In the very first year of eligibility, Daniel Negreanu has landed a spot in the 10 finalists of the 2014 Poker Hall of Fame; the details of which were released by WSOP yesterday. It has been after a long process of public nomination on wsop.com and a vetting procedure by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council that the 10 finalists have been determined.
The elite list includes 5 returning nominees in the form of Jennifer Harman, Humberto Brenes, Huck Seed, Chris Bjorin and Mike Matusow. The five first timers who have made it to the finalists list include Daniel Negreanu, Bruno Fitoussi, Ted Forrest, Bob Hooks and Jack McClellend. This list will not be submitted to the 21 living existing Poker Hall of Famers and they along with 20 media panel will vote to decide the 2 names that will form the Class of 2014.
The criteria they will consider in their vote are as follows:
- A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition.
- Be a minimum of 40 years old at 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.’
While voting will continue till October 10, unto 2 will be chosen to be inducted into the Poker Hall Of Fame. They will then be inducted in a festive ceremony during the start of the final table of the 2014 WSOP at the Rio on Nov 9, 2014. The selected ones will be joining the most elite list in poker with names such as Doyle Brunson, Benny Binion, Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen forming the Poker Hall of Fame.