Event #79 invites all living Poker Hall of Famers for a one-of-a-kind knockout tournament
The eagerly anticipated full schedule for the 2021 World Series of Poker went live on Tuesday, and the 88-event schedule offers the expected lineup of tournaments across nearly every imaginable poker format.
The 2021 series runs from Sept. 30 through Nov. 23 from its hallowed home at the Rio in Las Vegas, Near the end of that seven-week schedule sits what could be the most entertaining event among the 888 announced tournaments.
Event #79: Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em Freezout, begins Nov. 17, the same day that will see the 2021 WSOP Main Event crowned. As a two-day event, the second half of the Poker Hall of Fame Bounty event will likely be in the WSOP spotlight on Nov. 18, with the fervor surrounding the Main Event final table in the rear-view mirror.
Poker Hall of Fame members get a freeroll into Event #79
The Poker Hall of Fame Bounty invites all living members of the Poker Hall of Fame to take a free seat in the freezeout tournament. Mere mortals without Hall of Fame credentials can get into the event for a $1,979 buy-in.
The buy-in pays homage to 1979, the year in which the Poker Hall of Fame was established. In the last 42 years, the Poker Hall of Fame has expanded to include 56 members.
That 56-player total over a 42-year span reflects the exclusivity of Hall of Fame membership. The living members of the Hall of Fame get a freeroll to WSOP Event #79.
All Hall of Famers who play in the tournament get a bounty placed on their elimination, which corresponds to the year they were inducted into the Hall of Fame. Americas Cardroom Team Pro Chris Moneymaker, for example, was inducted in 2019, and any player eliminating the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion would earn a $2020 bounty.
Living Poker Hall of Fame members
| Year Inducted | Player Name | Year Inducted | Player Name |
| 1988 | Doyle Brunson | 2010 | Erik Seidel |
| 2002 | Lyle Berman | 2011 | Barry Greenstein |
| 2002 | Johnny Chan | 2013 | Tom McEvoy |
| 2003 | Bobby Baldwin | 2013 | Scotty Nguyen |
| 2004 | Berry Johnston | 2014 | Jack McClelland |
| 2005 | Jack Binion | 2014 | Daniel Negreanu |
| 2005 | Crandell Addington | 2015 | Jennifer Harman |
| 2006 | T.J. Cloutier | 2015 | John Juanda |
| 2006 | Billy Baxter | 2016 | Todd Brunson |
| 2007 | Barbara Enright | 2016 | Carlos Mortensen |
| 2007 | Phil Hellmuth | 2017 | Phil Ivey |
| 2008 | Dewey Tomko | 2018 | Mori Eskandani |
| 2008 | Henry Orenstein | 2019 | Chris Moneymaker |
| 2010 | Dan Harrington | 2019 | David Oppenheim |
| 2020 | Huck Seed |
The players with bounties on them will read quite literally like a list of Poker Hall of Famers for what could be the most memorable event on the 2021 schedule. We don’t know who will actually take a seat in Event #79, but it could include perhaps the biggest poker icon from this list.
Doyle Brunson announced that he plans on playing at least a few events from the WSOP 2021 schedule. The 86-year-old poker legend has already been a Poker Hall of Famer for 33 years, the longest tenure of any living member.
WSOP will also announce the next inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame during the event, which runs Nov. 17-18.
Featured image source: Twitter
