Van Marcus Inducted Into the Poker Hall of Fame
Cards are in the air here on Day 2 of the 2015 Aussie Millions Main Event.
Just prior to the start, Crown's Jim Preston and 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Joe Hachem took the stage to announce this year's inductee into the Australian Poker Hall of Fame, a club that includes pros such as Gary Benson, Jeff Lisandro, and Tony G, just to name a few.
This year's nominees included Van Marcus, Joe Cabret, Michael Guttman, Tino Lechich, David Steicke, and Grant Levy, though only one would join the current roster of 14 members. The Hall of Fame Committee met days ago, and the man they chose to join their ranks was Van Marcus!
Marcus is currently ranked in 18th place on Australia's all-time money list with $1,372,294 in live tournament earnings with his biggest cash coming in the 2009 WSOP $10,000 World Championship Pot-Limit Omaha event where he finished third for $278,409. Marcus' biggest victory came in the 2008 Asia-Pacific Poker Tour Manila Main Event where he bested a field of 285 players for a PhP 8,037,000 ($164,380) payday.
Marcus, a well-known player in Australia, was meant to accept an award on stage, but when Hachem called his name Marcus was nowhere to be found. It was a bit of an uncomfortable snafu that was quickly covered up by the giving of the traditional, "Shuffle up and deal."