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Welcome to the Australian Poker Hall of Fame
- PokerNetwork, in association with Maurie Pears and Crown Casino, are proud to honour the achievements of poker players and administrators throughout Australasia.
- Click "2009" below to view the original 8 APHOF inductees.
- Click "2010" to view last year's inductees.
- Click "2011" to view which Australian poker figures are up for nomination this year. Click "2012" to view last year's inductees.
Jeff Lisandro
Jeff Lisandro put himself into the highest echelon of world poker with an incredible three bracelets, all in Stud disciplines, at the 2009 World Series of Poker. This rare achievement saw Jeff awarded the 2009 WSOP Player of The Year award, becoming the first Australian in history to do so. Jeff's four WSOP bracelets puts him with the elite of the poker world, and we're honoured to elevate Jeff to "Legend" status in the Australian Poker Hall of Fame.
Marsha Waggoner
Born and raised in Queensland, Marsha Waggoner still calls Australia home, despite living in the United States for more than 30 years. Her service to the game, as a dealer, promoter, ambassador and player both at home and abroad are second to none. With 20 WSOP cashes since 1992, as well as a third-place finish in the WPT Ladies Night event during the 2005 Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, she boasts an impressive CV that adds up to over USD $830,000 in tournament winnings since 1988.
Australian Poker Hall of Fame Presentation – 20th January 2010
On behalf of the members of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame - Billy Argyros, Gary Benson, Tony Guoga, Mel Judah, Jeff Lisandro, Lee Nelson and Maurie Pears - I wish to thank Crown Management and staff for their continuing support of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame. Their permission to conduct our awards ceremony during the annual Aussie Millions in the presence of so many poker stars and distinguished guests is a welcome gift. I also wish to thank Tony G of PokerNews & PokerNetwork for his support.
In particular I would like to single out Jonno Pittock and his crew from the Crown Poker Room for presenting what is the most enjoyable poker tournament in the world today with the Aussie Millions. Anyone who can put 1,143 players on seats for the Opening Event of this year’s championships must be doing something right.
Before presenting our inductions for 2010, I would like to look back for a moment to those who have brought our band of poker brothers to its present international status and fame.
The early casino executives - Ron Hurley (Tasmania), John Stephens (Adelaide), Andrew MacDonald (Adelaide, Jupiters and Crown), Arthur Pitcher (Christchurch), Dr Bob (all over the place), and Danny McDonagh, Richard Longhurst and Sean McCreery at Crown. They put management and money behind the game.
The early big bet players - Sammy Khouiss, Tino Lechich, Mike Guttman, Jason Gray, Leo Boxell and so many more who provided skill and expertise.
The true believers and supporters of the game - PokerNetwork, Keith Bendigo Sloan and TV Keith Duddy, John The Baptist Beagle, Joe Meissner of the APA, Mike Comer, Val Saunders and Johnny Kocbek. They put their heart and soul and their pockets into play to ensure the success of the gran’ ol’ game in Australia and New Zealand.
Our World Champion Joe Hachem who turned the corner for poker in Australia.
Without all of them there would have been no Aussie Millions nor any Hall of Fame in Australia.
I come now to our principal event for the calendar year for the Australian Poker Hall of Fame, the presentation of the 2010 Inductee.
From the wilds of outback Queensland in the late seventies, a little cowgirl with two kids packed up her bags and headed to Reno to become a dealer and later a player of note. She and Mel Judah were the first of many to come. A member of three Halls of Fame, Crown Casino Ambassadress for the Aussie Millions, the Grand Dame of Poker now living in the States may I present the inductee for 2010 Marsha Waggoner.
Some time ago we decided that we would create another Poker Legend after Joe Hachem only in a month of Sundays, but, the performance of one of our members over the last year has made poker history by being named WSOP Player of the year winning three bracelets. From the mining camps of the west, to the big games in Sydney, raising and owning has own Casino in Moscow, to one of the world’s biggest and best high stakes poker players may I present our Australian poker legend 2010 Jeff Lisandro.
On behalf of the APHOF, thank you for your time and attention and good luck at the tables at this year’s Aussie Millions.
- Maurie “The Master” Pears