Barry Greenstein, Annie Duke Amongst 2011 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists

Published on October 4th, 2011 11:05 pm EST

The ten finalists for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2011 were revealed by WSOP.com earlier today.

There was a public nomination process on WSOP.com, followed by a "vetting of all nominations by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council".

The ten finalists this year are:

-Annie Duke
-Barry Greenstein
-Jennifer Harman-Traniello
-Linda Johnson
-John Juanda
-Marcel Luske
-Jack McClelland
-Tom McEvoy
-Scotty Nguyen
-Huck Seed

A total of 35 people (18 living Hall of Fame members, 17 members of the media) will be given votes to determine who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.

In order to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, you must:

-be a player who has played against "acknowledged top competition"

-be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination (that excludes Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu)

-have played for high stakes

-have played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers

-have stood the test of time

-have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker (for non-players)

Current members of the Poker Hall of Fame include Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson and Erik Seidel.

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A couple of names really stand out to me.

First, Barry Greenstein. The man is one of the most respected players in the game, and his success has been undeniable.

What about Scotty Nguyen? Sure, he's certainly not the most popular player around, but he has 5 World Series of Poker bracelets to his credit, including wins in the 1998 main event and 2008 $50k HORSE World Championship. Say what you want about Scotty Nguyen, but his lifetime results have been ridiculously impressive.

Very strong cases could also be made for Huck Seed (five World Series of Poker bracelets including a main event win in 1996) and John Juanda (five WSOP bracelets, including a victory at the 2008 WSOPE main event).

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The 2011 class will be inducted in November.

Source: WSOP.com - Top Ten Finalists for the 2011 Poker Hall of Fame Unveiled

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Filed Under: The World Series of Poker