Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2030

We looked into our crystal ball this week and saw a glimpse at what the Poker Hall of Fame (HOF) Class of 2030 will look like. Normally the Poker Hall of Fame only inducts one or two new members each year, if any at all, but it appears 2030 will see four new enshrinees. Justin Bonomo Although his poker career got off to a controversial start when he was caught multi-tabling at Party Poker, HOF voters said they appreciated the fact that he opened extra SNGs to offset his edge. Some twenty-five years after that incident, Bonomo proved he belongs in the HOF after racking up more than $15 million in live poker tournament career winnings and countless more in high stakes cash games. Bonomo was also a trailblazer in the ultra multi-tabling field by setting the standard for number of tables a true online grinder should play at once: sixty-four. Bonomo is praised for his ability to make an average of 3.1 decisions per second when playing online poker while maintaining a winrate that is top among his peers. online poker 468x60 He still resides in the Panorama Tower and is a member of the Panorama4Life committee, a group of poker players who made a pact to live their for the complete duration of their lives. Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier After recently being able to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that he has played more hands of poker than anyone in the history of the world, HOF voters finally gave Grospellier the nod despite their obvious French bias. The man they call 'ElkY' has played an average of 20 million hands per year over the course of his poker career and was the first to popularize the practice of multi-tabling tournaments on a cell phone when playing in a live poker tournament. In 2023, ElkY made history by winning the World Championships of Online Poker Main Event and a European Poker Tour event on the same day. However, Grospellier claims this is not the greatest achievement of his career. That honor, he says, is reserved for his world record setting feat of playing 189 sit-'n'-gos in just one hour's time for a profit. Paul Clark The oldest living WSOP bracelet winner received a sentimental vote this year to make his way into the HOF. Formerly known by his nickname 'Eskimo', Clark took on a different nickname later in his career, the 'Benjamin Button of Poker'. After Clark was given 200:1 odds on a $10,000 bet that he couldn't go ten years without having a heart attack, he became an avid exercise enthusiast and lost 140 pounds. Today, Clark is known for his commitment to a vegetarian diet while avoiding cigarettes and alcohol. With his landfall prop bet winnings, Clark turned around his tendency for poor money management and even wrote a book called 'Bankroll Management and Exercise: A Recipe for Longevity'. At the age of 83, Clark narrowly missed winning his first World Championship after finishing 3rd. His effort in the tournament captured the heart of America and is credited for triggering a poker boom among geriatrics. Oliver Gill PokerTips forum member Oliver 'SwoopAE' Gill was the fourth and final member of the 2030 Hall of Fame Class. For over a decade in his early years as a poker player, Gill was a struggling player who was able to take just enough money off of political betting fish to keep himself in the game. In 2022, Gill was finally able to successfully register for the WSOP Main Event after countless failed attempts. In his first try, he won the whole tournament. The following year, he won it again becoming the first back-to-back winner since Johnny Chan in 1987 and 1988. In 2024, Gill was named the best poker player in the world and best political election handicapper in the world. He celebrated by hooking up with two strippers, one for each thing that he is best in the world at. He continues to grind mid-stakes on Full Tilt.