Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 15 October 2010 / Leave a Comment

Voting for the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame has now concluded, and we presently await news of who among the 10 nominees will be elected as this year's class.

As part of the "November Nine" festivities, there will be a ceremony on Monday, November 8th at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas to honor the one or two new Hall of Famers. However, I imagine we will probably learn before that date who received enough votes to join the exclusive club.

Over the summer, fans were invited to nominate players over at the WSOP site. (Click here to read more on that process.) In the end, a total of 102 individuals were nominated, with 44 of those receiving multiple nominations.

From that group the 10 most nominated were Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen, and Erik Seidel. Those 10 were then listed on a ballot that was sent to a small group of voters consisting of the 16 living Poker Hall of Famers and 17 members of the poker media.

I had the great honor this year to be among the group of media members invited to cast a vote. We were instructed to vote for no more than three of the 10 nominees, distributing a total of 10 points between those whom we had chosen. It was an especially tough decision, and I assume that like me the other voters probably spent a lot of time considering their ballots before casting them.

The Test of Time

The Poker Hall of Fame first came into being in 1979, another promotional idea credited to Benny Binion as a way both to honor poker's greats and to draw tourists to Binion's Horseshoe Casino. When the WSOP was acquired by Harrah's Entertainment in 2004, the management of the Poker Hall of Fame went with it. As a result, there no longer presently exists any physical "hall" for the Poker Hall of Fame. Perhaps one day there will be something of the kind somewhere in Las Vegas.

The Poker Hall of Fame has always resembled other sports' halls of fame. While it wasn't until very recently that the Poker Hall of Fame created a voting panel that including the input of media and fans, it has always operated similarly to what one finds with other major sports, with only a select few individuals being honored each year -- often only one or two -- and almost always only after a lengthy career of high achievement.

However, there is a key difference between the Poker Hall of Fame and analogous institutions in other major sports. Whereas in almost every other sport a player must be retired from active participation in order to be considered for the honor, in poker that is not the case. In fact, all 10 of this year's nominees still play poker on a regular basis. Who would expect less? After all, they are Poker Hall of Fame nominees!

There are exceptions -- for example, the World Golf Hall of Fame admits active players, although there is a minimum age requirement of 40. The Poker Hall of Fame has no such age requirement, and since poker is not like other sports in which players are expected to retire after a certain point in their careers, it will probably always be the case that those who are inducted (if living) will be active participants.

Thus one of the issues which I found myself contemplating when filling out my Poker Hall of Fame ballot was whether or not to consider the age of the nominee as relevant. The criteria for induction lists a few items, including the player having "played for high stakes" "against acknowledged top competition" and performed "consistently well." But the nominee also needs to have "stood the test of time," a statement which could be taken to imply a player needs to be of a certain age before being seriously considered.

"Maybe I'm not old enough"

I happen to live in a part of the United States where NASCAR (the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) is quite popular. Actually, there are a lot of NASCAR fans all over the U.S., but the sport is especially huge here in the southeastern part of the country where I live.

Not long ago, NASCAR created its own hall of fame, which unlike the Poker Hall of Fame does have a physical address in Charlotte, North Carolina. They elected their first-ever class in 2009, and this week came the announcement of the five inductees for 2010. Since I live fairly close to where all of this is happening, I heard quite a bit about the ceremony and the inductees.

One story from yesterday caught my eye, an article regarding the popular driver Darrell Waltrip. Many thought he would be elected this year, but he was not. As is the case with a lot of the Poker Hall of Fame nominees, Waltrip is a figure most believe will eventually be elected, given that his credentials equal or exceed many of those who have already gotten in.

Nonetheless, Waltrip was clearly disappointed not to have made it this time around. One quote from Waltrip stood out for me as especially relevant to the Poker Hall of Fame discussion. "Believe it or not, I think it's because I'm 63 years old," speculated Waltrip. "I think they [the voters] look at me as a guy who's going to be around awhile. Maybe it's not time. Maybe I'm not old enough to be in the hall of fame."

The writer of the article suggested other factors were probably in play here, too, when it came to Waltrip. But it is interesting to think how his age (relatively young when compared to his fellow nominees) might have affected his candidacy.

The age "edge"

So what's "old enough" for the Poker Hall of Fame? Might some of the nominees this year be in the same situation Waltrip was, with their age perhaps preventing them from receiving the nod this time around?

Here are those 10 nominees again with their ages, listed youngest to oldest: Phil Ivey (34 years old), Daniel Negreanu (36), Jennifer Harman-Traniello (45), Scotty Nguyen (47), Chris Ferguson (47), Erik Seidel (50), Barry Greenstein (55), Linda Johnson (57), Dan Harrington (64), Tom McEvoy (65).

Looking back at the 38 current members of the Poker Hall of Fame, the great majority of them were elected either after they had deceased or when aged 50 or above. While birthdates of some of the inductees aren't readily available, it looks as though only three of the 38 were elected prior to turning 50. David "Chip" Reese was 40 when he was elected in 1991. Johnny Chan was either 44 or 45 when he made it in 2002. And Phil Hellmuth was 42 when he became a Hall of Famer in the spring of 2007.

There has been some talk of late about creating a "Chip Reese Rule" that would make 40 a minimum age for induction. In fact, it wouldn't be that surprising to see such a rule introduced prior to next year. In any event, even though there is no such rule in place at present, it seems that many -- including the nominees themselves -- believe that age probably should be a factor.

Phil Ivey himself has reportedly said that he believes he is too young to be inducted, and would be "disappointed" to break Reese's record as the youngest ever to make it in. Of course, Ivey's credentials are such that they arguably exceed all of his fellow nominees. Indeed, if he does not get nominated this year, his young age will undoubtedly be the primary reason.

I was covering an online tournament not too long ago in which two nominees, Daniel Negreanu and Barry Greenstein, happened to be seated at the same table. The subject of the Poker Hall of Fame came up, and one observer chimed in to say that Negreanu -- whose nickname is in fact "Kid Poker" -- was too young to be inducted. Greenstein was quick to come up with a witty comment.

"It's the only time I've had an edge on Daniel by being older," he quipped.

Greenstein may well be right about age giving some nominees an advantage. We'll find out soon.

(ADDENDUM: On 10/19/10, Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel were named as the 39th and 40th inductees of the Poker Hall of Fame. Read about it here. Also, on the subject of age and the HOF, see Howard Lederer's article in which he makes case for creating a "Chip Reese Rule" requiring inductees be at least 40 years old.)

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