8-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel and the 1995 World Champion Dan Harrington are this year's inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame, it was announced today. "I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it's an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington," Seidel commented.

Seidel and Harrington go back a long way, since both started their careers as backgammon players before turning to poker at New York's legendary Mayfair Club in the 1980's.

Seidel (pictured) left his job as a stockbroker following the Wall Street crash in 1987 and became a poker pro. Just a year later he came runner-up at the WSOP Main Event after losing to Johnny Chan in a heads up battle made famous by the movie Rounders. He has eight WSOP bracelets, one WPT title and more than 10 million dollars in tournament cashes.

Dan Harrington, known as "Action Dan" for the tight image that he likes to convey, won the WSOP Main Event in 1995 and has made it to the final table on three other occasions, including an incredible back-to-back 3rd and 4th place in 2003-04. In 2007 he won his first WPT title and has tournament earnings of over 6 million dollars. Besides his contribution as a player, his two volumes of Harrington on Hold'em, penned with Bill Robertie, are widely considered the most influential poker books in the modern era, even if they are somewhat outdated by now as tournament game has evolved even further - partly thanks to these books, of course.

Seidel and Harrington thoroughly deserve their places as the 39th and 40th members in the Poker Hall of Fame alongside names such as Benny Binion, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Moss, Chip Reese, and Stu Ungar.

Seidel and Harrington will be officially introduced to the Hall of Fame during the WSOP Main Event festivities on November 8th at the Penn & Teller Theatre in Las Vegas.

Source: Pokernews.