Daniel Negreanu wants Hall of Fame changes

KidPoker lays out point by point plan to bring back clarity to the Hall of Fame nomination process.

Using his fullcontactpoker blog, Daniel Negreanu has laid out his plan for changes needed for the current poker Hall of Fame selection process.

On the back of last week’s announcement that this year’s entries were Todd Brunson and Carlos Mortensen, KidPoker believes that the current process lacks clarity and suggests necessary changes.

While the Toronto native takes no issue with the elected pair, calling them “both gentlemen friends and tough players”, he would still like to see changes made to the methods by which they were elected, starting with the “Builder” category.

His stated reasoning for altering the terms of nomination are that he believes that non-players should only receive nominations every four years alongside two professional entries each year, eliminating unfair comparisons and saving space for actual poker players.

Arguing against the top competition criterion, Negreanu campaigns that should a player have achieved enough for the ultimate nomination, then he will almost certainly have played at such a level, so this should be removed.

Under his new proposals, High Stakes would be re-classified as games with buy-ins above $10,000, Fixed-Limit cash games of $400-$800 and above, and No-Limit cash games of $25-$50 and above.

Little more than a popularity contest

On top of this, KidPoker believes that the current selection format, a public vote, boils down to little more than a popularity contest and the ten proposed should be constructed of four players proposed by fans and six nominated from the media and Hall of Fame voting panel.

He would also like to lengthen the “stood the test of time rule” to ensuring players have played at a consistent level for a minimum period of fifteen years.

The changes Negreanu would like to see implemented are:

• Players must be at least 40 years old
• Poker skills are well respected by their peers
• Shown consistency for a minimum of 15 years
• Been exceptional in Cash Games, Tournaments or Online Poker
• Played for High Stakes. (Tournaments with buy-ins over $10,000, Limit Cash games $400-$800+, No Limit Cash games of $25-$50+)

What do you think of Daniel's proposed changes?