The 2014 Poker Hall of Fame has just been finalised and the two new inductees of this year are Poker Player Daniel Negreanu and Tournament Director Jack McClelland. The two form the class of 2014 as announced by WSOP here today. The two poker legends who have contributed tremendously to poker over the years become the 47th and 48th inductees of the Poker Hall of Fame.
The two beat finalists including finalists that included Bruno Fitoussi, Bob Hooks,Ted Forrest, Jennifer Harman, Humberto Brenes, Mike Matusow, Chris Bjorin and Huck Seed in a panel voting comprising of 21 living Hall of Famers and 20 members of the media. The two will be inducted formally in a ceremony coinciding with the final table of the WSOP Main Event on November 9th at Binion’s Gambling Hall which is considered the birth place of the WSOP.
While McClelland has a poker career encompassing 40 years, Negreanu was in his first year of eligibility.But with $30 million in lifetime earnings, 6 WSOP gold bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles, Double WSOP Player of the Year titles on his back, he became the chosen one. McClelland, 63, has spent four decades in the game of poker on the operator side of the business holding virtually every position in a poker room.
The main criteria for the Poker Hall of Fame are as follows:
- 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.
These two now join an elite list that includes poker legends like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Dan Harrington, Erik Seidel and Mike Sexton.
OPN salutes these two poker legends and congratulates them on joining the Poker Hall of Fame.