Huge £140,000 Bad Beat prize paid out at London casino – including £21k to first time player
An enormous £140,000 Bad Beat prize was paid out at a London casino - with one "lucky" player pocketing a stunning £42k!
The national, accumulative prize was claimed at Grosvenor Casino Bayswater, with two poker players scooping huge wins and a further 413 taking home a slice of the pie.
It was a memorable business trip visit for Houir Alami, who claimed an amazing £21,000 in his FIRST VISIT to a casino.
A 'bad beat' is when a player with a significantly stronger hand in poker is beaten in the end by a player who had a significantly weaker hand but ends up winning when all the cards are dealt.
Essentially, an unexpected event occurs which changes the outcome of the bet, meaning you unfortunately lose.
There was no misfortune for local regular John Felix, who - probably rightly - assumed he was going to win his hand with quad 7s - a four of a kind which is the strongest hand in poker.
Remarkably he didn't, as one of his opponents produced quad 8s, a very, very slightly stronger hand in the end to win the hand.
That is the very definition of Bad Beat and John would pocket a stunning £42,000 as a result. Not a bad consolation.
Houir would claim £21,000 , with the four remaining local players at the table - Ricky Siu Wong, Szczepan Smoczynski, James Roberts, and Daniel Chamoun - pocketing £1,750 each.
The remaining £70,000 was split across all active tables, meaning a nice share of the prize fund amongst 409 other players.
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On his unexpected windfall, Houir said: "It was my first time taking part in a competition at the venue and I only went to enjoy a bit of evening fun as part of my business trip.
"I can’t believe I came away hitting the jackpot! We had celebratory champagne and it was a really special moment shared between my fellow winners.
"I still have no idea what to spend the money on – it is all a bit surreal.”
The Bad Beat jackpot is a national prize at Grosvenor and increases weekly, every Thursday at 6pm, until it is eventually claimed.
This prize had not been won for two months, meaning a large payout for those involved this time.
Remember to gamble responsibly
A responsible gambler is someone who:
- Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
- Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
- Never chase their losses
- Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
- Gamcare –
- GambleAware –
Read our guide on responsible gambling practices.
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.
