2026 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists Announced

Shaun Deeb, absolutely as he already is nominated. Ensan too as nobody has got two MEs since the fields were counted in tens or hundreds.

No to both for "instant induction". POY is a controversial topic already (because the rules are set up such that you can win it while losing money), so winning that I don't think would carry the same gravitas with the HOF voters. Deeb will get in, and winning the Main would cement it for sure, but just as normal course of business.

Not a chance Ensan would get instant induction, and I'm not sure it would even ensure he's in it ever. The Main is a very special kind of animal and winning it (even twice) can't be the only real argument for you being in the HOF (Moneymaker is in, but that's more for everything that happened post win).

Winning the PPC carries an absolute ton of weight with HOF guys.

some old school players still in, like Todd Brunson, Greg Mueller, and Ralph Perry ("get on your bike!")

Can Ralph Perry earn himself a spot in the hall of fame with a win?

NO and NO

Yeah, difference between instantly automatically and after pondering.

No one ever had won the main event and the PPC in one year, and no one ever had won the PPC 3 times. The PPC is big for the voters, partly because many are pre poker boom, when NLHE was mostly just for tournaments. Also, it is slow structure with a stacked field. There was/is a big backlog of players for the HOF, and it was obvious that Mizrachi belonged in. That issue is mostly taken care of by the new rules.

I note that asked “would” not “should”. I will say 90% & 70% yes respectively.

Rast has won the PPC three times, Grinder four times. The TV coverage from last year was so, so great, sigh.

OK, 4 PPCs. With a field of mostly strong pros, to win that 4 times, and then win the ME with almost 10K entries on top of that. They realized he probably should have been inducted earlier. No one is going to win the ME and convince them to do another immediate induction. It wouldn't be anything like what Mizrachi did.

Ensan definitely no, Deeb maybe 20%.

I think the WSOP is unlikely to instantly induct anyone again because they fixed the problem from previous years of only allowing one induction per year through the normal channel.

If Deeb wins he will definitely get in next year. Ensan would still have to wait a while and prove himself at least a little outside of the ME.

Well this is a gambling forum. Would you care to wager using those odds?

We will never know how it would have played out. If Todd had won would he have been inducted again? (lol)

Dib is definitely a legend. Not a single WSOP event goes by without him. If anyone deserves to be included, it’s certainly him.

FYI - They announce the hall of fame inductees during the WSOP Main Event Final Table.

Here is my guess:

Shaun Deeb

Jason Koon

Isai Scheinberg

Scott Seiver

I would be shocked if they inducted four players. The voters can only vote for a maximum of four, and you need 75% of the vote to be inducted, so four players reaching this threshold would require considerable amount of coordination among the voters.

I don't think Koon gets in this year. It's not that I think he doesn't deserve it, I just don't think they'll do 4. My guess is isai and one of Deeb or Seiver and the other one gets in next year.

If you need 75% and they vote for 4 of 8, could no one get in?

It's a big circle jerk like the Pro baseball hall of fame. Those with clout will conspire to be sure this doesn't happen.

Well, it is not like they opened it wide up. Probably 1 or 2 will get in.

I'll go with Deeb, Koon, and Isai. I think Deeb is the lock.

Matusow and Haxton are drawing dead. Haxton has that "losing player for past ten years" report hanging over his head. He also didn't show up for 2026 wsop or if he did he didn't cash. So last seen he was tanking in 2025 for a pay jump

Isai is the absolute lock. All those players basically acknowledge he belonged in a long time ago, but under the old rules, they couldn't give him their vote without passing on their favorite buddy. Now they will all allocate one vote to Isai, then vote on whatever criteria they feel like for the other three without feeling like they're hurting someone.

I think the new system is better with vote for 4. Before, some high stakes cash mixed game players voted in Elezra, because he was the whale making their games. Todd Brunson probably got voted in by all his father's friends.

Why does Todd get all the hate
From all accounts he's been around for a long time beating high stakes mixed games and was the dude they counted on to bust Beal up on the first go around. He's won a few tournaments to boot.

Or maybe he'd have been broke several times and doyle has staked him most of his career. Who knows

Yes, the Beal match helped his legacy. No one other than many of those who voted him in may know his record in biggest cash games. Also in 2016 there weren't many people to choose from.