On Saturday, World Series of Poker officials announced that Tom McEvoy (pictured) and Scotty Nguyen will be the 45th and 46th members of the Poker Hall of Fame. Both players are former WSOP Main Event champions and will be inducted as a result of a vote from a 37-man panel that included this author. Also voting were living members of the Poker Hall of Fame and various media personnel.

McEvoy, who won the Main Event in 1983 and has authored numerous strategy books that can be found on the shelves of poker players around the world, commented in a WSOP press release, “I would like to thank everyone for making my election to the Poker Hall of Fame possible. It was a very emotional day for me when I got the news. I consider this the highest honor a poker player can receive next to winning the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. I feel both deeply honored and humbled to be included with all the other poker greats. This is truly the frosting on the cake of my poker career.”

Nguyen, who won the Main Event in 1998 and the $50,000 HORSE Championship ten years later, reacted by saying, “You work so hard, you put so much time in that you want and hope it will be recognized. This is something my grandkids will talk about. It’s awesome, baby, thank you.”

Other finalists nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame, but who fell short of induction this year, were Humberto Brenes, Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Thor Hansen, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman, Carlos Mortensen, and Huck Seed. Mortensen bubbled the final table of this year’s WSOP Main Event.

McEvoy and Nguyen (pictured) will be inducted as part of a ceremony at the Wine Cellar in the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on November 3.

The Poker Hall of Fame was created in 1979. In order to be considered for it, a person “must have played poker against acknowledged top competition, be a minimum of 40 years old at the time of nomination, played for high stakes, played consistently well, gained the respect of peers, and stood the test of time,” according to its guidelines.

Following a public nomination process, each member of the voting panel received ten points to cast for up to three individuals. The two who received the majority of the votes would then be inducted. This author allocated five points to McEvoy and five points to Mortensen.

Congrats to McEvoy and Nguyen for becoming part of the illustrious Poker Hall of Fame!

Want the latest poker headlines and interviews? Follow PocketFives on Twitterand Like PocketFives on Facebook. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed.