More than 9,200 poker players entered the 2026 World Series of Poker Main Event. That's more than 9,000 people hoping to be the next Main Event champion. Almost none of them are or will ever be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame.
But there are exceptions.
Of the eight players short-listed for 2026 induction into the Hall, six showed up for this year's Main Event, and five of those six are still alive in the event at the dinner break on Day 2. Their performance here has no direct relationship to their eligibility for the Hall of Fame, but they showed up to play nevertheless.
Hall of Fame grind never ends
By the time registration closed for this year's Main Event, 75% of the 2026 shortlist had made it into the field. No one saw short-listers Justin Bonomo or Isaac Haxton among the Main Event players. High-stakes hero Jason Koon entered but busted out early in his 2026 campaign. The rest of the list, Shaun Deeb, Christopher Moorman, Mike Matusow, Isai Scheinberg, and Scott Seiver were all still alive at the Day 2 dinner break Tuesday night.
Deeb is locked in a tight Player of the Year race and needs all the points he can manage in the last few events of the year. He's still in the field in the final hours of Day 2. Moorman, Matusow, and Seiver have already advanced to Day 3.
Meanwhile, Scheinberg entered the field near the close of registration and had nearly doubled his starting stack when he ran into two-time bracelet winner Athanasios Polychronopoulos' better hand. So, Scheinberg's Main Event is done, but don't be surprised if he ends up in another big event before the WSOP summer is over.
Scheinberg first cashed in a WSOP event in 1996 and just two years ago finished seventh in the WSOP $50,000 High Roller. While he's an accomplished player, his Hall of Fame eligibility and legacy are almost entirely based in his role as founder of PokerStars.
Scheinberg's online poker company helped set off the Moneymaker Boom and in the biggest of those years sent thousands of online qualifiers into the WSOP Main Event field.
During last year's Main Event, Scheinberg spoke to PokerOrg for the first time about his legacy in the game.
Hall of Fame announcement coming soon
Since the creation of the Poker Hall of Fame in 1979, only 63 people have earned poker's highest honor. Getting into the Hall is notoriously difficult, so much so that the rules changed this year to allow more players to get in.
To even be eligible, Players have to be 40 years old, played for high stakes and with acknowledged excellence. Their legacy has to have stood up over the test of time and maintained the respect of their peers. Non-playing poker industry pros must have shaped the game's growth in a meaningful and lasting way. And then, it was a rare year when more than one player would get the nod. Since the first World Series of Poker in 1970, only 63 players have entered the Hall of Fame.
This year, as many of the six players of the eight on the short list could end up in the Hall of Fame, but it will still be a few weeks before we know for sure who gets in the hall. The WSOP is scheduled to make the Hall of Fame announcements at the WSOP Main Event final table in August.
