$1.2 Million Dollar Bad Beat Hits at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh

After months of anticipation, the $1,226,765.80 poker bad beat jackpot hit around 4:15 P.M. on August 25, 2022 at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh. In the hand of a lifetime, one player had four aces and was beaten by another player with a royal flush yet the “loser of the hand” earned $490,708, the largest share of the jackpot.

This history-making win happened in a $1-$3 game of no-limit Texas hold’em. The winner of the hand earned the second-highest payout of $368,029 while the remaining six players at the table each won $61,338.

Benjamin Flanagan of Huttonsville, WV, held the four aces for the top prize, while Raymond Brodersen of Wexford, PA, held the royal flush—ace, king, queen, jack and 10 of spades. The remaining six players were from Pittsburgh, PA; McKees Rocks, PA; Morrisdale, PA; and Morgantown, WV.

The record-breaking bad beat jackpot has progressively increased since it was last hit on April 14, 2021, for $149,417.

“It’s absolutely thrilling and potentially life-changing for a poker game to payout at this level,” said Andre Barnabei, assistant general manager at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh. “When we launch a bad beat jackpot, we have no idea when it will hit or how big it will get. It’s almost as exciting for us, as it is for the winners. Congrats also to our Rivers Pittsburgh Poker Room Team Members for a great job.”

A poker bad beat is when a rare high-ranking hand is beaten by an even higher-ranking hand, hence the losing hand triggers the bad beat jackpot and wins the lion’s share of the money. At Rivers, the losing hand earns 40% of the total amount, the highest-ranking hand wins 30% of the jackpot, and remaining players split the rest equally.

Following the record-setting payout, another bad beat jackpot has already started and continues to grow daily with the minimum qualifying hand of four of a kind, 10s or higher. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh’s previous bad beat jackpot record was for more than $480,000 in 2017.