Josh Arieh, Kathy Liebert & Brian Rast Among 2022 Poker Hall of Fame Finalists

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Jun 22, 2022 3 min read

The fan votes are in and the 2022 Poker Hall of Fame Class has been solidified, and the new names on the list this year are Josh Arieh, Kathy Liebert and Brian Rast.

Fans nominated the three poker players over a two-week voting period on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) website. They will join seven other nominees who the current Hall of Famers will vote on to determine the 2022 Poker Hall of Fame inductee. The full list includes:

• Josh Arieh
• Layne Flack
• Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier
• Kathy Liebert
• Mike Matusow
• Lon McEachern & Norman Chad
• Michael Mizrachi
• Brian Rast
• Matt Savage
• Isai Scheinberg

The Newcomers

Among the players to become eligible this year is Rast, a five-time bracelet winner with $22.7 million in Hendon Mob-reported earnings who turned 40 since last year's WSOP.

Rast earned his fifth bracelet and $474,102 in Event #51: $3,000 6-Handed No-Limit Hold’em at the 2021 WSOP, putting him on the prestigious list of five-time winners that includes Shaun Deeb, Scotty Nguyen, Jason Mercier and fellow 2022 Hall of Fame nominee Mizrachi.

Arieh, another new nominee, won his third and fourth bracelets at last year's WSOP in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed and the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship for a combined $689,557.

By the end of the series, Arieh, who has $10.5 million in live earnings, had cashed 11 events to earn him the title of 2021 Player of the Year, beating out the likes of Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu and Deeb.

Liebert, who is already a member of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, has $6.5 million in earnings to put her first on Tennessee's all-time money list. Liebert earned her first and only bracelet to date in at the 2004 WSOP in $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout event, while she had a runner-up finish in the same event the year before and back in 1997.

Returning Names

The 2022 Poker Hall of Fame nominee list includes seven names who have been here before, including Michael Mizrachi, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Layne Flack, all of whom were fan nominees last year, as well as perennial candidate Mike Matusow.

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The list also includes a number of industry professionals, including iconic commentators Lon McEachern & Norman Chad, who are nominated as a duo, famed tournament director Matt Savage and PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg.

Last year's inductee was Eli Elezra, a fan favorite with four bracelets and $4.6 million in live earnings.

The 2022 inductee will be chosen during an induction ceremony held on Sunday, July 10 at Bally’s & Paris Las Vegas in tandem with the final table of the Main Event.

The criteria required for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame includes:

• Must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
• Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination
• Played for high stakes, consistently well and stood the test of time
• For non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results

Current Members of the Poker Hall of Fame

Connor Richards is an Editor & Live Reporter for PokerNews and host of the Life Outside Poker podcast. Connor has been nominated for two Global Poker Awards for his writing.

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