Nick Schulman Picked as 2025 Poker Hall of Fame Inductee
Nick Schulman was selected as the 2025 inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame. This year was the first time he was nominated, and it came in his first year of eligibility. Nick is the 64th individual to be inducted as a member of the Hall. The Poker Hall of Fame is administered by the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
Ceremony at the Horseshoe Casino
Nick Schulman was enshrined in the Poker Hall of Fame in a ceremony during the first break on day 6 of the World Series of Poker Main Event at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas. The WSOP released a tweet and a short video commemorating the occasion on July 11, 2025:
Schulman said in an interview following his induction:
It's a tremendous honor. It meant a lot to share with my family. I don't know what it means just this second, but it means a lot.
Hall of Fame Qualification Criteria
Over the years since its inception in 1979, the Poker Hall of Fame has added a set of criteria that a prospective member must meet in order to be considered for enshrinement:
- Must be at least 40 years old at time of nomination
- Must have played and proven themselves at high stakes
- Must be held in high regard by fellow poker players and have faced acknowledged top competition at the tables
- Must have played consistently well, earning the respect of peers
- Must have withstood the test of time and achieved longevity in poker
- For non-players, contributed to the game of poker in a way that has resulted in lasting, positive results
Nick Schulman's Qualifications as a Player
A cursory overview of Nick's poker career will serve to establish that he easily meets the criteria for inclusion in the Hall of Fame.
He's now 40 years old, having begun playing poker at the age of 18 in 2002, satisfying the first and fifth criteria. The New Yorker is a regular in high-stakes cash games at the Legends Room (formerly Bobby's Room) in the Bellagio in Las Vegas, meeting the second and third criteria.
As far as tournaments go, he has seven WSOP bracelets to his credit, the latest one being the $10,000 NL 2-7 Draw Lowball championship last month for which he collected a prize of $497,356. He thus became only the 13th player ever to collect seven bracelets.
Nick's first major cash came in 2005 with a first-place finish in the World Poker Tour Finals $10,200-buyin NLHE event at Foxwoods in Connecticut. This was worth $2.17 million. From then till now, he has booked more than $24.1 million in live tournament winnings. This long string of success in big-money tourneys undoubtedly meets the terms of the fourth criteria on the Hall of Fame's list.
Televised Poker Commentary
Although Schulman is being honored for his efforts as a player, he has also contributed to the world of poker in other ways too most notably as a commentator. In 2023, he began commentating on “High Stakes Poker.” Nick is also often paired with Ali Nejad on PokerGo, commenting on such events as “Poker Masters,” “High Stakes Duel,” and “Super High Roller Bowl.”
Other Nominees
Following a public nominations process in June, the WSOP revealed the list of 10 finalists who were up for consideration as possible members of the Hall. The final choice of inductee was left to the living members of the Hall of Fame, and it was they who voted Nick Schulman into the club.
The other finalists for 2025 were:
- Jeremy Ausmus – Six-time bracelet winner with more than $26 million in live poker tournament earnings
- “Miami” John Cernuto – Recently passed away master of mixed games with three bracelets and a record number of cashes in major poker MTTs
- Ted Forrest – Six-time bracelet winner with $6.4 million in live tourney cashes
- Phil Galfond – Triple bracelet winner, high-stakes online cash game guru, author, coach, and online poker site founder
- Kathy Liebert – WSOP bracelet winner with $7 million in tourney earnings, already a member of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame
- Mike Matusow – Winner of four WSOP bracelets with $10.7 million in live tournament winnings
- Matt Savage – Notable poker tournament director who has worked for the WSOP, WPT, Commerce Casino, and other cardrooms
- Isai Scheinberg – Founder of PokerStars
- Scott Seiver – Holder of seven gold bracelets, wins amount to more than $27 million
Poker Hall of Fame Criticized
Since 2020, the Poker Hall of Fame has followed a policy of only admitting a single new member every year. With such luminaries and apparent shoe-ins as Scott Seiver, Phil Galfond, and Ted Forrest being denied entry (at least for now), some are questioning whether this is too restrictive. When we reflect on the fact that there are also worthy non-players, like Isai Scheinberg and Matt Savage, awaiting entry, this argument gains a lot of force.
However, in a Redditt AMA in May, WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart explained that the current one-per-year rule will remain intact at least for the near future:
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July 13, 2025 – by Max Golden, Editor-in-Chief