8 Contenders Vie for Poker Hall of Fame 2026 Honors

Eight nominees have been announced for possible 2026 induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. They are: Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, Isaac Haxton, Justin Bonomo, Scott Seiver, Chris Moorman, Mike Matusow, and Isai Scheinberg. At least one – and possibly as many as six – of them will receive poker’s highest honor and be ensconced among the greats for all time.

Hall of Fame Process

The eight finalists were chosen by public nominations. Now the list goes to the 33 living members of the Hall. Each of them can cast up to four votes for whomever they want.

Any candidate who receives at least 22 votes will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Should no one achieve 22 votes, then the individual with the highest number of votes will be inducted.

Selection Criteria

There are a set of criteria for inclusion in the Hall. Those who are up for consideration should fulfill the following conditions:

• Be 40 years old or above at time of nomination
• Must have played for high stakes
• Must have played poker against acknowledged top competitors
• Must have consistently played well, earning the respect of peers
• Must have stood the test of time
• For non-players, must have contributed to the overall growth and success of poker, making an indelible and lasting positive impact

About the Contenders

Whomever the current members of the Hall vote to add to their number, the results will be known pretty soon. The plan is to announce the new honorees during the WSOP Main Event final table, which is scheduled for Aug. 3 – 5, 2026.

Here’s a breakdown of the accomplishments and history of every contender for this year’s Hall of Fame class:

Shaun Deeb

Shaun Deeb from upstate New York just turned 40, making this his first year of Hall eligibility. His accomplishments are certainly Hall-worthy with an astonishing eight bracelets to his name. Deeb has also been named WSOP Player of the Year twice. His total live poker tournament earnings exceed $18 million.

Jason Koon

Jason Koon of West Virginia has also entered his first year of Hall eligibility. Though he holds but two pieces of WSOP hardware, his performance is more dominated by high-roller events. For instance, he has a record 12 Triton titles to his credit. The sum of his offline tourney winnings is greater than $77 million, good for third place on the all-time money list.

Isaac Haxton

Isaac Haxton, of Syracuse, New York, is newly eligible for the Hall. Despite considering himself an online poker cash game specialist, Isaac still has had the wherewithal to book more than $65 million in live poker cashes placing him seventh on the all-time list. A lack of major titles was the only thing missing from his record, but he remedied this with a 2023 WSOP bracelet and a Triton title in 2025.

Justin Bonomo

Justin Bonomo, 40 years old and with $65+ million in live tourney earnings (6th of all time), seems like a good candidate to gain admission is his first year of eligibility. However, his history is marred by a few scandals that could count against him. Justin admitted to multi-accounting early in his career and more recently courted controversy with public displays of support for Palestine.

Scott Seiver

A native Long Islander, Scott Seiver is a two-time nominee for the Hall. Among his accomplishments are winning three WSOP bracelets in 2024 and amassing a total of seven altogether. His poker tournament profits are greater than $27 million.

Chris Moorman

Chris Moorman, the U.K. online poker tournament phenom, is newly eligible for the Hall having just turned old enough. In addition to making more than $15 million in tournament winnings over the internet, he has also booked $11+ million in live events. He has two gold bracelets to his credit.

Mike Matusow

Often known more for his abrasive personality and loud table talk, Mike Matusow has been putting up solid results for decades now. Among his accomplishments are four WSOP bracelets and two Main Event final tables (2001 and 2005). Matusow has recorded close to $11 million in live tourney cashes. Matusow holds a dubious record: most HoF nominations without getting in (12).

Isai Scheinberg

Isai Scheinberg is the only nominee this year whose achievements were performed largely away from the tables. But he has perhaps been more important for poker than any of the others. Originally from Lithuania where he was born in 1946 or 1947, Scheinberg founded PokerStars in 2001. PokerStars has, for the majority of its existence, been both the most popular and most innovative of online poker rooms.

Recent Hall of Fame Changes

During the majority of its existence, the Poker Hall of Fame added only a single new member each year, and this was made official policy in 2020. However, there has been a growing perception among the public that worthy individuals were being left out due to this one-inductee-per-year policy.

After making its one selection for 2025, Nick Schulman, the Hall surprised everybody by then naming Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi as an additional inductee bypassing the usual selection process. Mizrachi had just won the World Series of Poker Main Event and had earlier in the series prevailed in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. This unusual move was a tacit nod to the idea that one per year just wasn’t enough.

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
Surprise Poker HoF 2025 Inductee

On June 12, 2026, the Hall of Fame announced that it was changing its voting policy to the current format. Rather than accepting the single highest vote-getter to the Hall, each of the 33 living members can vote for up to four players from a slate of eight nominated by the public. Then any of them that get at least 22 votes will gain admission to the Hall.

This means that as many as six individuals could be entered into the Hall of Fame yearly. However, this is just a theoretical maximum based upon exactly the right voting patterns. It’s more likely that two or three will be successful every year.

If nobody surpasses the 22-vote threshold, then the single person with the highest vote total will be added to the Hall of Fame.

About the Poker Hall of Fame

The Poker Hall of Fame was instituted at Binion’s Horseshoe in Downton Las Vegas. It was the brainchild of Benny Binion, the founder of the World Series of Poker.

Originally starting with just seven members, it has grown over the intervening years to encompass 65. Of this total, 33 remain alive today, and it is they who are entrusted with voting for new members.

It has been a long time since the World Series of Poker has been hosted at Binion’s on Fremont Street. It has since moved first to the Rio Casino and then to the Horseshoe Casino and its sister property Paris Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in 2022. It’s only fitting then that the Poker Hall of Fame was relocated to the Horseshoe in 2023. It is adjacent to the Horseshoe’s WSOP Hall of Fame Poker Room.

Improve Your Poker!

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June 30, 2026 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief