Following a fan vote, the 10 finalists have been disclosed for the 2023 Poker Hall of Fame, and the list of nominees is mostly similar to last year.
Matt Savage, Brian Rast, Mike Matusow, and Kathy Liebert were among the returnees. But only one individual, whether it be a player or industry personnel, will get in this year. The full list of nominees, with a case made for each candidate, is as follows:
- Josh Arieh — Won five WSOP bracelets and 2021 WSOP Player of the Year.
- Jeremy Ausmus — Six-time bracelet winner.
- Ted Forrest — Long-time stud cash game crusher with six bracelets.
- Kathy Liebert — One of the top female poker players of all-time.
- Mike Matusow — Four bracelets and one of the top players in the world during the 2000s.
- Lon McEachern and Norman Chad — Announcers for the WSOP since 2003.
- Brian Rast — Five-time bracelet winner and high-stakes cash game crusher.
- Matt Savage — Played key role in creating uniform tournament poker rules.
- Isai Scheinberg — PokerStars founder and contributed to growth of online poker.
- Bill Smith — Former world champion and legendary gambler.
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Some New Faces, Most are Repeats
Layne Flack, a six-time bracelet winner who passed away in 2021, was inducted last year. The finalists list for this year has three changes and that is the addition of Forrest, Ausmus, and Smith, the 1985 world champion. Ausmus recently won his sixth bracelet and has won five World Series of Poker (WSOP) titles in just 21 months.
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Michael Mizrachi were the two players nominated last year via the fan vote but not this year. The final list will now be sent to the 32 living members of the Poker Hall of Fame to vote on the 2023 inductee. That winner will be honored at the WSOP on July 13.
On Thursday, Rast’s performance at the final table of Event #43: $50,000 Poker Players Championship, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world, could have a significant impact on the 2023 Hall of Fame voting.
Rast has already won the PPC twice and has five bracelets. He’s been a respected high-stakes cash game pro for years on top of his tournament success. Should he win the bracelet, it very well could get him over the hump and into the Hall of Fame, if he wasn’t already the favorite.
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Builders Versus Players
All 10 individuals on the list of nominees has an intriguing case to be made, so it won’t be easy for the Hall of Famers to make their decision. Take, for example, Liebert, who has 95 WSOP cashes, one bracelet, nearly $7 million in live tournament earnings, and has consistently been one of the top female players in the world for decades.
And then there is Matusow, who many forget was one of the most popular and colorful characters during the poker boom era and also one of the best in the game for at least a decade during the 2000s.
But there are also those who made an impact on the game away from the felt. Savage, Scheinberg, McEachern, and Chad have all significantly contributed to the growth of the game for many years. Voters must compare apples to oranges because only one person gets inducted each year.