The Poker Hall of Fame Is Broken Says Norman Chad

Norman Chad, one of the most famous voices in poker, has taken the Poker Hall of Fame to task this week over its US- and pro-centric focus, calling for changes to the voting process…

In an opinion column this week on CardsChat, the legendary ESPN commentator on the WSOP wrote:

"The Poker Hall of Fame is broken, and as a Poker Hall of Fame voter, I wish I knew how to fix it."

He goes on to cite his reasons for what has become an annual argument about who is nominated and why, the main problem being ‘the Hall is too US-centric’.

This year’s nominees are Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow, Chris Moneymaker, David Oppenheim, and Huck Seed.

 Only Sweden’s Bjorin is truly non-US as a pro, although Elezra and Esfandiari are officially Israeli- and Iranian-born.

In 2016, Carlos Mortensen became the first non-US inductee in the Hall of Fame’s forty years, the following year seeing the late, great Dave Devilfish Ulliott joining the ranks.

Too late, too few believes Chad who states:

“This needs to be rectified sooner than later.”

Chad has a few other gripes with the current system of choosing who gets in and who gets left on the Hall of Fame doorstep, including the ‘backlog’ of candidates – a maximum of two gaining entry each year – and the ‘mysterious’ nomination process.

One of his main points is that non-pros – the organisers, directors and behind-the-scenes guys and girls - are mixed in with legendary players.

Using EPT founder John Duthie and TDA founder Matt Savage as prime examples, Chad asks the very valid question:

"How can Duthie and Savage crack a line-up of poker-playing icons?”