Josh Arieh building case for WSOP Hall of Fame

Josh Arieh
Jeff McMillan
Posted on: June 11, 2023 19:04 PDT

Josh Arieh added a fifth WSOP bracelet to his impressive career results on Sunday, his third bracelet in the last three years. He conquered Event #22: $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship for $316,226 after he overcame 134 runners to make for his second career limit hold'em bracelet.

With the win, the poker world started some buzz about Arieh’s resume as a potential poker hall of famer. The 48 year old from Atlanta has certainly put himself into the conversation with a very strong last few years for of play at the WSOP.

Arieh’s career goes back a long ways as his first bracelet came in 1999 in a $3,000 Limit Hold’em event when he was just 24 years old. As many poker fans will remember, he then would burst onto the scene and become a well-known name after a third place finish in the 2004 WSOP Main Event broadcasted nationally on ESPN during the height on the poker boom where he engaged in memorable three-handed play with David Williams and Greg Raymer. In 2005, the freshly more famous Arieh added his second bracelet in a Pot-Limit Omaha event.

Arieh would continue to play the WSOP each year for over a decade and post a few good results here and there, but while he was still remembered for his 2004 run, nobody would have had him in any hall of fame talk.

Career Resurgence

But this new iteration of Arieh’s career has come with an impressive resurgence, which can be traced back to 2019 when he finished runner-up in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship which kind of announced that he was back to competing for serious WSOP hardware.

Then came 2021, where Arieh won his third and fourth bracelets Pot Limit Omaha and in the Pot Limit Omaha eight or better $10,000 championship. He also final tables two other events, including the $50,000 PPC once again to come out on top in the player of the year hunt and win the distinction of WSOP player of the year, an honor which is the gateway to poker hall of fame chatter.

2022 brought another strong summer for him with 3 more final tables and 2023 haha now started off with a bang with his fifth bracelet.

The impressive thing about Arieh’s recent resurgence is the mix of games he has gone deep and won in, showing his versatility among all the games offered at the WSOP.

While the list for the poker hall of fame is long and congested, Arieh has certainly had a very impressive five year span of results that have launched him straight into the conversation. And it would not be a surprise at all to see him add even more beef to his resume before the 2023 WSOP ends.