Negreanu, Hellmuth Criticize Poker Hall of Fame Voting System

2-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Jason Koon was inducted as the 65th member of the Poker Hall of Fame earlier this month. Virtually everyone in the poker world has agreed that he deserved the recognition, but his introduction raised another issue — this year, only one player got in, despite the voting rules having changed specifically to allow for more additions.

The general consensus among the poker community has been in recent years that there are too many eligible, deserving players and industry people waiting to get a HOF spot, thus the rate of one person per year would leave a lot of them out.

Last year, in 2025, Nick Schulman was originally voted to be inducted. However, after Michel Mizrachi ended up winning the WSOP Main Event and the WSOP Poker Players Championship in the same summer, the 32 living members held a special vote to grant him membership to honor his amazing feat. This was the first time since 2019 that more than one player got inducted in the same year.

The 2020s saw the change to one person per year. However, the updated 2026 rules allowed for as many as six players receiving a Hall of Fame spot — although that outcome was extremely unlikely. Under the new voting system, each living member got four votes. Any player who received a vote from at least 22 out of 33 living HOF players (two thirds) would automatically get it. If no player gets to the 22-vote threshold, only the player with the most votes would be inducted.

Jason Koon was the only one to clear that threshold, having won 23 and thus earning his Hall of Fame membership — however, leaving many disappointed with only one new inductee for the year.

Daniel Negreanu Proposes New Poker Hall of Fame Voting System

Poker.org has reached out to Daniel Negreanu, one of the now 34 living HOF players, to get his thoughts on the issue. He has responded with a proposal for a new voting system.

“The system is simply this: There are 8 nominees, you must rank-vote three of them, #1, #2, and #3. You are required to vote for three. Your first choice will receive five points, second three, and third two. The top two point getters overall are inducted into the HOF,” Negreanu told the site.

This also points to the core problem behind why only one of the eight nominees got to the 22-vote threshold. A lot of the eligible voters simply did not use all four of the votes granted to them.

17-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth was also contacted by Poker.org, and he too shared the sentiment that the current voting system leaves too many deserving players out. He named Shaun Deeb and Scott Seiver as specific examples. “But I think we need to change the rules, right?,” he added.

Which raises the question: should the Poker Hall of Fame change its voting rules in two consecutive years to make sure more than one player gets inducted next year?