Dover native Steven Gedney hit a record-shattering Bad Beat Jackpot at Caesars Atlantic City of $553,958 last Friday. The behemoth prize pool dwarfed the former largest jackpot of $361,244 and Gedney raked in $276,979 as a result of the beat.
Joe Domenico, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Caesars Atlantic City, commented in a press release distributed by the East Coast casino, “This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team. The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record-setting jackpot couldn’t be more rewarding.”
Gedney held quad threes in the memorable hand, normally a stone cold lock to scoop any pot. However, in what was likely a mix of dismay and excitement, Gedney watched as his opponent, Chris Dobrzanski, flipped up four aces, triggering the Bad Beat Jackpot. Although dropping the $400 pot, Gedney hauled in a massive $276,979 prize for suffering the bad beat. Dobrzanski, meanwhile, hauled in the $400 spoils and added another $138,489 for dishing out the misfortune. The table was nine-handed, meaning that the other seven players seated each earned $19,784 for paying witness to history, enough to buy a new car just in time for final 2009 year-end closeouts.
Under the terms of the Caesars Atlantic City Bad Beat Jackpot, four of a kind must go down in smoke to a superior hand. Half of the Bad Beat Jackpot is awarded to the losing player in the hand, 25% is given to the winning player, and the remaining 25% is divided equally among the other players dealt to at the table when the bad beat occurred. In 2008, the Caesars Atlantic City poker room awarded nearly $1.2 million in Bad Beat Jackpot money and is well on its way to surpassing that amount this year.
As of January 11th, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot stood at $529,436, meaning that it grew by $25,000 last week alone before being hit on Friday. At Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City, the Bad Beat Jackpot was $352,873 last Monday. At Showboat, the purse for doling out a bad beat was $118,970 one week ago and, at Bally’s, the bounty stood at $137,493. After being hit on Friday, the Caesars Palace Bad Beat Jackpot sat at $152,000 today at Noon ET.
The Caesars Palace Atlantic City poker room sports 20 tables and 50-inch plasma televisions to allow players to keep up-to-date on the latest in the world of sports. The casino spreads favorites like $1/$2, $2/$5, and $5/$10 No Limit Hold’em and $2/$4, $3/$6, and $4/$8 Limit Hold’em. The venue is ramping up to host a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event in March. The action kicks off in Atlantic City on March 3rd and concludes with a Ladies No Limit Hold’em tournament on March 14th. The $5,150 buy-in Caesars Atlantic City Circuit Championship, a three-day affair, will begin dealing cards on March 12th.
Here is the schedule of events for the Caesars Atlantic City Circuit stop in March:
Wednesday, March 3rd at 12:00pm ET
Event #1: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Thursday, March 4th at 12:00pm ET
Event #2: No Limit Hold’em
$590 buy-in
Friday, March 5th at 12:00pm ET
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Saturday, March 6th at 12:00pm ET
Event #4: No Limit Hold’em
$560 buy-in
Sunday, March 7th at 12:00pm ET
Event #5: No Limit Hold’em
$340 buy-in
Monday, March 8th at 12:00pm ET
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em
$560 buy-in
Tuesday, March 9th at 12:00pm ET
Event #7: No Limit Hold’em
$1,080 buy-in
Wednesday, March 10th at 12:00pm ET
Event #8: Deep Stack
$1,600 buy-in
Thursday, March 11th at 12:00pm ET
Event #9: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Friday, March 12th at 12:00pm ET
Event #10: Caesars Atlantic City Championship Event
$5,150 buy-in
Saturday, March 13th at 12:00pm ET
Event 11: Turbo
$230 buy-in
Sunday, March 14th at 12:00pm ET
Event #12: Ladies No Limit Hold’em
$230 buy-in