2026 Poker Hall of Fame: 8 Nominees, New Voting Rules, and Up to 6 Could Get In

The 2026 Poker Hall of Fame shortlist is out: 8 nominees including 5 first-timers led by Shaun Deeb and Jason Koon. New voting rules let each Hall member cast up to 4 votes, meaning up to 6 inductees in a single year. Results will be announced at the WSOP Main Event final table.

What Happened

On June 25, the WSOP officially revealed the eight finalists for the 2026 Poker Hall of Fame. After a public nomination window from June 11-20, the field was narrowed to this final shortlist (WSOP official announcement):

Five of the eight are first-time nominees — Deeb, Koon, Haxton, Moorman, and Bonomo all reached the minimum age requirement of 40 this year to become eligible.

The Voting Overhaul: Up to 6 Inductees?

The biggest story here isn’t the nominee list itself — it’s the complete overhaul of the voting system.

Under the old rules, each of the 33 living Hall of Fame members cast one vote, and the top 1-2 vote-getters were inducted. The problem was obvious: when you have five strong candidates and each voter can only pick one, the votes get split and deserving players get blocked for years.

The new system gives each member up to 4 votes. Any nominee who receives 22 votes (a two-thirds supermajority) gets inducted. In theory, if 6 of the 8 nominees clear that threshold, all 6 get in. If nobody hits 22 votes, the top vote-getter is automatically inducted (PokerNews).

This is clearly designed to fix the “vote-splitting” problem that kept candidates like Scott Seiver on the ballot for multiple years. The message is simple: if you think someone belongs, vote for them. You don’t have to agonize over picking just one.

Breaking Down Each Nominee’s Chances

Tier 1: Near Lock

Shaun Deeb — Eight bracelets, two-time WSOP Player of the Year, and the most decorated living player not already in the Hall. His mixed-game ability, tournament consistency, and the sheer relentlessness of his WSOP track record make him the safest bet on this ballot. The only wildcard is his occasionally polarizing social media presence — Hall members might weigh “ambassador of the game” factors. But on pure results, he’s a no-brainer. I’d put him at 90%+ to get in.

Tier 2: Strong Favorites

Jason Koon — If you only count WSOP bracelets (2), his resume looks thin. But Koon’s real battlefield is the Triton Super High Roller series, where he has 12 titles — more than anyone in the tour’s history. Combined with over $65 million in career earnings, he’s the undisputed king of high-stakes tournament poker. The question is whether Hall voters value Triton titles as much as WSOP bracelets. I think they should.

Justin Bonomo — Four bracelets, $65M+ in earnings, and a stint at #1 on the all-time money list. His peak in 2018-2019 was one of the most dominant stretches in modern poker history. The concern is that his visibility has dipped in recent years, and voters tend to favor momentum.

Tier 3: Competitive But Uncertain

Isaac Haxton — Widely regarded as one of the sharpest analytical minds in poker. His results ($65M+ in earnings) speak for themselves, but his low-key persona might hurt him in a vote that partly weighs “contributions to the game.” Haxton influences poker through how he plays, not through media or advocacy — voters may or may not value that.

Chris Moorman — The most successful online tournament player in history, period. That title alone should be worth a Hall of Fame spot. But the Hall has traditionally skewed toward live results, and Moorman’s 2 WSOP bracelets are modest by this ballot’s standards. If voters are willing to acknowledge that online poker reshaped the game — and Moorman was at the forefront — he deserves to get in.

Isai Scheinberg — The PokerStars founder. He’s not a player, but PokerStars essentially created the modern online poker ecosystem. The counter-argument is his legal history surrounding Black Friday. This is the most polarizing nominee on the list — voters will either see him as a transformative figure or a controversial one.

Tier 4: Uphill Battle

Mike Matusow — Four bracelets and an iconic WSOP personality. “The Mouth” is a cultural fixture of tournament poker. But he’s been on the ballot before without getting in, and this year’s field of first-timers is brutally strong.

Scott Seiver — Three bracelets, elite skill, but not enough to stand out on this particular ballot. He might need to wait for a weaker year to have a realistic shot.

My Take

The voting reform is the best thing to happen to the Poker Hall of Fame in years. The old one-vote system was genuinely broken — it led to years where only one person got in because votes were scattered across five equally deserving candidates. The new system fixes that by asking a simpler question: does this person belong? Yes or no, for each nominee independently.

My prediction: three inductees this year — Shaun Deeb, Jason Koon, and Justin Bonomo. Deeb is the consensus pick, and Koon and Bonomo have high-roller resumes that should command enough respect among the voting body.

Moorman and Haxton will probably fall just short this year, but I’d bet heavily on both getting in within the next two years. Their issue isn’t ability — it’s that they happen to be first-time nominees in what might be the deepest draft class in Hall of Fame history.

Scheinberg is the true wildcard. If voters take the long view and weigh industry impact, he’s a lock. If they stick to “playing achievements plus public image,” he waits.

Results get announced during the WSOP Main Event final table broadcast on ESPN, likely August 3-5. I’ll be watching — and keeping score on these predictions.

Sources: WSOP Official, PokerNews, Poker.org