McEachern, Chad, Scheinberg & Antonius Are the New Nominees For the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2020

The open-nomination process of the Poker Hall of Fame (PHoF) Class of 2020 is now in the books. The fans have let their choice known, and four new names have made it through to the final list. The new nominees include World Series of Poker (WSOP) commentators Lon McEachern and Norman Chad, PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg and high-stakes player Patrik Antonius.

Joining these four are the 2019 nominees, namely Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow, and Huckleberry Seed.

This list of 11 nominees will now go to the 31 living Hall of Fame members, who will then cast their votes. Unlike years past, there is no mention of select members of the poker media being allowed to vote. The sole 2020 inductee will be revealed and honored during the WSOP Main Event heads-up finale on Wednesday, December 30, in Las Vegas.

2020 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists Announced :

Patrik Antonius
Lon McEachern and Norman Chad
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Chris Ferguson
Ted Forrest
Mike Matusow
Matt Savage
Isai Scheinberg
Huckleberry Seed

Voting Will Now Commence Among the 31 Living Members pic.twitter.com/2tBcAsWtu6

— WSOP (@WSOP) December 18, 2020

To be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame, nominees must meet the following criteria:

>A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition

>Be a minimum of 40-years-old at the time of nomination

>Played for high stakes

>Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers

>Stood the test of time

>For non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results

The poker personality who is selected this year will become the 59th individual inducted into the PHoF.

PHoF Class of 2020 – New Nominees

Lon McEachern

An American sports commentator most known for his hand-by-hand commentary of the World Series of Poker on ESPN, Lon McEachern has often been dubbed as the “voice of poker.” McEachern started his career working at a commercial radio station KTMS, before entering the television industry with KCOY-TV.

In 2002, ESPN reached out to McEachern, who was working as a mortgage banker at the time, to cover poker. He was brought back in 2003 alongside Norman Chad for the 2003 WSOP. The tournament was won by Chris Moneymaker and led to the ‘Moneymaker Effect’ and a corresponding surge in poker’s popularity. As of 2017, he has covered every World Series of Poker Main Event since ESPN acquired the broadcasting rights.

Norman Chad

Like McEachern, Norman Chad has also appeared on most ESPN’s poker broadcasts, including the WSOP and The United States Poker Championship, among other events. Since becoming ESPN’s poker analyst, Chad has also participated in 50 World Series of Poker events himself and accumulated $90,145 in WSOP cashes.

Chad writes a weekly sports-based column called Couch Slouch that appears in the Washington Post and several other newspapers.

Isai Scheinberg

The 73-year-old co-founder of PokerStars, Isai Scheinberg, was in the news a few months back when he was sentenced to time served and handed a $30,000 fine by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, all but concluding the Black Friday saga indictments.

Under Scheinberg’s direction, PokerStars took on the responsibility of paying out approximately $304 Million of Full Tilt Poker’s liabilities to players – before Scheinberg sold the company to Amaya Gaming in August 2014 for $4.9 Billion. This act was considered a good deed by acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss and played a prominent role in Scheinberg walking away with just a slap on the wrist. This undoubtedly won his brownie points with the poker community, with former PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreanu publicly nominating his name for the PHoF.

Patrik Antonius

Former tennis player and coach Patrik Antonius was mentored by poker pro Marcel Lüske as a member of Luske’s “Circle of Outlaws” and was later advised by Jennifer Harman. The Finnish pro began making a name for himself on the poker tournament circuit with two finishes near the final table of an EPT event and a WPT event in 2005. Antonius is a heads-up specialist. He is a regular high-stakes player online and one of the most successful ones, having won millions of dollars.