On Sept. 6, the bad-beat jackpot at Pechanga struck for $243,657, netting the loser of the hand, Ly Ang Tong, $73,124. His quad threes lost to Judy Court’s quad nines. Every player in the room in a hold’em cash game received $396. Court won $48,708. The other seven players at the table netted $10,442 each.
The jackpot, which set the record for biggest at the Pechanga poker room, immediately reset to $110K.
“All summer long, Pechanga poker players have been packing the house to chase this jackpot,” poker room manager Richie Lopez said. “Though it only took beating a four-of-a-kind, the jackpot just kept getting bigger and bigger, as no one could trigger it.”
LABOR DAY EVENTS: Ocean’s 11 hosted its annual Labor Day tournament, which always has a free BBQ. The buy-in was $450, unless you were fortunate enough to get a seat via one of the $75 satellites. The 211 entrants brought the prize pool to $84,400, with Faris Fotouhi taking home the top prize of $21,120 and Bessie Fitzmaurice collecting $11,280 for second. The Pala poker room hosted RiverCard’s Quest for the Cup XI.
The two-day tournament featured 230 players ($28,750 prize pool), with 37 making it to the Labor Day final.
The top 25 players were paid as Steve Alkema won the title and $8,155. He also received a replica of the RiverCard trophy.
— LoriAnn Persinger is Ante Up’s Southern California Ambassador. Email her at anteuploriann@gmail.com.
