List Of Poker Hall Of Fame Members

List Of Poker Hall Of Fame Members Past And Present

Last night, Chris Moneymaker and David Oppenheim became the 57th and 58th inductees of the Poker Hall of Fame during the World Series of Poker Main Event coverage on ESPN.

They were voted into the 2019 Poker Hall of Fame Class by the thirty living Poker Hall of Fame members and a 21-person media panel. They were the two from an elite list of poker players which also included Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow, and Huckleberry Seed to make it into the Poker Hall of Fame.

The last time the Poker Hall of Fame announced only a single inductee was over a decade ago. In 2009, the Ambassador of Poker, Mike Sexton, received that honor.Prior to that, Berry Johnston (in 2004) was the last solo inductee. The Poker Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the United States.Founded in Las Vegas, it was created in 1979 by Benny Binion, the owner of the Horseshoe Casino, to preserve the names and legacies of the world's greatest poker players and to serve as a tourist attraction to his casino. Blondie Forbes (1980) – T. “Blondie” Forbes was a poker player and road gambler who was the sole 1980 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame. Bill Boyd (1981) – With four WSOP bracelets to his name, Bill was also the Director of operations at the famous casino Golden Nugget from 1946 to 1982. In 2019, Chris Moneymaker and David Oppenheim become the 57th and 58th individuals to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. The entire list of 58 Poker Hall of Fame members includes (alphabetical).

The Hall of Fame was established in 1979 to honor the most influential players and other key contributors to the game of poker. Harrah's Entertainment acquired the elite poker club in 2004, and it is now under Caesars Entertainment after the company changed its name in 2010.

Voters took into consideration the following criteria when casting their ballots.

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

Chris Moneymaker

Chris Moneymaker might not satisfy all of the voting requirements, specifically in playing in high stakes games. However, one can't deny the contribution Moneymaker made to the poker boom after winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event for $2,500,000.

Moneymaker: 'It's great for my kids — it'll be a cool thing for them to see when they grow up.'

At the time, it was unheard of for online poker players to win big money on the live poker stage. Moneymaker proved to the world that online poker players could be taken seriously and provided a considerable growth to online poker after parlaying a win in a satellite at PokerStars into the WSOP Main Event title. Moneymaker was an instant sensation and signed on to become a PokerStars Ambassador, a title he still holds to this day.

Moneymaker has yet to find WSOP gold a second time but has won titles in WPT and EPT side events as part of his nearly $3.9 million in live tournament cashes.

'I'm very honored... very happy,' says Moneymaker upon receiving the news. 'It's great for my kids — it'll be a cool thing for them to see when they grow up.'

David Oppenheim

It is usually tournament players that get all the notice, and David Oppenheim has certainly had some success there with nearly $2 million in live tournament earnings. However, unlike the other nominees for the 2019 Poker Hall of Fame Class, Oppenheim has yet to win a WSOP bracelet or any major poker title.

What separates Oppenheim from the other nominees, is that he has been consistently crushing the high stakes cash games. The 46-year-old American has been playing poker for the better part of this century, having started out playing his second year in college when he was 19 years old.

'Being recognized as one of the all-time greats by my peers is truly humbling, and I am honored to have been selected to the Poker Hall of Fame.'

Until now, Oppenheim has been one of poker's unsung heroes as he wasn't on tv as often as some of his peers. He is a regular winner in the high stakes games in Bobby's Room.

'Being recognized as one of the all-time greats by my peers is truly humbling, and I am honored to have been selected to the Poker Hall of Fame,' said Oppenheim about his induction. 'I have been so fortunate to be able to do what I love for a living. I never planned to be a professional poker player; rather, it was a passion that became my job. People often ask me, how does one become a professional poker player? The answer is hard work, and that goes for everyone that plays at the highest level. From the time I began playing, I was incredibly passionate about poker, and it led to me being able to travel this road that has been traveled by very few. Again, I am extremely grateful to be receiving this honor. Thank you.'

Poker Hall of Fame Members

Moneymaker and Oppenheim join an elite group of poker players and contributors to the game as part of the Poker Hall of Fame. Here is a look at all 58 members in alphabetical order.

Member	Year	Member	Year	Member	Year
Tom Abdo	1982	Barry Greenstein	2011	Johnny Moss	1979
Crandell Addington	2005	Jennifer Harman	2015	Daniel Negreanu	2014
Bobby Baldwin	2003	Dan Harrington	2010	Scotty Nguyen	2013
Billy Baxter	2006	Murph Harrold	1984	David Oppenheim	2019
Lyle Berman	2002	Phil Hellmuth	2007	Henry Orenstein	2008
Joe Bernstein	1983	John Hennigan	2018	Walter 'Puggy' Pearson	1987
Benny Binion	1990	James Butler 'Wild Bill' Hickok	1979	Julius Oral Popwell	1996
Jack Binion	2005	Red Hodges	1985	Thomas Austin 'Amarillo Slim' Preston	1992
Bill Boyd	1981	Edmond Hoyle	1979	David 'Chip' Reese	1991
Doyle Brunson	1988	Phil Ivey	2017	Brian 'Sailor' Roberts	2012
Todd Brunson	2016	Linda Johnson	2011	Erik Seidel	2010
Johnny Chan	2002	Berry Johnston	2004	Mike Sexton	2009
T.J. Cloutier	2006	John Juanda	2015	Jack 'Treetop' Straus	1988
Nick Dandolos	1979	Jack Keller	1993	Duane 'Dewey' Tomko	2008
Eric Drache	2012	Jack McClelland	2014	David 'Devilfish' Ulliott	2017
Barbara Enright	2007	Felton McCorquodale	1979	Stu 'The Kid' Ungar	2001
Mori Eskandani	2018	Tom McEvoy	2013	Red Winn	1979
Fred 'Sarge' Ferris	1989	Chris Moneymaker	2019	Sid Wyman	1979
Henry Green	1986	Roger Moore	1997
T 'Blondie' Forbes	1980	Carlos Mortensen	2016

_{*Lead image courtesy of the Poker Hall of Fame. More information about the Poker Hall of Fame via WSOP.com/pokerhalloffame/ and Wikipedia.}