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.

NameYear Inducted
Johnny Moss1979
Nick “The Greek” Dandolos1979
Felton “Corky” McCorquodale1979
Red Winn1979
Sid Wyman1979
James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok1979
Edmond Hoyle1979
Blondie Forbes1980
Bill Boyd1981
Tom Abdo1982
Joe Bernstein1983
Murph Harrold1984
Red Hodges1985
Henry Green1986
Walter Clyde “Puggy” Pearson1987
Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson1988
Jack “Treetop” Straus1988
Fred “Sarge” Ferris1989
Benny Binion1990
David “Chip” Reese1991
Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston1992
Jack Keller1993
Julius Oral Popwell1996
Roger Moore1997
Stu “The Kid” Ungar2001
Lyle Berman2002
Johnny “The Orient Express” Chan2002
Bobby “The Owl” Baldwin2003
Berry Johnston2004
Jack Binion2005
Crandell Addington2005
T.J. Cloutier2006
Billy Baxter2006
Barbara Enright2007
Phil Hellmuth2007
Dewey Tomko2008
Henry Orenstein2008
Mike Sexton2009
Dan Harrington2010
Erik Seidel2010
Linda Johnson2011
Barry Greenstein2011
Eric Drache2012
Brian “Sailor” Roberts2012
Scotty Nguyen2013
Tom McEvoy2013
Daniel Negreanu2014
Jack McClelland2014
Jennifer Harman2015
John Juanda2015
Carlos Mortensen2016
Todd Brunson2016
David “Devilfish” Ulliott2017
Phil Ivey2017
John Hennigan2018
Mori Eskandani2018

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