Bad beat hits at PB Kennel
Early Saturday morning, at approximately 12:15 a.m. in Palm Beach Kennel Club’s Poker Room, Greenacre resident Kyle Gray became the track’s second-largest Poker Room winner as his "losing" poker hand paid off a hefty $86,625, the kennel club says.
A "Bad Beat" jackpot happens when a player with a seemingly unbeatable hand is beaten by an even better hand. The bad beat loser gets 50 percent of the jackpot, the hand winner gets 25 percent and the rest of the players split the remaining 25 percent.
Saturday morning, in a game of $1-$2 No Limit, Gray had Aces full of Queens (A,A,A,Q,Q). But Frank Marchese had a Royal Flush in diamonds (A,K,Q,J,10).
Marchese received $43,312 while the other players at the table each took home $6,187.
The recently hit "Bad Beat" jackpot began accumulating on April 22 of this year. The current backup jackpot, which is now the main jackpot, at this moment stands at $83,513, the club said.
The state record payoff for a bad beat occurred in February as Loxahatchee resident Charles Infantolino collected $116,714 for his four Queens while his opponent showed a straight flush. A-2-3-4-5 of spades.
The Isle's bad beat also hit at over $100,000 during a cash game during the Florida State Poker Championships. Again, it involved Aces and Queens; Aces full of Queens lost to Quad queens.
So if I have queens, I'm playing them to the river.
NICK SORTAL began playing 3-card "gut" and "Indian poker" on high school band trips, moved on to "night baseball" and "pass the trash" during a Dr. Pepper-infused midnight game in the 1980s at the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, and now play in a regular neighborhood Hold 'Em game in Plantation. I have been given the assignment of writing about the gambling life in South Florida casinos for the Sun-Sentinel...which means sitting around watching poker on TV now counts as research.