He was the name everyone expected to hear and that is how it ended up happening. Jason Koon
An undisputed choice
At 40 years old, Koon met all the requirements to enter on his first opportunity: an elite career facing the best players on the planet, decades of consistent results, and a career marked by success in the highest-stakes tournaments.
He currently holds third place on the all-time live tournament earnings list, with over US$77 million accumulated. A large part of that amount came in the Triton Poker circuit, where he is the all-time leading winner with 12 titles, a record that places him far ahead of the rest of his competitors. Additionally, he won two coveted WSOP bracelets: the US$25K Heads-Up Championship in 2021 and the US$50K High Roller in 2025.
However, the big story of this edition of the Hall of Fame was not only Koon’s induction but also what happened with the renewed voting system.
The Voting.
A process with modifications
The WSOP modified the process with the intention of easing the growing “bottleneck” that prevented the entry of multiple candidates with enormous careers. The 33 living Hall members could vote for up to four candidates, and any nominee who received at least 22 votes would be inducted. On paper, up to six people could even be inducted.
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But the reality was different: only Jason Koon received the necessary support.
The candidates included names of the caliber of Justin Bonomo
One of the cases that continues to generate the most debate is that of Scheinberg, founder of PokerStars, who was nominated for the seventh time without success. His influence on the global expansion of poker and, especially, his decision to assume the debts of Full Tilt Poker after Black Friday have earned him recognition from countless industry figures.
Isai Scheinberg, Once Again Left Out of the Poker Hall Of Fame.
Paradoxically, one of his biggest defenders was Jason Koon himself, who repeatedly stated that Scheinberg “deserves to be in the Hall of Fame as much as anyone.”
The system reform sought to open the doors to a generation of figures who have been waiting for their opportunity for years. The result, however, sent a clear message: the problem is no longer in the rules, but in the difficulty of reaching consensus among those privileged to decide who enters poker immortality.
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