This year will mark a major change for the Poker Hall of Fame. The Hall, which has been around since 1979 and features a total of 40 members, will institute a Chip Reese Rule starting with its 2011 induction class. What is the Chip Reese Rule, you ask? Every new member of the Poker Hall of Fame must be at least 40 years old. The late Chip Reese, considered by many to be one of the top all-around poker players ever, was inducted at that age. He’s the youngest member of the Hall and – at least for the foreseeable future – will continue to hold that distinction.

The Chip Reese Rule is one of two major changes to the Poker Hall of Fame in 2011. Along with requiring each of its members to be at least 40 years of age, the Hall will introduce a new Nominating Committee.

Outlining the purpose of the Nominating Committee, the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Media Guide, which was distributed to the press this week, explains, “The entire list of nominated individuals will be forwarded to the newly created Nominating Committee, who will be tasked with reviewing all submissions and determining the final list of eligible candidates for 2011 induction.”

Moreover, “This committee will determine if any others should be added (such as non-poker players who have contributed greatly to the game, any glaring omissions, etc.) and determine the final eligible list.”

Public voting for the 2011 Poker Hall of Fame class will open up on July 1st. All ballots must be cast by August 14th, at which point the Nominating Committee will take over. When you place your vote, you’ll be allowed to add up to 250 words arguing for your candidate.

The final list from the Nominating Committee will be announced around September 15th, two months prior to WSOP Main Event November Nine weekend at the Rio in Las Vegas. Last year, Erik Seidel (pictured) and Dan Harrington were inducted in front of a packed house at the Rio’s Penn and Teller Theater.

After the final Nominating Committee selections are announced, the 18 living inductees of the Poker Hall of Fame and a group of media members will rank players they deem worthy of admission. Members of the former group will be able to submit write-in candidates that will automatically be considered in 2012.

This author has been privileged to be a part of the media panel for the last two years. In 2010, we were permitted to vote for up to three players using a points-based system where the total number of points added to 10. This author allocated four points apiece to Harrington and Linda Johnson. My remaining two points were awarded to Tom McEvoy. We were not required to keep our votes private.

After all of the votes have been cast, this year’s Poker Hall of Fame class will once again be enshrined during November Nine weekend. Last year, Doyle Brunson and Nolan Dalla were among those who spoke during the gala. The top two players receiving votes will be inducted as long as each carries a majority.

Six criteria determine whether a person is eligible to be enshrined into the Poker Hall of Fame: “A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition; be a minimum of 40 years old at time of nomination; played for high stakes; played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers; stood the test of time; or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker with indelible positive and lasting results.”

The 40 existing members of the Poker Hall of Fame include Brunson, Reese, Jack “Treetop” Strauss, Benny Binion, Stu Ungar, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and World Poker Tour commentator Mike Sexton, who was enshrined in 2009.

In other poker award news, WSOP officials are revamping the Player of the Year formula, “working with an outside partner to consider the buy-in and size of the field to determine the standings,” according to a recent conference call.

While not stated publicly, the move seems to be in response to Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi(pictured) not being named Player of the Year in 2010 despite winning the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship and final tabling the Main Event. In addition, the Player of the Year standings will include WSOP Europe events in Cannes.

The 2011 WSOP begins on May 31st. We will keep you posted on the latest right here on PocketFives.com.