The 2026 Main Event wrapped up, and Jason Koon became the newest member of the Poker Hall of Fame.
Almost no one doubts the righteousness of that decision, but the results of the vote still shocked most experts and poker fans.
In 2026, organizers implemented a new voting system specifically to allow more than one candidate to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
All current Hall of Fame members (33 in total) could vote for any number of players—from 1 to 4 (or, of course, not vote at all)—out of the 8 nominees. To be inducted, a player needed 22 votes.
Only Koon surpassed that mark.
Interestingly, Jason even got one vote too many. He would have been included regardless. According to the rules, if no one gets the coveted 22 votes, the leader still gets into the Hall.'
The Triton Poker Series put in some support for their ambassador, calling him a "perfect fit" for this commendation.
It's something the poker world will unanimously agree with.
Koons reputation is stellar, both at the tables and off of them. He is a perfect fit.
"Congratulations to Kuhn, he's a no-brainer," David Bach said, summing up the general sentiment. "But I'm a little concerned that only 110 of the 132 votes were used. Apparently, some people didn't vote. I'm SHOCKED that Seaver wasn't chosen. It's hard to find anyone more deserving of a place in the Hall of Fame."
Yesterday I joined the Poker Hall of Fame. A few of the guys on this year’s list are heroes of mine and deserve to be in as much as I do; I’m sure their day is coming soon.
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) August 4, 2026
When I found poker, I was immediately and forever in it. It was my path to independence, my teacher in… pic.twitter.com/GTs2WyS3od
Out of the 33 living Hall of Fame members, some of the most famous players who are eligible to vote:
- Phil Hellmuth
- Phil Ivey
- Daniel Negreanu
- Johnny Chan
- Chris Moneymaker
- Erik Seidel
- Patrik Antonius
- Scotty Nguyen
- Dan Harrington
- Barry Greenstein
Koon completely recognized the prestige of becoming part of the club.
"Some of the guys that were eligible this year are heroes of mine and mentors of mine, and they're definitely gonna be on my ballot when I vote next year. I've devoted my entire life to this. My entire essence, every ounce of physical and mental grit I could grind, has come out of this game," he said. "And yeah, I really... I still can't believe it. Even getting in at all is shocking, and going in my first year of eligibility is wild."
Scott Seiver paused briefly while the social media furor raged, then wrote a lengthy post:
– I want to start this off by saying how obviously deserving Jason is of the hall of fame, and am deeply touched by the words people have reached out to me last night, specifically Jason himself and Schulman and Negreanu, which has really helped temper my emotions so far. Having gotten to watch Jason's incredible career every step of the way has been an honor and witnessing what he's created and the amount of pure work and dedication to carving it out is something I hold in the highest esteem, and am certain there is no one else on earth that could have done what he has done and traveled the path he has, and he is the exact type of player and also person that exemplifies what the poker hall of fame should represent.
Doyle once told me at the table, something I always held close to my heart because of how much him and I played together, maybe the most of literally anyone on the planet other than David Oppenheim in the last 20 years, he told me there are 8-10 voters that don't follow the current poker world anymore and ask him who to vote for the hall every year, and I should be praying for his good health such that when I'm 40 I can be the one who gets in. When a full 30% of the electorate has moved on from poker it makes the system they chose without clear personalized explanations and that every ballot had to be filled online and with lots of ambiguity in the instructions, made it nearly impossible for anyone mathematically to even be able to clear the 2/3 vote even if receiving near unanimous support from people that are up to date and knowledgeable.
I think going forwards I would love to see all nominees get to write a couple paragraph blurb detailing their accomplishments and how it fits into the wider realm of the poker world in an attempt to get to make their own case to the panel of voters, and I think this will humanize the process far more than seeing 8 names and a yes or no checkbox with no further information.
I'm glad that despite these changes I would want to see, that the hall absolutely succeeded in electing a generational talent and has succeeded in correctly finding someone as deserving as one can be.
“Doyle always said you were one of only two jews that would get his vote lol,” Nick Shulman said cheerfully.
"Who's second?" they asked in the comments.
– Eli Elezra.
Daniel Negreanu wrote that he proposed a different voting system:
– Poker Hall of Fame:
I offered a system that I think is much better than the one we used this year.
PHOF members must choose 3 nominees and rank them:
- 1st 5 pts
- 2nd 3 pts
- 3rd 2 pts
Top two point getters are in, and an additional third if they get over 50 points.
I think the PHOF voters got it right with Jason Koon, but a couple others should have gotten in too.
The goal of the new system was to clear the backlog to some degree, but the system failed.
Phil Hellmuth also calls for reform:
– Poker Hall of Fame; We need a new system for voting
I called Shaun Deeb today and told him he deserves to be in. He pointed out that 42 (32?) votes were not cast (that’s a problem)
I told Deeb that Ike Haxton deserves to be put in even more than he does by 1% (real talk!). Shaun didn’t argue saying he is happy w the path he chose—wife and kids over cash game and tourney volume (I’m proud of Shaun and I have a lot of love for him)
Ike has been mean to me privately and publicly, for 24 years! But, my vote is cast for the most deserving player, period!
Obs Scott Seiver should be in the HOF as well. Scott and Ike played the biggest games in the world for like 20 years and both crushed tourneys…
I voted for JasonKoon, Seiver, Deeb and Ike. In my opinion, they should have made it in this year
However, one player trumps all of them all!
“Professor Backwards”
Ted Forrest should be in the Poker Hall of Fame. John Hennigan and every old school player agrees w me. Ted played the biggest poker games on the planet for 25 years. He won the NBC Heads Up Championship. He won 6 WSOP Bracelets. He won one WPT title. Ted once sat down in a $10,000-$20,000 limit Hold’em game w 100% of his own money!! No other pro had 100% of themselves in THAT game. Prologue: Teddy won that day.
"Ted Forrest is NOT already in? I would have lost a bet," wrote Andy Bloch.
"If you are one of the greatest poker mind of your generation… you should be in," Mustafa Kanit commented, a man who only tweets on special occasions.
Kind of shocking what’s going on with the hall of fame I can’t think of people that deserve it more than Scott Seiver or Shaun Deeb. They definitely destroyed all the formats you can play for a long time.
Ike Haxton is probably one of the most influential guys regarding the game of many. Literally heritage.
Same thing with Moorman. He inspired a generation to play online mtt and over that he was a great competitor and great ambassador for decades.
All 4 never had a cheating allegation or a money issue or anything.
It should not be judged about character. This guys changed the game and beat everyone ass on a daily basis for years and every summer they still beat everyone ass on a daily basis.
Stop the nonsense. You not making a favor to anyone to let greatness outside of where it belong. This guys belong there. All of them with the same rights.
All of them inspiring some guy from somewhere to start this venture and take it professional. All givers in their own form. All insane competitors in their own form.
In four years, players born in 1990 will be eligible for induction into the Hall of Fame. Mike McDonald is already thinking about who from that generation could join the list:
– Who are the 10 most accomplished poker players born in the 1990s?
I think less than 0.5 people per birthyear will belong in the hall of fame, and that more than counteracts almost 1.5 people per birthyear born in the 1980s belonging in there
"The list starts and ends with Trueteller," Scott Seaver replied.
"Even shorter than I thought. I always thought Jungle was 1990 but even he's 80s after googling."
"Congrats to Jason Koon, very obviously deserving of the Poker Hall of Fame, not to mention GOAT discussion," wrote Brian Hastings, "Can someone explain why/how only 1 person ended up getting inducted again in spite of the new system?"
"Some of the living hall of fame members didn’t vote," Matt Savage explained.
"How do you know they didn’t vote?" David Williams questioned. "Just because it doesn’t add up to 33 x 4? Perhaps some didn’t vote for 4. A HOF'er I spoke to during the WSOP said he didn’t feel 4 were worthy and he was only voting Koon."
– "I was told," Savage replied.
"Yea get them the fuck outta here…" Nicky Palma said angrily. "What does this even mean they didn’t vote. Clown shit"
"Congratulations to Jason," Sam Greenwood joined in the congratulations . "Could not be more on brand for the WSOP that their system to induct more people to clear up a log jam failed to do that."
After leaving GGPoker, Jason Koon became a sponsored PokerStars ambassador, at the same time as being a Triton ambassador.
Both companies are lucky to have Koon onboard.
