PokerStars Team Pro Barny Boatman nominated for Poker Hall of Fame
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Poker veteran Barny Boatman has been nominated for the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame, one of only two first-time nominees this year.
The announcement comes in the middle of what is surely the best year of the 68-year-old icon’s incredible career. Boatman not only took down the European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris Main Event in February for €1,287,800 — becoming the oldest champion in the tour’s rich history — but he then became a PokerStars Team Pro soon after.
The Poker Hall of Fame inductee will be announced on July 14 during World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #95: Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No-Limit Hold’em. Boatman’s fellow nominees are Patrik Antonius, Josh Arieh, “Miami” John Cernuto, Ted Forrest, Kathy Liebert, Mike Matusow, Matt Savage, PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, and Bill Smith.
“It’s ridiculously flattering and a little embarrassing to be nominated, but I certainly meet the age criteria,” Boatman said after the announcement. “Someone needs to check Patrik Antonius’ passport!”
He continued: “If you’re going to put an old-school Brit on the list, I’d have gone with my good friend John Duthie, but of course, it’s a huge honour to be there representing those of us who’ve stuck around forever because we just love the game.
“All my fellow nominees are highly deserving. All I would ask from whichever one of them is inducted is a slightly shorter speech than the bloke who got in last year. The rest of us are here to play!”
Boatman is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner, winning his first in 2013 in Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em. He followed that up two years later at the WSOP Europe in Berlin by winning Event #7: €550 Pt-Limit Omaha. Last year he cashed in the WSOP Main Event for $27,500 and is currently back in Vegas representing PokerStars and hoping to continue his successful run, having so far cashed in the 10,939 field Millionaire Maker.Â
He’s also one of the original Hendon Mob and through his appearances on late-night poker TV shows helped bring poker to the British and European mainstream before the Moneymaker boom.
Congratulations, Barny, it’s very well deserved!
INTERVIEW: BOATMAN’S ENJOYING THE RIDE
We caught up with Barny Boatman at EPT Monte Carlo in May — his first EPT stop since becoming the oldest champion in EPT history.
“I’ve had a lovely reaction,” he told us. “Loads and loads of people congratulating me, asking me questions, and obviously, there’s been a lot of media interest as well. It’s been really great fun.
“I’m sure the next thing will happen and people will forget about me, but I’m not going to lie, I’m enjoying the attention… because it’s all positive.”
AGELESS BOATMAN WINS EPT PARIS
For close to 20 years, the European Poker Tour (EPT) has been the breeding ground for the next generation of poker stars; young guns seemingly born into the limelight, landing life-changing prizes before their lives have even really taken shape.
But in Paris, there was a new name on the EPT winners roll but it’s a name that outdates even the European Poker Tour itself.
Barny Boatman, one of the pioneering Hendon Mob who did as much as anybody to bring European poker into the mainstream even before the Moneymaker years, took down the EPT Paris Main Event title and a career-best €1,287,800 payday.
At 68, Boatman became the oldest player ever to win an EPT Main Event. It was the reward for a six-day clinic, during which Boatman outlasted a field of 1,747 entries including dozens who were not even alive when Boatman won his first poker tournament.
He outplayed them. He outwitted them. He was faster and sharper. Boatman’s victory is certainly one for the old school and the resilient, but it is also for the innovators and the ageless.
As plenty of commentators have now christened him, this was Barny GOAT-man.
Read more about Boatman’s thrilling EPT win here.
4 CRUCIAL HANDS THAT LED BARNY BOATMAN TO THE EPT PARIS TITLE
On Sunday, February 25, 2024, UK poker legend and original Hendon Mob member Barny Boatman took down the European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris Main Event for €1,287,800.
In doing so, Boatman, 68, became the oldest player to win a Main Event in the tour’s 21-year history.
From picking off gutsy bluffs to getting his opponent to commit it all when behind, here are the four most crucial hands that led Boatman to victory.
BARNY BOATMAN JOINS POKERSTARS TEAM PRO
A poker icon. A poker pioneer. And now, a PokerStars Team Pro.
The poker world witnessed a thrilling moment in March as the legendary Barny Boatman was unveiled as a brand ambassador for PokerStars, becoming the newest member of Team Pro.Â
The announcement was made in front of a live audience during a special live recording for the 300th episode of the award-winning Poker In The Ears Podcast, which took place at the Hippodrome in London’s Leicester Square.
Read more about the announcement.
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