One of my notes was about poker Hall of Fame arranged by Benny Binion. And as I mentioned there are 9 candidates to join this highly-respected society. Today I wish to describe these guys. Three of them will climb on the top of Texas Holdem poker joining the Hall of Fame. Therefore let me introduce our heroes. Of course all of them are real poker pros. But even in this star list there are favorites and outsiders. And I will start with outsiders.

Men «The Master» Nguen

Ex-bus driver Men “The Master” Nguen is famous in Asia . He is a real Texas Holdem poker guru in Vietnam . Most of poker pros from this country learned from Nguen. He bears prestigious nickname “The Godfather” of Vietnamese poker. Nguen has good achievements reflected in prize money. He won $ 9.2 million during his professional career. Men “The Master” Nguen holds 6 WSOP bracelets.

According to rumors, Men Nguen was the head of fraud gang. Nobody could prove it, but rumors did not vanish. Nguen blew away all accusations and did his best to stop gossips. He even threatened to start court process. At the same time Nguen was invited to a court twice. He was charged for breaking different laws but it was not about fraud cases.

As it was mentioned, Men Nguen is famous first of all in Asia . And it is a big obstacle for him to join the Hall of Fame. Therefore bookmakers do not believe that jury will choose him.

Scotty Nguen

This guy was working as a poker dealer for long time. Then he stopped to shuffle cards for others and became a Texas Holdem player. Scotty Nguen is a very successful pro. He holds 5 WPT bracelets and 1 WPT title. He has also won several big tournaments including WSOP ME 1998 and $ 50 000 H.O.R.S.E. His total pot is $10.7 million.

World-wide Fame came to Scotty in 1998 when he won WSOP ME. Nguen outclassed Kevin McBride and his phrase “call and it will be over” became famous. McBride was forced to call and Nguen enjoyed his full-house winning biggest title in his career.

Scotty Nguen stained his good name at $ 50 000 H.O.R.S.E. Poker pro was wasted and just lost his face. Many poker fans turned their backs to Scotty after the accident. Journalists also condemned Nguen actions. “Poker Prince” lost respect of poker world. In comparison with other Hall of Fame 2009 candidates chance of Nguen is not high at all. But surprises happen and jury might decide to mark Nguen’s achievements by taking him into the Hall of Fame.

Daniel Negranu

Daniel Negranu can be called a Cinderella of poker. This guy did not graduate from a university and was just a small bet cheater in Toronto , kind of nobody. But things turned his way when he started to play poker. Canadian player has earned $12.4 million already and is not going to stop. He holds 4 bracelets and 2 WPT titles.

Negranu is known as one of the best offline poker players. He specializes on offline Texas Holdem Tournaments. Nobody else could win as much as him in offline tournaments. It is difficult to believe but Negranu has not won any WSOP ME yet!

In personal life Negranu can not get rid of his betting past. Betting is still his passion and Negranu looses a lot of money. People say that Daniel lost $1 million betting on different golf competitions. Bets make him grow heated.

Anyway Daniel has a small chance to be accepted to Hall of Fame. His chances could be slightly higher if he had won WSOP ME 2009. And Negranu had a wonderful chance to do it but he was beaten by Barry Shulman at the final table.

Also recommended:

1. Hall of Fame 2009 candidates: favorites
2. Hall of Fame 2009 candidates: middle-class
3. Poker Hall of Fame of Benny Binion
4. Shulman defeats Negranu in ME WSOPE 2009
5. The priest becomes a poker champion on Fox