Poker Hall of Fame - 2008 Edition

News / Matthew Pitt / 04 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Every year, since 1979, the most respected players in poker have voted a new person into the Poker Hall Of Fame. Being accepted into the Hall of Fame is often regarded as the highest honour in poker, surpassing even the prestige of winning the $10,000 World Series of Poker Main Event, writes Matthew Pitt.

In order to be inducted, players must meet four requirements. For example, they must have played for high stakes and done so against recognised and respected competition. They must also have played well consistently, earned respect of their peers and must have stood the test of time.

Non-players can also be accepted into the Hall of Fame if they have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible, positive and lasting results.

This year, it has been announced that two people will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, namely Duane "Dewey" Tonko and Henry Orenstein.

"Dewey" Tonko is a well-respected poker professional who has three World Series of Poker bracelets to his name, along with over $3,400,000 in tournament winnings. Tonko has twice been a runner-up in the Main Event, once in 1982 against Jack "Treetop" Strauss and again in 2001 when his pair of aces was cruelly outdrawn by Carlos Mortensen's Kc Qc.

Henry Orenstein, a holocaust survivor, is better known for his inventions than his poker playing, although he does have one WSOP bracelet, won at the Seven-card stud World Championship in 1996. Orenstein has over 100 patents to his name including the Sesame Street toys, but it is US patent 5,451,054 that he is being recognised for.

That particular patent, for what we now know as the "Hole Card Cam," transformed poker forever, and is one of the main reasons poker's popularity started to soar over the last decade.

Both players will be honoured in a special ceremony on November 9 in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio, as part of the ceremonies planned for the resumption of play at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Tonko and Orenstein will be immortalised alongside some of poker's greats, including, Johnny Chan, Doyle Brunson, TJ Cloutier and Phil Hellmuth.