Layne Flack among 10 finalists for Poker Hall of Fame

Layne Flack, who died this year, is among 10 finalists for the Poker Hall of Fame.

The 32 living Hall of Fame members will vote for the inductee, and the winner will be announced in November at the World Series of Poker.

The nominees are:

— Eli Elezra

— Antonio Esfandiari

— Chris Ferguson

— Layne Flack

— Ted Forrest

— Bertrand Grospellier

— Mike Matusow

— Michael Mizrachi

— Matt Savage

— Isai Scheinberg

The first eight have all won multiple WSOP titles. Savage is a top tournament director, and Scheinberg was the founder of the online poker site PokerStars.

Flack, Grospellier and Mizrachi are new finalists. Flack, a six-time WSOP bracelet winner, could be a sentimental choice after dying in July at age 52. (The WSOP awards trophy bracelets for tournament victories.)

Grospellier and Mizrachi turned 40 this year, the minimum age to be considered.

Huckleberry “Huck” Seed, the 1996 WSOP Main Event champion, was inducted last year.

High-stakes player Patrik Antonius and WSOP announcers Norman Chad and Lon McEachern were finalists last year but did not make the cut this year.

The listed criteria for the Poker Hall of Fame are:

— A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition.

— Be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination.

— Played for high stakes.

— Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers.

— Stood the test of time.

— Or, for nonplayers, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

The inductee will be announced Nov. 17 at the Rio, coinciding with the final table of the WSOP Main Event and a $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-limit Hold’em event.

All living Hall of Fame members have a free entry to the event, and players receive a “bounty” for knocking a Hall of Fame member out of the tournament.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.