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WSOP Poker Hall of Fame

Every sport has its hall of fame. The poker hall of fame honors individuals of noteworthy achievement in the field of poker. It has many of the best known poker players in the world. However not much is known about some of the earlier members who were road gamblers with great reputations. As of 2009 there are 37 people on the roll of the hall of fame. Fifteen of these poker champions continue to live their poker dream.

The requirements for being considered into the Hall of fame as specified by the WSOP are
• 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

As this is the web 2.0 age, WSOP has slightly changed the process of selection to the hall of fame. This year players were able to submit nominations for induction via an online process between May 29 to July 2. This was followed by an offline vetting by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council who then come up with the final list. The final list of poker players will be then put thru a voting process. Election is done by a 30 person panel consisting of media and living hall of fame members.

So what's so special about the WSOP Poker hall of fame? The answer is that unlike other halls of fame which have players associated with them; the poker hall of fame has taken the next giant leap forward. One of the inductees in 2008 was the inventor of the hole card camera Henry Orenstein. In 2007 Barbara Enright - the only women to reach the final table of a WSOP main event (1995) was inducted making her the only women inducted into the hall of fame.