Nick Schulman burst onto the poker scene as a 21-year-old whiz kid from New York City. He won the 2005 World Poker Tour World Poker Finals at Foxwoods for $2,167,600, becoming the youngest champion in the tour’s history.
Over the next two decades, Schulman crafted one of the most impressive poker careers imaginable. He owns seven World Series of Poker bracelets, including three no-limit deuce-to-seven championships, with Schulman’s latest win in that highly skill-focused format coming earlier this summer.
“I’ve just been around so many great players, and I’ve just kind of seen them all,” Schulman said in the aftermath of his win. “It’s my favorite game to play. And I think anytime you’re doing something that you’re really enjoying, it’s, you know, it’s good.”
Schulman’s tournament accomplishments alone would bring him to the brink of Hall of Fame status, and that’s before you consider how long he’s played in cash games at the highest stakes, or his excellence in a variety of poker commentary roles.
It should come as little surprise, then, that in his first year of eligibility, the 40-year-old Schulman earned himself a place among the greatest names in the game. In a ceremony during the first break on day 6 of the 2025 WSOP main event, Schulman took center stage as, at least in that moment, the lone inductee of the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
“It meant a lot to me,” Schulman told Nick Wright on a recent episode of the What’s Wright podcast. “I felt, end of the day, I deserved it in the sense that I know what I’ve put into the game. To see my parents there, and talk to people I haven’t spoken to in a while who were there for me early, it was really emotional for me.”
All together, Schulman’s recorded over $24 million in tournament results. That’s especially impressive because of the long stretches he spent putting tournament poker on the back burner for some of the biggest cash games in the world in Bobby’s Room at Bellagio and all over the world, or his time in the booth cracking jokes and sharing poker knowledge. His achievements over the last few years have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Schulman is one of the most well-rounded poker players in the world.
“I felt like a cash game player away from all of this,” Schulman told PokerGO’s Natalie Bode. “And to have come full circle with the commentating, and then to be recognized for something [like this], is pretty surreal.”
Impeccable Credentials
To be considered for the Hall of Fame, a player must be a minimum of 40 years old and “must have played against acknowledged top competition, for high stakes, consistently well, and stood the test of time.” For non-players, the person “must have contributed to the overall growth and success of the game, with indelible positive and lasting results.”
Schulman won his debut WSOP bracelet back in 2009, taking down his first of three $10,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven championships. He repeated in that event in 2012. Schulman subsequently added wins in the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better championship in 2019 and a $1,500 seven card event four years later.
His fifth career bracelet, in a $25,000 no-limit hold’em high roller, marked the second-largest result of Schulman’s career, for $1,667,842. Bracelet number six came in the $5,000 closer turbo bounty event at WSOP Paradise in 2024.
Among Schulman’s other most notable tournament results, he won a Poker Masters title in 2017. Schulman nearly repeated at the WPT World Poker Finals as well, finishing second in 2007.
Shulman beat out nine other nominees for the honor, skipping ahead of some players who have been waiting for more than a decade for their name to be called.
“It was really emotional for me,” Schulman said. “I just reflected on my whole life, man. This poker life is no joke. I wouldn’t want to do anything else, and I’m very grateful for it. But it takes a piece of you that you don’t get back.”
“I’ve definitely gotten more centered as a person, but that [news] made me think about some of my darkest times in the game, when the game got the best of me. Some of the late nights, and honestly, some of the huge losses that I’ve taken. Times I’ve just busted myself for crazy stuff along the way.”
One of the hallmarks of the Poker Hall of Fame is competing at the highest stakes against top competition. Despite coming from a different era, Schulman fit in seamlessly with his older colleagues, sparring with numerous Hall of Famers, including the late Doyle Brunson among many others in high-stakes cash games.
“I played with those guys a lot, for many years. I definitely felt cut from that cloth,” said Schulman. “Not everybody is looking to play the highest stakes, or all of that. It hasn’t really set in, and it’s one of those moments where you kind of put your life in perspective, and it’s a great feeling overall. I’m really happy my parents are here, it feels good.”
Maestro Of The Microphone
In recent years, amidst one of his most successful stretches at the tournament tables, Schulman also built his reputation as a poker broadcaster. Most often paired up with Ali Nejad, Schulman offers top-level poker analysis as part of the ongoing “late night” edition of the WSOP main event broadcast on PokerGO. He also took over for Gabe Kaplan as the voice for High Stakes Poker.
“There’s definitely a part of me that knows the reason I got in first ballot, in my first year of eligibility, is my presence in poker, commentating the main event and High Stakes Poker, and connecting with some of the fans,” Schulman told Wright.
Schulman has also featured on a variety of other poker shows on commentary. His resume includes the Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Masters, High Stakes Duel, and a variety of other PokerGO broadcasts.
An Unexpected Hall Of Fame Co-Inductee
Schulman got the nod over the late ‘Miami’ John Cernuto, Jeremy Ausmus, Scott Seiver, Phil Galfond, Mike Matusow, Ted Forrest, Isai Scheinberg, Kathy Liebert, and Matt Savage.
“There’s other players that are extremely deserving,” said Schulman. “I think Ted Forrest should have gotten in a while ago. [Scott] Seiver is an all-time great. He’ll get in.”
Part of the reason for that logjam was the WSOP’s decision in 2020 to revert back to a single inductee per year. But extraordinary circumstances at the end of the 2025 WSOP ensured that for the first time since 2019, multiple players would receive that recognition.
When Michael Mizrachi made the WSOP main event final table for the second time, just weeks separated from his fourth Poker Players Championship win, murmurs from living Hall of Famers including Phil Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu began. And so, when Mizrachi sealed the deal for his biggest win, eighth WSOP bracelet, and the most unbelievable back-to-back run ever in a single WSOP summer, there was a surprise in store.
In his first act as a voting member, Schulman was one of the 33 living Hall of Famers who voted unanimously to immediately induct Mizrachi into their ranks.
Schulman had a front-row seat to the dominant performance Mizrachi put on as part of the WSOP main event broadcast team.
“It’s pretty unprecedented for a sport to just put someone in the Hall of Fame after an accomplishment,” Schulman told Wright. “Usually you still go through the process, but after the main [event] and his fourth PPC, the Hall was just like, that’s it. He’s in. It’s pretty wild.”
“The final three tables, when he spun back from a few bigs, it started that crazy momentum,” Schulman said. “It started to feel like you were watching the greatest dice rush ever, like minute 90 of a guy still holding the dice, where all of us as gamblers have been. This is a crazy life, and Mike has really lived the life. Whenever we see one of our own go on a crazy rush… and that’s not downplaying what happened, because, of course, a lot of skill along the way. But it was just like everything he was touching was turning to gold. And it felt almost spiritual.”
- Photos – PokerGO/Antonio Abrego, Enrique Malfavon and Card Player/Drew Amato