Newly Eligible Shaun Deeb is Poker Hall of Fame Worthy, But Will He Get in This Year?

Shaun Deeb, as of March 1, is now eligible for induction into the Poker Corridor of Fame after reaching age 40.

There are few in poker — even his haters — who may provide you with an argument as to why the eight-time World Sequence of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner is not worthy of induction sooner or later. The numbers do not lie and neither do the outcomes he is put up — on-line and dwell — for practically 20 years. However regardless of having a first-ballot Corridor of Fame resume, he turned eligible in one of the vital aggressive years in latest historical past, thus mentioning the talk if he’ll get in immediately or be pressured to attend a number of years.

Not solely are there loads of deserving leftovers who did not make the reduce final 12 months (Scott Seiver, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Galfond, Vanessa Selbst, Matt Savage, to call a number of), this 12 months’s checklist of first-time eligible candidates is stacked. Jason Koon, Justin Bonomo, and Isaac Haxton all have over $60 million in dwell event cashes and reached eligibility inside the previous 12 months.

That is to not say Deeb is not equally or extra deserving than these poker legends. However it is going to come all the way down to which candidate the voters assume is most worthy. The WSOP solely inducts one participant or trade particular person every year, aside from 2025 when Michael Mizrachi, after profitable the WSOP Important Occasion and Poker Gamers Championship in the identical 12 months, was granted a particular exemption induction days after Nick Schulman was inducted.

Shaun Deeb’s Poker Corridor of Fame Resume

Deeb has a prolonged historical past of dominating in low, mid, and high-stakes money video games and tournaments — dwell and on-line. However his strongest promoting level to the voters (i.e. dwelling members of the PHOF) is that he is received prestigious awards and tournaments.

The New York native with $17.4 milion in The Hendon Mob dwell event cashes, has received eight WSOP bracelets. Solely six gamers in historical past have extra, with Phil Hellmuth main the best way at 17 bracelets. Deeb received his most up-to-date bracelet final fall at WSOP Europe in a €25,000 Excessive Curler.

Deeb has stood the take a look at of time, a key standards for Poker Corridor of Fame induction. He has on-line poker outcomes relationship again to the 2000s and six-figure or higher dwell event cashes in 15 of the previous 18 years (excluding the pandemic 12 months of 2020).

The resume additionally contains two WSOP Participant of the 12 months awards, a distinction he shares with Daniel Negreanu and no one else. Deeb is the reigning POY winner, an honor he additionally achieved in 2018. As a televised money sport participant, he has over $280,000 in earnings, totally on Poker Evening in America, in simply 164 hours of play, in response to HighRollPoker.com.

Beneficiary of Recency Bias?

If the voters favor somebody like Seiver or maybe Mike Matusow getting into the 2026 WSOP Europe sequence later this month (or summer season WSOP in Las Vegas), Deeb may have alternatives to vary their minds. Recency bias has come into play a number of occasions in Poker Corridor of Fame voting.

Deeb will attend the WSOP Europe sequence, the primary leg within the 2026 WSOP Participant of the 12 months chase, and his first alternative because the Bahamas to win his ninth bracelet. There are 100 bracelet occasions on the summer season WSOP schedule, offering loads of further possibilities to impress the voters.

If Deeb is not chosen this 12 months, he’ll definitely be among the many favorites every summer season for PHOF induction till he lastly will get the nod. However the backlog is barely going to extend within the coming years when extra elite gamers grow to be eligible, resembling Tom Dwan (2027) and Kristen Foxen (2027). And that does not even embrace the in depth checklist of deserving candidates who’ve already reached eligibility, together with Josh Arieh, Jeremy Ausmus, and lots of others, some talked about above.

Little question Deeb will in the future attain the Poker Corridor of Fame. However will it’s in 2026, his first 12 months of eligibility? That query might be answered in about 4 months.

Shaun Deeb’s World Sequence of Poker Bracelets