When Thor Hansen, the Godfather of Norwegian Poker, passed away on December 5 after a long battle with cancer, the poker world lost another good man a day after that. His name is Jim Meehan, known also by the nickname ‘Minneapolis Jim' Meehan.
Meehan was an American poker pro from Minnesota. Before he made poker as a full-time career, Meehan worked as a lawyer for two decades.
Meehan started playing poker during the 1960s and regularly joined poker tournaments in 1997 - that same year he finished runner-up in the $3,000 limit hold'em event at the WSOP. In 1999, he got 3rd place in the $2,500 limit Omaha event at the WSOP. In 2003, he finally won a WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 NLHE for $280,100 (his best cash ever), eliminating a final table that included the likes of Mike Sexton, Kathy Liebert and Antonio Esfandiari. That same year he also won a World Championship of Online Poker bracelet after defeating a player field of nearly 700 in the $500 buy-in Limit Hold'em event.
Meehan was known to often drink alcohol at the poker table, usually whiskey or Heineken beer. He always had with him an unlit cigarette that stayed on his lips.
Even though he stopped playing poker in the recent years, in 2015 he was inducted into the Minnesota Poker Hall of Fame.
His total live earnings (from 1994-2015) were $1,410,092 according to the Hendonmob.
The poker community expressed their messages on Meehan's passing through social media:
He died on December 6, 2018, at age 66 and is survived by his four sons.
Source:
http://www.whitefuneralhomes.com/obituary/james-meehan
