Brunson Says Phil Ivey Too Young To Be Poker Hall of Fame Inductee 2010
October 12, 2010 7:18 pmAs the quest to find the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame inductee continues, the legendary Doyle Brunson has been weighing in with his opinion on the ten nominees chosen to be this year’s candidates.
Considering the wealth of talent short listed, Brunson is placing age high up on his criterion for choosing a champion. This is hardly surprising bearing in mind the youngest player ever to be inducted was a 40-year old Chip Reese in 1991, followed by the 43-year old Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth in 1997.
Consequently, Brunson states that the 34 year-old Phil Ivey and 36-year old Negreanu will inevitably find themselves inducted in the future, but for now “It’s only a matter of time.”
Brunson also applied the same criterion to Jennifer Harman-Traniello, whom he considers to be the “all-time best female player” but “will probably need a few more years before she goes in.”
Another factor Brunson considers vital to being an inductee is a willingness to get involved in the high stakes cash games, which he believes rules out Dan Harrington and to a lesser degree mid stake pro Tom McEvoy and tournament specialist Chris Ferguson.
He also states that “the First Lady of Poker” Linda Johnson wasn’t a “strong candidate this year” and that Scotty Nguyen will have to recover from his tarnished reputation before he finds himself in the Poker Hall of Fame.
Despite winning the inaugural Chip Reese Memorial $50,000 HORSE tournament in 2008, Scotty Nguyen’s drunken behaviour and foul language irked the whole poker community and even led 3rd place finisher Erick Lindgren to remark to Daniel Negreanu on the way out, “You can’t beat a drunk!”
However, the nominees who are being favoured by Brunson are Barry Greenstein (55), whom he says ticks all the required boxes, and of course 8 time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel (50).
Commenting on Seidel Brunson states; “I gave almost all of my votes to Erik. Most people don’t remember his cash game play but he was in all of the games in his early career. He meets all the requirements and his exemplary conduct deserves a special accolade. He reminds me of Chip Reese.”
In the meantime Doyle has been having some fun on his Twitter account and the result of his own poker polls have yielded the following results:
Players to be killed…Hamilton, Helmuth, Tony G, and Shieky.
Men’s vote on poker players you want to have sex with 1.Shannon Elizabeth 2. Vanessa Russo 3. Jennifer Tilly.
Women’s vote on poker players you want to have sex with 1. Gus Hanson 2. Patrick Antonius 3.Phil Ivey…Jen Tilly made both lists for the sex.
Poker players you want to hang out with. 1.Phil Laak 2.Gavin Smith 3. Daniel Negranau.