When his spades royal beat the quad aces of Ben Flanagan of Huttonsville, West Virginia, it triggered a $1,226,765.80 jackpot that had been building since April 14, 2021. casino history, and he didn’t even win the most from it.

Brodersen had become part of the largest known poker “bad beat” jackpot in U.S. Six hours later, he was up about $20 for his time spent.Ī few minutes after that, after winning a hand with a royal flush, he was up nearly $370,000. No, you never do, including last Thursday, when the 67-year-old sat down with $300 in chips at a $1-$3 Texas hold ‘em table when the Rivers Pittsburgh poker room opened at 10 a.m.

“There’s variance, a luck factor, which at times is extremely frustrating and at other times extremely interesting. “I like it as a challenging game,” he told Penn Bets by phone Friday. The self-employed businessman doesn’t mind driving a few miles each week from his suburban Pittsburgh home to the Rivers Casino to indulge a hobby that occasionally makes him a few bucks. He’s one of millions of Americans who learned the game as a kid and enjoys it as an adult.