Poker Hall Of Fame: John Hennigan, Mori Eskandani Inducted

John Hennigan and Mori Eskandani have been inducted into the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame.

The World Series of Poker, owner of the Hall of Fame, announced Thursday that the two would become the 55th and 56th members of the exclusive club. The 10 finalists were announced earlier this month after an online nomination process.

The two men beat out David Oppenheim, Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Bruno Fitoussi, Mike Matusow, Chris Moneymaker, Matt Savage and Huck Seed for induction this year.

The two inductees were selected by the 28 living members and an 18-person media panel.

Hennigan and Eskandani were inducted officially on Thursday as part of the live main event final table coverage on ESPN.

“I’m very excited by this news and grateful that it came at a point in my career when I was mature enough to be honored by it, because I am,” Hennigan said in a statement. “Thanks to everyone who voted for me!”

Hennigan was nominated for the first time this year, while Eskandani was among the 10 finalists in years past.

Hennigan is coming off a remarkable summer at the annual poker festival. In addition to winning bracelet no. 5, he’s already cashed 10 times at the series, including a second and three seventh-place finishes. “Johnny World” is also considered one of the best high-stakes cash game players on the planet. Eskandani does play poker, but he is better known for his production of the leading poker programming on television the past two decades. He’s been behind WSOPbroadcasts, the NBC Heads-Up ChampionshipPoker After Dark and High Stakes Poker.

“Eskandani has helped bring the game of poker to the masses and ensure the game is always front and center with the public from a television medium standpoint,” the WSOPsaid in a statement.

The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars) along with the World Series of Poker in 2004. Though the Hall of Fame is virtual in nature, its membership includes poker’s most influential players and other important contributors to the game. There are now 30 living members.

Here is a look at all 56 players inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

Name Year Inducted
Johnny Moss 1979
Nick “The Greek” Dandolos 1979
Felton “Corky” McCorquodale 1979
Red Winn 1979
Sid Wyman 1979
James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok 1979
Edmond Hoyle 1979
Blondie Forbes 1980
Bill Boyd 1981
Tom Abdo 1982
Joe Bernstein 1983
Murph Harrold 1984
Red Hodges 1985
Henry Green 1986
Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson 1987
Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson 1988
Jack “Treetop” Straus 1988
Fred “Sarge” Ferris 1989
Benny Binion 1990
David “Chip” Reese 1991
Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston 1992
Jack Keller 1993
Julius Oral Popwell 1996
Roger Moore 1997
Stu “The Kid” Ungar 2001
Lyle Berman 2002
Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan 2002
Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin 2003
Berry Johnston 2004
Jack Binion 2005
Crandell Addington 2005
T.J. Cloutier 2006
Billy Baxter 2006
Barbara Enright 2007
Phil Hellmuth 2007
Dewey Tomko 2008
Henry Orenstein 2008
Mike Sexton 2009
Dan Harrington 2010
Erik Seidel 2010
Linda Johnson 2011
Barry Greenstein 2011
Eric Drache 2012
Brian “Sailor” Roberts 2012
Scotty Nguyen 2013
Tom McEvoy 2013
Daniel Negreanu 2014
Jack McClelland 2014
Jennifer Harman 2015
John Juanda 2015
Carlos Mortensen 2016
Todd Brunson 2016
David “Devilfish” Ulliott 2017
Phil Ivey 2017
John Hennigan 2018
Mori Eskandani 2018

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