The Poker Hall of Fame and age, should it matter?
In order to be inducted into the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame you must have been retired from the game for 5 years, and most other sports’ Hall of Fames have similar criteria for induction. The Poker Hall of Fame is in a tricky situation in this regards because there really isn’t a retirement in poker; sure your skills may diminish with time, but most players participate at some level until the day they die.
Recently players have advocated for a “Chip Reese Rule” where you must be 40 years-old in order to be nominated, but I ask the question: Is this old enough? The Poker HOF is a fairly new phenomenon, which means that many of the old-time players will be overlooked, even though they were the best players of their era. Players from the 50′s-80′s will never be able to produce the resumes of today’s players, but they were never given the chance!
A lot of people are looking to change the rule because of Phil Ivey. Ivey has dominated poker for the better part of 15 years despite being only 34 years-old. But the question I ask is this; does it matter if Ivey becomes a Poker Hall of Famer when he’s 40, or when he’s 50? Why not make players wait for the honor? I think there are two valid reasons for this:
#1 – by waiting to 50 we can be certain that they have withstood the test of time. Poker changes at such a rapid pace that a player who was dominant for a decade could suddenly find himself a -EV player, Phil Hellmuth anyone? For instance a player could burst on the scene and have a 5-year run where they win the WSOP Main Event, two or three other bracelets and maybe two other major tournaments -Think Jeff Lisandro or Jason Mercier’s recent results-does this necessarily mean they have stood the test of time?
#2 – more importantly in my opinion is to honor the players that have paved the way for today’s poker players to be the celebrities they are. After all there is no Michael Jordan without George Mikan. But if the Basketball Hall of Fame were to be started in 1980 Mikan would never be elected because there is too large a crop of other players also worthy -not only is Mikan out of mind, but the metrics used to measure success differ from era to era.
By pushing the eligibility age to 50 players like Tom McEvoy, Linda Johnson, Mike Caro, David Sklansky, John Bonetti, and Jay Heimowitz, among others, would be granted with the honor they deserve. These players were the cream of the crop in their era -or contributed mightily to poker’s advancement-and deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.
