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Nomination Process for the Poker Hall of Fame Open

Fans Can Nominate Their Choice for the Hall

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Hall of FameWondering why Barry Greenstein isn’t a member of the Poker Hall of Fame? Want to give a nod to the poker ambassador, Mike Sexton? Perhaps you think it’s time for a member of the younger generation to break into the elite club, like Daniel Negreanu or Allen Cunningham?

Whatever you think, Harrah’s wants you to tell them.

Starting today, poker fans can nominate their choice for the Poker Hall of Fame. This is the first year that Harrah’s is actively opening up the nomination process to the public.

WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack announced the new induction process at the annual media conference call last month, and an email sent out by WSOP Communications Director Seth Palanksy today clarified some of the details.

Online submissions for the Hall will be accepted until July 2 at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/pokerhalloffame/halloffamevoting.asp. The top 10 nominations will be announced during the main event.

In August, the Hall of Fame committee will review the public’s nominations and provide a final list to all of the living Hall of Fame members, as well as a select group of media members. A vote on the final list of players will result in the 2009 inductees to the Hall of Fame, to be enshrined at the main event final table in November.

Palansky told Card Player today that nothing was set in stone in terms of the final process, but that Harrah’s was anticipating two to three inductees as in past years and that anyone who received 75% of the final vote would be inducted.

The major criteria for the Poker Hall of Fame:

• A played must have played poker against acknowledged top competition.
• 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 and lasting results.

It hasn’t taken long for the open nomination process to spur excitement. PartyPoker, the site that just signed Sexton as its representative, has already sent out a press release encouraging people to vote for him.

“We encourage the poker community to vote online for Mike Sexton’s induction into Poker’s Hall of Fame,” said a PartyPoker spokesperson. “Mike meets all the criteria and deserves to be top of the list when the process gets to the Hall of Fame committee.”

Last year, Dewey Tomko and Henry Orenstein were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Tomko finished runner-up in two main events while winning three WSOP bracelets. Orenstein patented the hole-card camera, widely credited as one of the major reasons poker popularity has surged in recent years.

There are 37 members in the Poker Hall of Fame.