2011 marks the third year that I’ve been privileged enough to vote for the Poker Hall of Fame. A group of 17 members of the media and the 18 living Poker Hall of Fame members are in the process of determining this year’s class, with ballots due on Friday. We were each able to spread 10 points among up to three nominees. While past years have been fairly straightforward in terms of what nominees I voted for, 2011 presented a unique dilemma given the events of Black Friday and two major online poker rooms failing to refund U.S. players.

I began my vote by discounting any poker pro associated with Full Tilt Poker, UB, or Absolute Poker, none of which has paid back U.S. players following Black Friday. In fact, the U.S. Department of Justice recently called Full Tilt Poker a “global Ponzi scheme” and many members of PocketFives.com have been adversely affected. The sites’ inability to pay back players has literally resulted in PocketFivers losing millions of dollars as a whole.

Therefore, I could not allocate any votes to Annie Duke (UB), Jennifer Harman (Full Tilt), John Juanda (Full Tilt), or Huck Seed (Full Tilt). While each may be deserving of consideration for the Poker Hall of Fame, their association with poker sites that have so far stiffed many of our constituents immediately eliminates them, in my mind.

Nixing sponsored pros of Full Tilt and UB left me with a list of Barry Greenstein, Linda Johnson, Marcel Luske, Jack McClelland, Tom McEvoy, and Scotty Nguyen. Several of these players are associated with PokerStars, but that site paid back players following Black Friday and reinforced its dedication to customers. We even held our most recent PocketFives Open on PokerStars despite pending legal action in the United States for the site’s involvement in the market pre-Black Friday.

Nguyen (pictured), the 1998 WSOP Main Event champion, famously berated Mike DeMichele during his $50,000 HORSE Championship win in 2008. Although he apologized to his fans, Nguyen’s (allegedly) intoxicated actions remain firmly entrenched in the minds of many members of the poker community, including this author’s. Therefore, he would not be considered in my eyes on the grounds that he’s not as strong of a poker ambassador as the other individuals on this list.

This is the first time since I’ve been voting for the Poker Hall of Fame that McClelland‘s name has been among the finalists. Although his contributions to poker during his 15 years at the WSOP and more recently the Bellagio are second-to-none, I don’t believe they’re enough to warrant Poker Hall of Fame votes. That said, he’s certainly contributed to the growth of the game in brick-and-mortar casinos and deserves to be among the 10 nominees.

Luskeis one of the most colorful characters in poker, and inducting a player not from the United States would certainly be beneficial to the Hall. However, Luske lacks any WSOP, WPT, or EPT titles, which pushes him off my ballot on poker credentials alone. While he’s been cashing in live tournaments since the late 1990s and is a poker deity in his home nation, the “Flying Dutchman” needs multiple wins in mainstream poker series to warrant serious consideration from this author.

That leaves me with Greenstein, Johnson, and McEvoy. In my opinion, Johnson(pictured) is far and away the strongest candidate of the three. The “First Lady of Poker” scored a Razz bracelet in 1997 and is one of only a handful of women ever to win an open WSOP event. She served as the in-studio announcer for the WPT in its early days and helped vault the tour to what it is today.

While her poker CV isn’t filled with six-figure cashes like McEvoy’s or Greenstein’s, Johnson has contributed greatly away from the felts. She’s been actively involved in the PPA and participated in several fly-ins the organization has hosted in Washington, DC. She’s a staple of the charity poker scene and co-founded Poker Gives with Poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton, Jan Fisher, and Lisa Tenner.

Johnson also co-founded the Tournament Directors Association in an attempt to standardize poker events around the world. I allocated five of my 10 points to her.

From talking to others, Greenstein(pictured) seems like a shoe-in this year. And why shouldn’t he be? His charity work is well documented. His steady involvement in Thuy Doan‘s battle against cancer showed his true class. He has two WPT titles, three WSOP bracelets, and is 29th overall on the poker money list according to the Hendon Mob. I allocated three of my 10 points to the “Robin Hood of Poker.”

McEvoy (pictured) is the 1983 Main Event champ and owns four bracelets. When some considered him to be irrelevant, McEvoy responded by winning the WSOP Champions Invitational two years ago. He’s shared much of his aptitude in a variety of strategy books that have been in publication since the mid-1980s. Despite what I think is a strong Poker Hall of Fame resume, he’s been on the ballot for the last several years, but not inducted.

The nominees with the top two point totals, assuming they get a majority, will be enshrined during the November Nine weekend in Las Vegas. How would you have voted? Let me know by leaving a comment here.