John Juanda, Jennifer Harman To Be Inducted Into Poker Hall Of Fame

The World Series of Poker has announced that poker pros John Juanda and Jennifer Harman will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame next month.

The two beat out Max Pescatori, Matt Savage, David Ulliott, Chris Bjorin, Bruno Fitoussi, David Chiu, Carlos Mortensen and Terry Rogers, who were all nominated. Each year there are 10 finalists and two of them are inducted. Juanda and Harman will be the 49th and 50th members of the Poker Hall of Fame.

The list of names was submitted to the 23 living Poker Hall of Fame members and a 16-person media panel. Those were the only people to cast votes for induction.

Though all the finalists were deserving, Juanda, and especially Harman, were overdue.

Juanda is one of the most accomplished tournament players in the history of the game. The poker pro has more than $16.5 million in lifetime tournament scores, with more than 30 titles, five of which have come at the World Series of Poker. At the WSOP, Juanda has nearly $5 million in winnings, thanks to 32 final tables. He won the WSOPE main event in 2008 for his fourth bracelet and three years later captured no. 5 in Las Vegas.

Just weeks ago, Juanda was the last man standing out of a field of 1,694 in the European Poker Tour Barcelona stop. Juanda captured $1,186,208 for the win. The prize money put him into the top 10 on the all-time tournament money list.

Since his poker career began in the late 1990s, Juanda has had seven years with more than $1 million in tournament scores. Juanda is a World Poker Tour title away from poker’s “triple crown,” and he could get it during his lifetime. He has six final tables in WPT championship events over his career.

The 44-year-old was born in Indonesia but calls California home.

“I appreciate the recognition,” Juanda said. “It’s an honor to see my name among so many players I have admired and respected throughout my career: Chip Reese, Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Daniel Negreanu. Thank you to all the fans who nominated me and to the HOF and media members who voted me in.”

Harman is a cash-game legend and has seen her name on the nominees list a handful of times. The 50-year-old has nearly $2.5 million in tournament earnings. She has two career bracelets and two WPT final tables on her resume.

Her first bracelet came in 2000 and her second was in 2002. She has 32 lifetime cashes at the WSOP, 12 of which were final tables.

She was a member of the group of poker professionals who banded together in order to play banker Andy Beal heads up for millions of dollars. Harman was born in Reno, Nevada, where she grew up playing cards.

"Poker is a solo sport, Harman told Card Player in August. “You basically have to pat yourself on the back and even when you are losing you have to pat yourself on the back if you think you played well. I think getting into the Hall of Fame means that your peers respect what you have done with your life and career. That’s really important.”

“It’s truly an honor to be selected into the PHOF,” Harman added in a statement. “Poker has been an unbelievable journey for me and to have the respect of my peers is truly amazing. I want to thank everyone for the amazing support. I’m so happy!”

The 2015 Poker Hall of Fame class will be inducted as part of the WSOP main event final table festivities in Las Vegas during a special dinner and induction to be held at Binion’s Gambling Hall on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 p.m. The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment along with the WSOP in 2004.

Here’s a look at all of the members.

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