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2011 Poker Hall of Fame Inductees Released

Being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame is what every poker player wants at some point in their career. Unfortunately most players will never have the chance to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. However, it was just announced that there are going to be two new inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame this year. In order to get voted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year players needed to be voted in by a panel of 35 Poker Hall of Fame inductees and poker media members.

There were a number of players that were up for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame this year including Annie Duke, Huck Seed, Jennifer Harman, Scott Nguyen, John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, Marcel Luske and Jack McClelland. The only two players that were inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year were Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson. Both poker players deserve to be in the Poker Hall of Fame along with the other 40 members that were inducted in previous years.

The eight finalists that weren’t inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame will have another chance to receive enough votes next year and I’m sure at least one of the 8 players will be inducted next year. It’s a great honour to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and not many poker players are given the chance to be inducted. There are only 42 members in the Poker Hall of Fame now and they don’t add many players on a yearly basis, which means only the very best of the best, will ever make it into the Poker HoF.

Linda Johnson might not be a familiar name to casual poker players, but she’s been in the poker industry for 30+ years. Linda has always been a strong supporter of poker and she’s done everything she can to increase the game’s reach. Currently Johnson is on the Board of Directors for the Ladies International Poker Series and Poker Players Alliance. Linda also purchased CardPlayer back in 1993 and was a publisher for eight years.

Barry Greenstein is known by everyone that plays poker and many people that don’t even play poker. Barry is a shark at the poker tables, but he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll meet away from the tables. He’s a great family man and father plus he has donated over $3M of his poker winnings throughout the years to various charities, which is more than 99% of the poker world can say they’ve ever donated to anything. Greenstein is often referred to as the Robin Hood of Poker because he takes money from the rich poker players and donates a percentage of the money to charities that are in need.

Linda Johnson and Barry Greenstein both deserve a seat in the Poker Hall of Fame and I’m glad that they were both inducted this year. The actual induction ceremony won’t take place until November 8th 2011, which is right before the final three players from the November Nine will complete the 2011 WSOP Main Event.