The poker hand that got away became a big boon for an Ocean City man, who walked away from the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa with a $122,487 "bad beat jackpot," the largest such payout in Atlantic City history, the casino announced Wednesday.
Michael Richard was playing Texas Hold 'Em in the Borgata poker room Tuesday night, when he got lucky enough to pull four 7s, but William Stewart, of Brigantine, got four 10s to take the $800 kitty, casino officials said. But Richard was the real winner, as he took home the "bad beat" jackpot.
OK, Stewart got a $61,245 consolation prize for winning the hand, and the other seven players at the table each got $17,499 for being there, officials said.
Just about every poker player has stories about a "bad beat," playing a wonderful hand only to find that an opponent got an even better one. Several Atlantic City poker rooms run "bad beat jackpots" in their Texas Hold 'Em games where the player who gets defeated wins a prize that keeps growing. Each poker room sets its own rules about which hands qualify for the prize.
E-mail Elaine Rose ERose@pressofac.com
