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After over a month of nominations, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) has made the much-awaited announcement – the 2022 inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame. Joining the prestigious group is the late Layne Black. Black’s name was unveiled on Sunday, July 10, alongside the WSOP Main Event and Event #76: $19,79 Hall of Fame Bounty.
Aka “Back-to-Back Flack,” Flack was announced as one of the ten finalists for the 2021 Class of the PhoF on October 20, 2021. While Eli Elezra eventually walked away with the honors last year, Flack was nominated again for the 2022 PHoF.
This time the living PHoF-ers picked him over nine other nominees – all decorated players/industry veterans like Matt Savage, Josh Arieh, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Kathy Liebert, Mike Matusow, Norman Chad & Lon McEachern, Michael Mizrachi, Brian Rast, and Isai Scheinberg.
Chad Holloway tweeted the news of Flack’s induction into the PHoF.
The late great Layne Flack, who passed away last year, was selected as the 2022 Poker Hall of Fame inductee during a Hall of Fame bounty event at the @WSOP Sunday afternoon.https://t.co/ENXNTphDRz pic.twitter.com/0ZC7jcCKWg
— Chad Holloway (@ChadAHolloway) July 12, 2022
Phil Hellmuth was among the players who welcomed WSOP’s decision to enlist Flack into the PHoF.
Yay! Welcome to the Poker Hall of Fame “Back-to-Back Flack,” well deserved Layne Flack (RIP) https://t.co/KQJ2JXrE1g
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 12, 2022
Flack’s close friend, former bracelet champion Derick “Tex” Barch, paid obeisance to Flack after the WSOP announced his entry into the PHoF. Barch said – “He (Flack) was an amazing friend, more like a brother. Through good, bad, and all his mischief – Layne had your back!”
He added, “Layne was close to my children. He would come and spend weeks at our house. Always entertaining them, taking them places, and making sure it was all about them. When my daughter died this past January, one thing that brought comfort to me was to know that Layne would be there to greet her, and they could laugh together in eternity.”
Layne Flack – the Poker Powerhouse
Layne Flack, a Las Vegas resident, was considered one of the best in the business from the region. In his lifetime, he won six WSOP bracelets and collected over $ 5 million in live tournament winnings through a poker career that spanned over 28 years. Sadly, Flack passed away on July 19, 2021, at 52.
Interestingly, Flack, who hailed from Rapid City, South Dakota, worked as a poker dealer in small card clubs in Montana. He was 24 when he moved to Reno, Nevada, where he learned the game from poker greats like Johnny Chan and Ted Forrest.
Flack’s first-ever recorded live tournament cash dates back to 1994 when he final-tabled a tournament in Reno. While his first big score came in August 1997, when he won the Hall of Fame Poker Classic $1,570 NLHE for $67,800, it was only in April 1998 that he posted his first cash at the WSOP, somersaulting into the limelight with a runner-up finish in Event #7: $2,000 NLHE for $133,000.
Flack’s ability was noticed, and Johnny Chan often backed him.
Flack won his first bracelet in the 1999 WSOP Event #12: $3,000 PLO. The same year in August, he won the nickname “Back-to-Back Flack” after he took down two consecutive Legends of Poker events. He repeated the feat three years later by winning two gold bracelets each at the 2002 and the 2003 WSOP.
In 2008, Flack won his sixth bracelet in Event #34: $1,500 PLO for career-best live tournament cash of $577,725. His last WSOP cash was in 2020 when he placed 76th in WSOP.com Event #30: NLHE Senior’s Event for $778.
Though he has been added to the PHoF posthumously, Flack’s induction to the prestigious group speaks volumes about the rich legacy he has left behind.