The World Series of Poker has announced the ten finalists for the 2025 Poker Hall of Fame. Only one of the ten will be inducted and see their picture displayed on the walls of the WSOP Hall of Fame Poker Room at Horseshoe Las Vegas.
After the round of public nominations, the finalists are as follows (in alphabetical order):
- Jeremy Ausmus
- “Miami” John Cernuto
- Ted Forrest
- Phil Galfond
- Kathy Liebert
- Mike Matusow
- Matt Savage
- Isai Scheinberg
- Nick Schulman
- Scott Seiver
Of the above luminaries, Galfond, Schulman, and Seiver are all first-time nominess, namely because this is the first year any of them are eligible. The minimum age for consideration is 40 and all three turned 40 since the last Hall of Fame election.
Savage and Scheinberg qualify as “contributors” rather than players – the former is a renowned tournament director, while the latter founded PokerStars, arguably the most influential online poker room in history.
voting process is a bit of a mystery
The fate of the ten finalists is now in the hands of the 30-plus living Poker Hall of Famers, who will vote for who will receive this year’s honor. The voting process is a bit of a mystery – we don’t know exactly how it works, other than who will be voting. In years past, each Hall of Fame member received ten votes which they could distribute as they saw fit. All ten could go to one nominee, one vote could go to each, or any combination in between. The WSOP has not said exactly how it works this year.
The 2025 Poker Hall of Fame inductee will be announced on July 11, before the start of WSOP Event #92: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em.
