Losing never felt so good.

What would normally amount to an agonizing defeat instead resulted in a record payout for an unlucky-turned-lucky poker player Sunday night. The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort paid out more than $670,000 for a losing poker hand Sunday, the largest “bad beat” jackpot ever.

A “bad beat” is poker jargon for when a player loses a strong hand to an opponent dealt an even better collection of cards. To qualify for the jackpot, the losing hand must be a four of a kind or higher, and both the winner and loser must use both their hole cards to make the hand.

John Bazela, an 84-year-old resident of King of Prussia, Pa., saw his four sevens trumped by another player’s four aces, triggering a payout of $672,115 to the nine-player table.

“Everyone was talking about it on the bus down here,” said Bazela, who makes regular trips to Atlantic City to play poker.

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Poker crowd looking for losing hand at Taj Mahal

Every table was full Wednesday evening in the poker room at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort. Almost as soon as players tired out or lost their chips, there was someone waiting to take their place.

On a normal Wednesday night, even in the summer, the room would be about one-third full, poker room manager Tom Gitto said.

“(Now) every day is Saturday,” even in the wee hours of the morning, Gitto said. “We have people working seven days now. It’s just getting enough staff in here to keep up with demand.”

The reason for that demand was flashed on a video screen above the cashier’s cage. The “bad beat” jackpot stood at $607,734.

For those unfamiliar with poker jargon, a “bad beat” is when a player loses a strong hand to an opponent who has one that’s even better. Many poker players relish sharing their bad-beat stories with anyone who will listen.

To qualify for the jackpot, the losing hand must be a four of a kind or higher, and both the winner and loser must use both their hole cards to make the hand, Gitto said. The holder of the losing hand gets half the money, the winner gets 25 percent — plus the pot — and the other 25 percent is divided among the other players at the table who were dealt into that round. The jackpot builds with each hand dealt that does not produce a bad-beat winner.

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The second first day of the 2010 PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final went off in Monte Carlo Monday with 497 runners joining the fray.

With 351 players hitting the Le Sporting felt Sunday, this year’s Grand Final has drawn a grand total of 848 entrants.

Losing almost 100 players from last season’s total of 935 might be a warning sign in other years, but travel difficulties in Europe due to volcanic ash from Iceland was likely the cause of the dip in entries this time around.

The total prize pool for the 2010 Grand Final is €8,480,000 with first place paying €1,700,000.

When play wrapped on Day 1b around 11:30 p.m. local time Monday, approximately 252 players remained with Thiago Nishijima, Salvatore Bonavena, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Joe Cada, 2009 WPT Champinship winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko and 2009 WSOP Main Event last woman standing Leo Margets among the leaders.

They will join Day 1a leader Simon Muntz and the 176 survivors from Sunday for Day 2 in Monaco Tuesday.

The PokerStars EPT Grand Final continues through Apr. 30.

Source:Pokerlistings.com

1ST ANNUAL RAY KOT POKER OPEN

Please join us for some great fun and a chance to win super prizes. This charitable tournament is open to the public and all casino employees (including key licensed employees and employees of Trump Resorts).  Contact the Poker Room at 609-449-5881 with any questions.

Qualifying Satellite Tournaments
January 18-23, 2010
Noon – Midnight (every hour on the hour)

Championship Round
Sunday, January 24 (Ray’s Birthday)
8:15PM * Taj Poker Room

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2010 Trump Classic schedule Jan 2-18th Main event $2500 buy in!

BOOK YOUR TOURNAMENT SEAT NOW>

Jan. 02 Saturday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Mega Stack ( 2 Days ) $500 + $50 25,000 45 MIN.

Jan. 03 Sunday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Turbo ( 1 Day ) $500 + $50 12,500 25 MIN.

Jan. 04 Monday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em – 6 Max $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 05 Tuesday 11:15am Omaha Hi/Low 8 & Stud Hi/Low 8 $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 06 Wednesday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Double Play $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 07 Thursday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Double Play $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 08 Friday 1:15pm No Limit Hold’em Double Play Final Day 40 MIN.

2:15pm Seven Card Stud $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan . 09 Saturday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Mega Stack ( 2 Days ) $300 + $40 20,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 10 Sunday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Shoot-out $300 + $40 5,000 20 MIN.

2:15pm No Limit Hold’em Shoot-out $300 + $40 5,000 20 MIN.

**Top 3 from each Shootout table at 11:15am & 2:15pm will return at 7:15pm for final round.

7:15pm Final Round of Shoot-out 40 MIN.

Jan. 11 Monday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em – 6 Max $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 12 Tuesday 11:15am Seven Card Stud $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 13 Wednesday 11:15am Limit Hold’em $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 14 Thursday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Mega Stack ( 2 Days ) $500 + $50 25,000 45 MIN.

Jan. 15 Friday 11:15am Omaha Hi/Low 8 $300 + $40 10,000 40 MIN.

3:15pm No Limit Hold’em Mega Stack Super Satellite $525 + $35 12,500 30 MIN.

**1 in 5 players will win Main Event seat. ** 1 in 5 players will win a Main Event Seat.

8:15pm No Limit Hold’em Super $275 + $25 10,000 25 MIN.

**1 in 10 players will win Main Event seat. ** 1 in 10 players will win a Main Event Seat plus $125 cash.

Jan. 16 Saturday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Championship

$2,500 + $125 40,000 60/75/75 MIN. (3 day)

Jan. 17 Sunday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Mega Stack ( 2 Days ) $300 + $40 20,000 40 MIN.

Jan. 18 Monday 11:15am No Limit Hold’em Turbo ( 1 Day ) $300 + $40 10,000 20 MIN.

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William Brindise Wins $261,800 and Championship Bracelet at the Trump Taj Mahal 2009 U.S.Poker Championship Event

2009 United States Poker Championship

Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City, NJ

No Limit Hold’em Championship Event 20

November 20, 21, 22, 24, 2009

Buy In $5,000 + $250

Entries 154

Total Prize Money $770,000

Places Paid 18

1 William Brindise Rumson, NJ $261,800

2 Men Van Nguyen Bell Gardens, CA $138,600

3 Eric Ladny Mercerville, NJ $77,000

4 Gordon Eng Cliffside, NJ $53,900

5 Brian Lemke Norristown, PA $46,200

6 Nicholas Binger Las Vegas, NV $30,800

7 Anton Smolyanskiy New York, NY $23,100

The Final Seven!

Seventeen Hours of Tournament Play on Day Three of the

2009 U.S.P.C. Championship Event 20 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ

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LAST DAYS TO BOOK YOUR SEATS!

Seats are selling fast… Click here to book NOW!!

Atlantic City Event Draws Cream of East Coast Card Crop

The inaugural “Poker Pro Magazine Classic” poker tournament was a huge success, attracting a tough field that included the cream of the East Coast poker crop.

Ninety-five players packed the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City Saturday for the deep-stack event. For a $560 buy-in, competitors were given a generous 20,000 in chips and faced very skill-friendly 40-minute blind levels. The prize pool reached almost $50,000.

“This is a great structure,” said one player who had traveled five hours for the event. “I hope Poker Pro plans more of these.”

When the dust settled after 14 hours of play, David Thorpe Sr. of Cato, New York, had raked in the $19,000 first prize, withArthur Peters of Brick, New York, taking second for $10,925 and Cris Belkewitch of Roselle, New Jersey, pocketing $5,140for third.

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POKER PRO MAGAZINE “2009 CLASSIC”
Saturday, October 17th @ 1:15 PM
Buy-in $500+60

PLAYERS: 95    PRIZE POOL $47,500 

EXTRA PRIZE: Vincent Maillard won the PTSEATS drawing for overnight at the Taj and dinner for two.

HERE ARE THE RESULTS: [ Read the full post... ]