Online players can start an online HOF if they want. I don't see it working these days tho. Unlike the WSOP there's no one place that all online players play.

I know ESPN kept showing that highlight where he bluffed the one guy and said “let’s gamble man”. I don’t think his run was an iconic moment. Sure he got a lot of exposure as it was right at the boom, right time right place. But don’t think it should add anything substantial to his HOF cred

Arieh has been playing longer than Rast and Rast is more focused on cash BUT Rast has him doubled up in career earnings and has 4 wins (3PPC and SHR) greater than Arieh’s 25 K Horse

Rast also plays in Bobby Room and played in Macau

I’m not laughing about just stated my belief it’s not close

And I actually think Josh has more work to do to get in

Eh ... rast has more live winnings because he played a couple million dollar buy in tournaments and ran well during them. I'm not trying to take anything away from rast, it's well deserved, but even Daniel in his most recent vlog thought that arieh should have gotten in before rast, or at the very least it was close, and he mentioned arieh all but being a lock for 2024.

All I'm saying is it's close and I would have given the nod to arieh. Very close.

Just chalk it up to “he played a couple of million dollar buyins and ran well in them”? That’s sort of like the poker equivalent of “all he does is catch touchdowns”.

His cash game prowess got him the money to play those tournaments, it’s not like he won some lottery to get in.

But if you look at his Hendon I’m not really sure that is true. Some impressive stuff, lots of high roller cashes. And I found another win greater than Arieh’s 25K, Rast also won a 100K high roller for a 1M.

I just don’t think it’s close, I’ll have to see what Daniel said because Rast has him trumped every which way. But Daniel is friends with Josh and probably has fond memories of that 1997-2004 years where they played a lot together. But Rast has a better resume operating mostly from just 2005-2023

Yeah, Rast beats Bobby's Room. Plus 3 9-game $50Ks. I don't think he plays a full schedule of WSOP events, mostly just high rollers and some $10Ks.

Arieh definitely belongs in too. So many bizarre selections, and so many top players not in.

Yeah, when I first really got into poker, Rast was one of those guys like David Oppenheim who was known better for cash games but less for tourneys. I think he appeared on the Cash Plays podcast or something. That such people existed in the game was kind of an eye-opener for me because prior to that, I was one of those fans who really only knew poker players from the WPT/WSOP coverage. (No, really... when I visited this site, I remember thinking "who is this durrrr guy and the Dang brothers you all keep referencing??")

When I covered a WPT final table, Rast showed up to join the throng of young players on the rail for Esfandiari and Robl. I had no idea who it was, but many of the players sort of flocked to him even though they were the same age. Definitely had a BMOC presence, so much so that I asked someone next to me who it was. She didn't know either, so he turned to Phil Laak, who responded with an incredulous "you don't know Rasty? That's Rasty, you have to know Rasty!"

She turned back to me and said, "I guess it's Rasty." So it was a "oh THAT'S Brian Rast" moment. By then, he was a boss-level cash player and a guy with a famously palindromic screen name, but I had no idea what he looked like until that night.

Maybe a year later, Rast won the PPC. And that's when I remembered him from the photo I shot at that WPT final table:

It might be called "Poker Hall of Fame" but I don't think it even wants to be that. That name just sounds way better than "WSOP & Friends Hall of Fame".

I think Scheinberg is the favorite next year

Unless some of the crowd that needs more work (ie Arieh, Ausmus, Matusow) wins some big stuff

It's really weighted towards the WSOP, TV, and Bobby's Room.

I don't see how they picked Flack over Rast last year. Flack was an OK TV pro. Rast a cash game crusher.

As opposed to untracked Euro sites? TV usually covers the biggest tournaments and Bobby’s Room has nosebleeds so that all makes sense

Flack got in because he passed away imo

Matusow could win the Main Event, and he'd still be a dog to make the 'Hall of Fame'.
He hasn't won dick in over a decade.

Matusow hasn't been relevant in poker in more than a decade.

Hence the inclusion on the need to do more work

No amount of work, short of winning back to back main events, could get that conspiratard Matusow into the HOF.

Lol

I agree he has work to do and it needs to be something big

I once busted Rast in a tourney at Aria.

True story.

What's ridiculous is Rast was passed up 4 times when Flack and Elezra were inducted.

Some top players in there like Tom McEvoy, Barbara Enright, Linda Johnson, and Moneymaker.

Should go back to 2 a year with so many top players turning 40.

i'm fine with rast as long as juanda gets in next year. both very deserving and absolute crushers

I think the Rast vs Arieh debate is misplaced. They both are worthy, especially in light of who has been voted in previously.

As others have pointed out, the real issue is the glut of qualified players (and non-players) kept out due to the stupid "one selection per year" rule. And, of course, the looming bunch of great players about to turn 40.

Didn't Rast just turn 40 this year?

No, actually, he is 41.November 8, 1981. Scorpio is a good sign for poker if you believe in that sort of thing.

Ah ok.
I guess he would have gotten in last year if Flack didn't die.

Rast also did well at online cash & tournies high stakes

Not sure about Arieh’s track record online

Antonius definitely needs in, but I guess it’s a WSOP thing since he’s barely played Vegas tournies in the last 10 years.

I don't know if Arieh has played online at all. He lives in Georgia, and has not played that much in tournaments except the WSOP. He probably plays live cash, maybe underground or private games. He could also play online and people don't know his screen names. He clearly is a really strong player though.

He would have been the only pro (slight exaggeration) in his 20s to not play online poker between 2003 and BF. Whenever you met somebody new at a poker player party in Vegas during that time "what's your Stars/FT screen name" was one of the first questions. Can't remember a single person telling me they didn't play online. (Maybe some of the people who said they didn't want to share that information just lied because they didn't want others to know they weren't playing online)

That said, if we want to talk about other people who are worthy of HoF induction, including Arieh, I'm pretty sure there's another thread for that. If not, we can definitely start one, even including a poll.

My point is that Arieh has mostly not played tournaments or live high stakes games in Vegas, etc. So whether he has played underground or online under unknown names, there isn't much of a record of it. However, his results in high buyin WSOP tournaments indicate he is a stronger player than many in the HOF.