of fame industry gaming founded 1979 founder binion s horseshoe headquarters virtual presence key people jack binion creator owner caesars entertainment website hall of fame the poker hall of fame is the hall of fame of professional poker in the united states . founded in las vegas it was created in 1979 by benny binion the owner of the horseshoe casino to preserve the names and legacies of the world s greatest poker players and to serve as a tourist attraction to his casino . 1 binion was known for the creative ways in which he marketed his casino . in 1949 he convinced johnny moss and nick the greek dandolos to play high stakes poker heads up where the public could watch them . 2 in 1970 he invited a group of poker players to compete in what would be the first world series of poker wsop . when harrah s entertainment now known as caesars entertainment acquired the rights to the wsop in 2004 it also assumed ownership of the poker hall of fame . 3 currently membership in the poker hall of fame is handled directly by the wsop . 4 as of 2013 46 people have been inducted into the poker hall of fame 21 of whom are still living . 5 6 contents 1 requirements 2 the award 3 membership 4 see also 5 references 6 external links requirements edit before the 2009 world series of poker then wsop commissioner jeffrey pollack announced that the process for becoming a member into the poker hall of fame would undergo a slight modification . starting in 2009 the poker hall of fame started accepting nominations from the public . this move was intended to increase interest in the hall . almost immediately after this decision was announced party poker started an online campaign to get its representative and world poker tour commentator mike sexton elected to the hall . 7 8 9 other poker sites namely pokerstars tom mcevoy followed suit by pushing their own poker professionals . 10 the requirements for the poker hall of fame are as follows a gambler must have played poker against acknowledged top competition played for high stakes played consistently well gained the respect of peers and 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 . 3 11 in 2009 23 year old online poker professional tom dwan was a finalist for the poker hall of fame because of public balloting . as a result a new age requirement was added in 2011 . this rule known as the chip reese rule established a minimum age of 40 to be inducted into the hall . this new requirement eliminated some players who were regular nominees over the previous years such as phil ivey 35 and daniel negreanu 36 . 12 the award edit admission into the poker hall of fame is considered one of the biggest honors in poker . 13 in his acceptance speech t. j. cloutier declared it s one of two things i ve always wanted to win . 14 barbara enright the first woman inducted into the hall considers her induction to be a lifetime achievement honor . 15 before being acquired by harrah s casino r.s. owens & company was commissioned to design an award for poker hall of famers . the award was an 8 inch tall piece of glass with a hand of cards sandblasted at the bottom the winner s name and the words poker hall of fame in a circle . the circle had a gold emblem bonded to the glass and had the binion s horseshoe casino logo in it . there was a gold plated base with three gold plated stacks of chips . 16 membership edit image year name nickname 17 wsop winnings wsop bracelets notes 1979 moss johnnyjohnny moss 18 the grand old man of poker 19 700582492 2000000000 824 922 1970 world series of poker championship 1971 5 000 no limit hold em world championship 1971 limit ace to 5 draw 1974 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1975 1 000 seven card stud 1976 500 seven card stud 1979 5 000 seven card stud 1981 1 000 seven card stud hi lo 1988 1 500 ace to five draw the first world series of poker was not a freeze out tournament but rather a game with a set start and stop time . benny binion took a secret ballot that asked the players who the best player was . according to poker lore everybody said that they were the best player . binion then asked who the second best player was and johnny moss won . 20 1979 dandolos nicknick dandolos nick the greek 0 none according to poker lore in the summer of 1949 in nevada nick the greek and johnny moss played in a five month long poker marathon at binion s horseshoe casino . nick the greek reportedly lost about 2 million to moss and on losing the final hand stood up and said mr. moss i have to let you go . this heads up match which became a tourist attraction is often cited as the earliest inspiration behind the world series of poker . 2 1979 mccorquodale feltonfelton mccorquodale corky 0 none mccorquodale is credited with introducing the game of texas hold em to las vegas in 1963 . 21 1979 winn redred winn 0 none 1979 wyman sidsid wyman 0 none wyman was a noted poker player and owner of several vegas casinos sands riviera royal nevada and the dunes . 1979 hickok james butlerjames butler hickok wild bill hickok 0 none hickok was one of the best known poker players in the world before the 20th century . he is one of three poker hall of famers to die while playing poker along with tom abdo and jack straus . 11 legend has it that when he was shot in the back in 1876 he was holding two aces and two eights . the hand has since been called the dead man s hand . 22 1979 hoyle edmondedmond hoyle 0 none after writing a book on the game of whist the phrase according to hoyle become synonymous in card games with following the rules . 22 1980 forbes blondieblondie forbes 0 none forbes is credited with creating the game of texas hold em . 21 1981 boyd billbill boyd 7004800000000000000 80 000 1971 10 000 limit five card stud 1972 10 000 five card stud 1973 10 000 limit five card stud 1974 5 000 five card stud boyd was the director of operations at the golden nugget from 1946 to 1982 . boyd is credited with establishing robert turner s game omaha hold em as a casino staple . 23 1982 abdo tomtom abdo 0 none abdo is one of three poker hall of famers to die while playing poker along with wild bill hickok and jack straus . 11 he died from a heart attack . according to legend after suffering the heart attack he asked another player to count his chips and to save his seat . 22 1983 bernstein joejoe bernstein 7004210000000000000 21 000 1973 10 000 limit ace to five draw 1984 harrold murphmurph harrold 0 none 1985 hodges redred hodges 0 none 1986 green henryhenry green 0 none 1987 pearson walter clydewalter clyde pearson puggy 7005212100000000000 212 100 1971 limit seven card stud 1973 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1973 1 000 no limit hold em 1973 4 000 limit seven card stud pearson is credited with coming up with the concept of a freeze out tournament . 24 1988 brunson doyledoyle brunson texas dolly 7006283030200000000 2 830 302 1976 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1977 5 000 deuce to seven draw 1977 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1977 1 000 seven card stud split 1978 5 000 seven card stud 1979 600 mixed doubles with starla brodie 1991 2 500 no limit hold em 1998 1 500 seven card razz 2003 2 000 h.o.r.s.e. 2005 5 000 no limit shorthanded texas hold em brunson wrote super system widely considered to be the most influential book ever written on poker . 25 1988 straus jackjack straus treetop 7005555000000000000 555 000 1973 3 000 deuce to seven draw 1982 10 000 championship event no limit hold em straus 1982 wsop tournament victory is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in poker history . at one point straus had one chip remaining and came back to win . this victory is considered to be the origin of the poker saying a chip and a chair meaning that as long as a player has not been eliminated from the tournament he or she still has a chance . modern lore indicates that this happened at the final table but the 1983 book the biggest game in town implies this occurred on the first day of the tournament . 26 straus is one of three hall of famers to die while playing poker along with wild bill hickok and tom abdo . 11 1989 ferris fredfred ferris sarge 7005150000000000000 150 000 1980 10 000 deuce to seven draw ferris gained notoriety when the irs seized 46 000 from him on april 22 1983 while he was playing high stakes poker at the horseshoe . 22 1990 binion bennybenny binion 0 none founder of the horseshoe casino and the wsop 1991 reese daviddavid reese chip 7006223007900000000 2 230 079 1978 1 000 seven card stud split 1982 5 000 limit 7 card stud 2006 50 000 h.o.r.s.e. world championship despite winning three bracelets reese was best known for his cash game play . at 40 years old he was the youngest person to be enshirined in the poker hall of fame . 22 1992 preston thomasthomas preston amarillo slim 7005436748000000000 436 748 1972 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1974 1 000 no limit hold em 1985 5 000 pot limit omaha 1990 5 000 pot limit omaha after winning the wsop in 1972 slim sought to change the image of poker by appearing on national television and radio programs . 22 slim hosted the super bowl of poker considered the second most prestigious tournament at the time . 27 1993 keller jackjack keller gentleman jack keller 7006158384500000000 1 583 845 1984 5 000 seven card stud 1984 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1993 1 500 omaha limit 1995 popwell julius oraljulius oral popwell little man 0 none 1997 moore rogerroger moore 7005337628000000000 337 628 1994 5 000 limit 7 card stud 2001 ungar stustu ungar the kid 7006207883800000000 2 078 838 1980 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1981 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1981 10 000 deuce to seven draw 1983 5 000 seven card stud 1997 10 000 no limit hold em world championship ungar won back to back wsop main event bracelets in 1980 and 1981 and won the event again in 1997 . he and johnny moss are the only players to have won the main event three times . 2002 berman lylelyle berman 7006141264900000000 1 412 649 1989 1 500 limit omaha 1992 2 500 no limit hold em 1994 5 000 no limit deuce to seven draw 2002 chan johnnyjohnny chan orient express the great wall of china 22 700641488 6800000000 4 148 868 1985 1 000 limit hold em 1987 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1988 10 000 no limit hold em world championship 1994 1 500 seven card stud 1997 5 000 deuce to seven draw 2000 1 500 pot limit omaha 2002 2 500 no limit hold em gold bracelet match play 2003 5 000 no limit hold em 2003 5