Women in Poker Hall of Fame Opens Nominations
Every two years, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame accepts nominations for women to be honored for their contributions to poker. This happens in the late summer or early fall, and the women who are ultimately chosen will be the focus of a ceremony in December.
As September began, WiPHoF (Women in Poker Hall of Fame) founder Lupe Soto announced the start of the nomination process for 2024.
Nominations to September 23
The public plays a vital role in the nomination process for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame. Everyone is welcome to submit a name for consideration, along with reasons that the person should make the official nomination list.
Of course, people can submit any name they wish, but for serious consideration, potential nominees must meet the following criteria:
- Person must be 35 years of age or older.
- Person must have been active as a player or industry leader for at least 10 years.
- Person must have contributed to poker in a significant way, by winning major poker tournaments or making substantial contributions to the industry as a whole.
- Person must be a proponent of women in poker.
The public nomination process will close on September 23. Everyone is welcome to vote on the WiPHoF website.
Next Steps
From that point, the WiPHoF Committee will consider the nominations. This process includes approval of each nominee by the WiPHoF Board of Directors and all living members of the Hall of Fame that choose to participate.
The nominees, then, must agree to the WiPHoF terms and conditions.
All nominees who’ve met the requirements will then be placed on a ballot, for which voting will begin on October 14. All members of the WiPHoF and a group of poker industry members will vote. Each of them will receive ten votes to distribute as they see fit.
When votes are cast and tallied, the WiPHoF Committee will tally the votes and announce the person or persons who will be inducted this year. There will be a celebration and ceremony scheduled for sometime in December 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (The 2022 WiPHoF luncheon took place at the PokerGO Studio on the Las Vegas Strip during the WPT World Championship in December.)
Current WiPHoF Members
Starting with the first year of 2008, when a group of women were inducted to establish the basis for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, the current members of WiPHoF are:
- 2008: Barbara Enright, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Marsha Waggoner, Susie Isaacs, June Field, Cyndy Violette
- 2010: Kathy Liebert, Billie Brown
- 2011: Kristy Gazes, Phyllis Caro, Margie Heintz
- 2012: JJ Liu, Kathy Raymond
- 2014: Deborah Giardina, Allyn Jaffrey Shulman
- 2016: Victoria Cohen, Debbie Burkhead
- 2018: Maria Ho, Lupe Soto
- 2022: Vanessa Selbst, Terry King, Angelica Hael, Jennifer Tilly
Note that the beginning years of the WiPHoF process, the years were a bit inconsistent. And it’s notable that 2020 is missing, but it was the year that the Covid pandemic shut down the poker industry. Thus, there were four women inducted in 2022.
