“It feels good to be included”

Huck Seed is the newest member of the Poker Hall of Fame. A popular person and player among his peers, the 51-year-old has it all: a lofty live tournament resume, peerless cash game skills, and a legendary prop bet history.

The announcement of Seed’s induction was supposed to be made before the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event finale Wednesday afternoon, but since the heads-up match was pushed to the weekend, Caesars Entertainment and the World Series of Poker moved the reveal up a few hours:

“Hearing the news that I am being inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame this year brought back memories of my early poker days, walking into the Binion’s Horseshoe, about to start a poker session, admiring all the Poker Hall of Famers on the wall,” Seed said. “It feels good to be included with all the poker legends that I once idolized and competed against over the years. Thank you everyone.”

Career triple threat

Huck Seed grabbed the attention of the poker world after winning the 1996 WSOP Main Event and its $1m first prize. In his live tournament career, he has earned more than $7.6m, according to TheHendonMob.com. His tournament accolades include four total WSOP bracelets, the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions title, the 2009 NBC Heads-Up Championship trophy, and two WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship final tables.

crushed souls on a daily basis”

Though cash games are not documented like tournaments, Huck Seed has for a couple decades been regarded as one of the most intimidating players in the world. Take it from 2010 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Erik Seidel, who said Seed broke “Huck came on the scene & for a period took on all comers & crushed souls on a daily basis.”:

And while not strictly poker-related, Seed’s standing as one of the game’s most insane prop bettors speaks to his personality and likeability. One of his most legendary prop bet wins was when he won six figures by shooting better than 100 on an 18-hole desert golf course four times in a single day while only using a five-iron, sand wedge, and putter. He also won $10,000 from Howard Lederer by doing a standing backflip. The catch was that he had never done one and had two days to learn.

Among his losses include a bet with Doyle Brunson that he could run a 4:40 mile. His amazing 4:47 wasn’t enough.

Voted in by his peers

Huck Seed’s induction into the Poker Hall of Fame comes at the end of a process which commenced at the beginning of December. For less than two weeks, anyone who wished could nominate someone, subject to specific criteria. At the close of the nomination process, the top ten qualified vote getters became the finalists.

From there, the 31 living Poker Hall of Fame members cast their votes. They each had ten votes to distribute among the ten finalists in any way they saw fit. One voter abstained, resulting in 300 total votes cast. For the first time, the Hall published the voting results, revealing that Huck Seed was the runaway winner:

Huckleberry Seed – 76 Votes
Matt Savage – 51 Votes
Isai Scheinberg – 45 Votes
Eli Elezra – 30 Votes
Antonio Esfandiari – 23 Votes
Lon McEachern and Norman Chad – 20 Votes
Ted Forrest – 20 Votes
Mike Matusow – 17 Votes
Patrik Antonius – 15 Votes
Chris Ferguson – 3 Votes