Phil Ivey Too Young To Be In Poker Hall Of Fame

While many consider Phil Ivey among the greatest poker players of all time, the Godfather of Poker, Doyle Brunson, has said Ivey is “too young to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame”.

The youngest player ever inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame was none other than Chip Reese, at 40 years of age.  The current World Series of Poker record bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth had been inducted in 1997.  He was 43 at the time.

Doyle said on his blog, located on the Internet poker site that bears his name:

It’s almost time to vote for the 2009 inductees into the Poker Hall Of Fame and I’m unsure of who my choices will be. I’m leaning toward the older guys with my first choice being Mike Sexton. We have to pick two and I’m thinking hard about my other vote. Phil Ivey is the best player on the list, but he is only 33 years old. Chip Reese is the youngest player to be inducted at the age of 40. Phil is great, but he still isn’t Chip. Give Phil a few more years and he will certainly be elected.

This is not the first time Brunson has offered his opinion on Phil Ivey being too young for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame.  He said the same thing last year. 

“Phil is great, but he still isn't Chip. Give Phil a few more years and he will certainly be elected,” Brunson said at that time.

Daniel Negreanu is yet another of the big name poker players who is eligible to be entered into the Poker Hall of Fame, but Brunson says “not yet”.  At 36-years old, he too is a little bit young for the honor. 

Brunson’s top nominees would be Barry Greenstein, 55 years old, and eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel (50).

Seidel appears to be number one on Brunson’s list.

“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.”

The big faux pas involving nominees came when a very young Tom “Durrrr” Dwan had been mentioned early on as a Poker Hall of Fame inductee.  At 24 years of age, his name was scratched rather quickly.

Here is the entire list of 2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominees:

Chris Ferguson

Barry Greenstein*

Jennifer Harman

Dan Harrington*

Phil Ivey*

Linda Johnson

Tom McEvoy*

Daniel Negreanu*

Scotty Nguyen*

Erik Seidel*

- Ace King reporting for Gambling911.com