Poker Playing Pensioner Wins and Tips Big in Atlantic City
One recreational casino poker player will have a Christmas to remember following a $1.68 million win in Atlantic City. The breathtaking cash haul came in Harrah’s Resort & Casino Atlantic City on Saturday. The lucky winner wished to remain anonymous, but casino officials were quick to promote the record-breaking haul and the generosity of its winner.
Celebrating her $1.68 million jackpot win, the player placed $77,000 in cash on the table and said: “thank you for dealing, that’s your money!” ©GettyImages
The jackpot recipient, a 74-year-old woman player from Monmouth County, New Jersey, has been described as a “longtime customer”. She netted the enormous prize playing Let It Ride Poker and placing a successful $5 bet on Caesars Entertainment’s multi-linked All-In Progressive Poker Jackpot. It is a table game side-bet offered at Caesars, Tropicana, and Harrah’s Resorts in Atlantic City.
What Are the Five Card Odds?
In five-card poker games, the odds of return for a Royal Flush are 1,000/1. The true probability is 649,739/1. But, the live casino poker game also pays out on other notable poker hands: 200/1 on a straight flush, 50/1 on four-of-a-kind, and 11/1 on a full-house.
The progressive jackpot accumulates until one of the jackpot hands is won. On Saturday, the royal flush jackpot had grown beyond $1.6 million. “That’s the highest amount that Caesars Entertainment has given in New Jersey,” Michael Zippel, Harrah’s Atlantic City director of table games, told the local broadcaster, NBC10, when reflecting on the big win.
What happened after the royal flush (in diamonds) had been dealt left the casino’s dealers and staff overjoyed. Proceeding back to the table where the winning hand had been dealt, the player placed $77,000 in cash on the table and declared to the dealer, Devin Thapa, “Thank you for dealing. That’s your money!”
Christmas Joy for 250 Staff
The enormous tip will be pooled and shared – as is the standard procedure with casino tips – amongst all other floor staff at Harrah’s Resort & Casino Atlantic City. With approximately 250 dealing staff, they will receive around $3,000 apiece to enjoy Christmas and the holiday season.
Harrah’s Atlantic City General Manager, Gregg Klein explained. “It is tremendous of her to do it this time of year in particular with the holidays and Christmas right here. We’re really just thankful to have guests like her.”
But the winner’s generosity did not end with her lucky dealer or the live casino staff. On leaving the casino, she proceeded to give 25 or so seated players $100 in cash as she passed them.
No Love in Las Vegas
Monmouth County gamblers are becoming renowned for their generosity. In February 2021, another massive progressive jackpot winner, Frank Nagy, tipped $50,000 following a $1.1 million win in another Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City property, the Tropicana Casino.
Across the country in Las Vegas, the news is not always upbeat. In August 2021, chat forums were awash with the rumor that the winner of a long-running Crazy 4 Progressive jackpot in the Golden Nugget – worth $1.1 million – left a tip of just $200.
