Overall, Hellmuth has earned $1.56 million on the World Poker Tour. His largest WPT cash is his WPT Legends of Poker finish with other major results including a third-place finish in the Season II World Poker Finals at Foxwoods for $281,700, and sixth place in the Season VI L.A. Poker Classic won by Phil Ivey.

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With nominations now open for determining who will get in the Poker Hall of Fame this year, there’s one question on the tip of the poker world’s collective tongue: Which player, or players, will follow Phil Ivey and David ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott as this years inductees?

But is it a flawed question?

Sure, a first-ballot Hall of Famer widely considered the best player on the planet throughout poker’s boom years and a legend from across the pond who’s vivacious personality helped the game grow exponentially in the UK before he passed away from cancer in 2015 represent a hard act to follow. But that’s not the issue.

Nominations open online

Nominations are accepted online. Everyone from players, to media, and poker fans are encouraged to participate by submitting their nominee along with a brief explanation. The submissions get tabulated and the top 10 nominations are reviewed by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council before being publicly released.

Existing Poker Hall of Fame members and a blue-ribbon media panel then cast votes to determine the class of 2018. Traditionally, the Poker Hall of Fame elects one or two members every year. The Class of 2018 will ultimately be enshrined in a ceremony held alongside the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas, Nevada later this summer.

It’s the same process that over the past few years has produced a series of worthy inductees. Players like Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, John Juanda, Todd Brunson, Carlos Mortensen, and of course, Ivey and Ulliott. So, there’s no real issue there.

The problem with the question of which player, or players, will follow Ivey and Ulliott into the Hall of fame this year, is that it might not be a player at all.

Poker Hall of Fame criteria

The main criteria to be considered when nominating someone for the Poker Hall of Fame hasn’t changed.

The player must have played against top competition. They must have played for high stakes and be a minimum of 40 years old. The player must have played consistently well, gaining the respect of his or her peers. They must have stood the test of time.

Or, for non-players, they must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game, with indelible positive and lasting results.

In 2017, two non-players made the top 10 nominations list in what is essentially a builders category.

Tournament director Matt Savage and TV producer Mori Eskandani are likely favorites to do it again this year. A non-player hasn’t been inducted since 1980s WSOP tournament director and 2000s Bellagio poker room manager Jack McClelland was in 2014. Therefore, Savage and Eskandani could even be considered favorites to get in this time around.

Both undoubtedly have the credentials for it.

Savage and Eskandani

Savage is possibly the best-known non-player in the game. He’s worked as a tournament director all over the world. He is one of the founders of the Tournament Directors Association. In fact, Savage was the WSOP TD the year Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event and helped spark poker’s big boom.

He’s held the TD position at Bay 101 Casino in San Jose and the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Helping put both places on the poker map. Plus, Savage has been the Executive Tour Director of the World Poker Tour for the past few years. Helping usher the WPT into the new era of televised poker.

Eskandani is the man in charge of Poker Productions. That’s the production company behind some of the game’s best TV. Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, the National Heads-Up Championship, these were all Eskandani productions. Plus, he’s still at it today, producing the WSOP broadcast for ESPN.

It could be argued both have contributed more to poker’s growth than any non-player before them. Their work has certainly had indelible positive and lasting results.

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Players including David Chiu, Ted Forrest, Thor Hansen, Mike ‘The Mouth’ Matusow, Max Pescatori, and Huck Seed also made the ballot last year. It could be argued each is deserving of a spot in the Hall and will likely get there one day.

Fan favorite Matusow is a popular choice. He could certainly make the cut this year. Even if it could be argued he needs to do more to gain the respect of his peers. Or prove he’s stood the test of time.

But there’s a good chance a non-player will join him in the class of 2018. Savage and Eskandani have both helped make the game of poker what it is today. It just seems like an appropriate time for the Poker Hall of Fame to recognize that fact.

Lead image courtesy of World Poker Tour/Flickr

The Professional Poker Tour (PPT) was a series of televised poker tournaments, spinning off from the World Poker Tour (WPT) television series. It billed itself as the first professional poker league, and was limited to players who have established themselves on the World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, or major participation on the poker circuit.

Matt Corboy was the lead commentator, with poker pro Mark Seif as color commentator and Kaye Han as floor reporter. The first season, taped in 2004-2005, began airing regularly on Travel Channel on July 5, 2006 and left the air in 2007.

• 2Qualifying

Television format[edit]

Events were telecast across five shows each. The first four shows were labeled as quarters, from 1st Quarter to 4th Quarter, reflecting early-round play in the event. The final six-player table was the fifth show of the cycle.

Qualifying[edit]

These tournaments were invitation-only freerolls (no entry fee, but only certain players were invited).

First season qualifiers[edit]

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• All WPT winners
• Any player that made more than one WPT final table in a single season
• Top three places in WPT Championship
• Top ten places on WPT Season 2 Player of the Year list
• All previous winners of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event
• Top three places in 2003 and 2004 WSOP Main Event
• Top ten places on CardPlayer Player of the Year list
• Top ten places on Phil Hellmuth Jr Champion of the Year list
• Members of the World Poker Tour Walk of Fame
• Members of the Poker Hall of Fame
• Fourth, fifth and sixth place finish in WPT Championship
• Fourth, fifth and sixth place finish in WSOP Main Event during 2003 or 2004
• Players selected by the PPT Advisory Committee
• Top ten places on Poker Europa List for 2004
• WPT commentators

Second season[edit]

World Poker Tour Live

The PPT was canceled after one season. Events that comprised the PPT in 2005 were integrated into the WPT schedule in 2007-08.

List Of Walk Of Fame Stars

Results[edit]