The poker world is saddened today by the passing of a legend. Former World Series of Poker Lead Tournament Director and Poker Hall of Famer Jack McClelland has passed away from undisclosed causes. McClelland was 74 years old and, with his passing, another of the links to the “old school” poker world has left this mortal plane.
Worked Up the Ladder to the Top
McClelland, born in 1951, started with poker the way many in the community do – by playing with family. He admits that he was taught the rudimentary elements of Seven Card Stud by his grandmother, with McClelland readily acknowledging that he was a losing player to his grandma because “I couldn’t throw a hand away.” The future TD would learn his lessons from his grandmother well, entering the poker world and working his way from the bottom up.
Starting as a dealer, McClelland would eventually become a shift manager before reaching what many would consider the pinnacle of casino work. Eric Drache, long a part of the WSOP, recognized the potential that McClelland had, bringing him to the WSOP in the early Eighties. McClelland would eventually work his way up to being the leader of the tournament directors at the WSOP through the conclusion of the Nineties.
The WSOP was not McClelland’s only claim to fame. He would move on to The Bellagio in the early Aughts, eventually landing as their tournament director in 2002. That would lead to McClelland working with the then-fledgling World Poker Tour, aiding the new organization to gain credibility in the poker community. He would retire from The Bellagio in 2013, but his story in poker wasn’t yet complete.
Hall of Fame Induction
After he retired from The Bellagio in 2013, McClelland earned a groundswell of support from the poker world for induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. In 2014, that support would push McClelland into the Hall alongside poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. McClelland’s induction into the Poker Hall of Fame was one of the few inductees who did not enter because of their playing records, which also included Drache, but because of his contributions to the game outside of playing.
This is not to say that McClelland didn’t have some success on the felt during his life in the casinos. Beginning in 1983, The Hendon Mob counts 254 cashes for McClelland, with his final cash coming in July during a Wynn recurring tournament. In that event, McClelland would finish in twentieth place to pick up a $986 payday.
Over his illustrious career on the felt, McClelland would earn twenty-four WSOP cashes, with a peak performance coming in 2021. In the $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship Event, McClelland would make the final table, battling to a fifth-place finish in the tournament. He would pick up $40,284 for that performance, which makes up a small part of McClelland’s lifetime earnings of $554,093.
The contributions of Jack McClelland, from his work in the poker community to his exploits on the felt, will be remembered by many in the casino world. Poker News Daily wishes to extend its sympathies to the McClelland family and his friends on their loss.
