game, at least from a tournament standpoint.

Huck Seed: No. After being one of poker's hottest up and comers in the '90s and early 2000s, he hit a wall and has generally been regarded as a has-been over the past decade.

My vote (which doesn't count): David Chiu and Scotty Nguyen.

I would agree with you if this was the Tournament Poker Hall of Fame, but the Poker Hall of Fame is more about your contribution than being a quote unquote top tier player. All of these people have results, so in the end it comes down to your reputation and your contributions, stats are pretty much only used in the nominating process, once it gets to the current HOF'ers and Media it's about your place in poker history.

Harman is a lock to eventually get in considering she is the first woman to ever be considered (whether right or wrong) on equal footing with the boys. So is Mortensen and Nguyen --Mortensen's stats are slim because he really doesn't play a lot of tournaments btw, he's probably the best NLHE tournament player of the past 20 years.

I agree that McEvoy is not a HOF'er, and personally I don't think Matusow is either.

Bjorin and Hansen are borderline, but when you consider their role in Euro poker they would be worthy at the end of the day, same with Brenes in Latin and South America.

Chiu is a surefire Hall of Famer imo.

I don't really know where I stand on Huck Seed. Yes he had issues, but he was pretty good from 2008-2011 ($500k, $1 mil, $1 mil, $700k)

I also wrote this earlier today on why the above 10 players is a terrible list: http://pokernewsboy.com/wsop-news/po...n-voting/14401

[Dan Druff]

Huck's big cashes in recent years were not in open events. That shouldn't even count.

Additionally, cashes in $50k or more buyin events should also be taken into consideration, as those can inflate your overall cash total easily if your bankroll is deep enough to keep entering them.

[JimmyG_415]

CHRIS BJORIN
HUMBERTO BRENES
DAVID CHIU
THOR HANSEN
JENNIFER HARMAN
MIKE MATUSOW
TOM McEVOY
CARLOS MORTENSEN
SCOTTY NGUYEN
HUCKLEBERRY SEED


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.

My vote (which doesn't count): David Chiu and Scotty Nguyen.

I'm not trolling here, but Matasow said something like Mortenson has not been in a lot of tourneys, compared to how many he has cashed.
And Hellmuth said something similar during a broadcast.

I agree w/china, these sites that only track your wins is just stupid.


You said here your vote doesn't count, who does gets to vote? current HOF's?

[Steve-O]

CHRIS BJORIN
HUMBERTO BRENES
DAVID CHIU
THOR HANSEN
JENNIFER HARMAN
MIKE MATUSOW
TOM McEVOY
CARLOS MORTENSEN
SCOTTY NGUYEN
HUCKLEBERRY SEED


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.

My vote (which doesn't count): David Chiu and Scotty Nguyen.

I'm not trolling here, but Matasow said something like Mortenson has not been in a lot of tourneys, compared to how many he has cashed.
And Hellmuth said something similar during a broadcast.

I agree w/china, these sites that only track your wins is just stupid.


You said here your vote doesn't count, who does gets to vote? current HOF's?

Current HOF'ers and select members of the media (18 I think)

[shortbuspoker]

I'm not trolling here, but Matasow said something like Mortenson has not been in a lot of tourneys, compared to how many he has cashed.
And Hellmuth said something similar during a broadcast.

I couldn't find his total played in the WSOP but here are his WPT stats. He is averaging 7 tournaments a year. He's cashing 25% of the time (18 out of 73).

[Steve-O]

I'm not exaggerating when I say he is the best NLHE tournament player of the past 20 years, ask any of the serious pros who have been around for a while "who is the best NLHE tournament player of the past decade?" (and don't let them pick themselves) and I bet he wins.

He's one of the few profitable tournament players in the game

And what Matusow said was "Per tournaments played, there’s probably no one in the world except Carlos Mortensen that has ever done better than me."

[ErickAA]

I haven't seen him in a couple years (probably since he got cancer), but when the big tourneys at Commerce rolled around (especially Feb) Thor would always play in the mid limit stud games (20-40 or 30-60) after he busted out of whatever tourney he was playing that day. He never played higher limits or any other games (at least from roughly 2007-2010 period). I don't know why he chose mid limit stud as his go to option following the tourney. Maybe he thought it was the game he had the highest EV, or maybe this was just the most fun game for him and he wasn't playing for money per se. Maybe he just wanted something to do to kill the time before the next days tourney. Or maybe he was broke and this was all he could afford.

Anyways, despite being obviously ESL and having an accent, he was pretty funny and quick witted and liked to joke around at the table, although he would go into grouchy funks when he was losing big (which is pretty common among 90%+ of players). I would describe his playing style as weak/tight which is actually pretty common among tourney players, who are by far and large naturally risk adverse, which I gather is because you cannot rebuy if you bust out. However, like was mentioned in the OP, I think he used to play a lot bigger and it is possible he used to play a lot better too. It is probably wrong to judge a lifetime poker player by how he is playing in the final few years of his career/life.

I also know for a fact that cash games were built around Carlos Mortensen after he had a big tourney score. When he was in a game the waiting list would be 10 deep, and when he busted the game would break. From what I saw, he was just way too active and played way too many hands to ever have a chance of winning, regardless of how well he played postflop. I cannot recall him playing cash games in recent years, so maybe after burning through enough tourney wins and going broke he finally decided enough was enough and quit playing cash. Whether the fact he is a live fish should be counted against him as far as HOF I don't know.

[SrslySirius]

I'm not trolling here, but Matasow said something like Mortenson has not been in a lot of tourneys, compared to how many he has cashed.
And Hellmuth said something similar during a broadcast.

I agree w/china, these sites that only track your wins is just stupid.


You said here your vote doesn't count, who does gets to vote? current HOF's?

Current HOF'ers and select members of the media (18 I think)

I'm in negotiations with Kevmath to buy his vote. I think I'll cast one for the sharksharksharksharkshark