For poker players and fans out there, bad beat jackpots are quite the rare occurrence, but it does happen. But what if you're supposed to win money from a bad beat jackpot and the casino refuses to pay you? This is the dilemma that a certain poker player was in, and this happened back in December 2017.
Avinoam Shamir, age 83, was dealt with a bad beat that was ill, lost the hand with a straight flush to opponent poker player Len Schreter.
Station Casinos refused to pay out when the bad beat jackpot hit at Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas. Their excuse - a technicality occurred. However, the players who stood to win the cash from the hand have not given up their claim to get paid, and so the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) stepped in to make a ruling.
In a bad beat jackpot, the rules stipulate that the losing hand wins half of the entire jackpot. In Shamir's case, he should have won $60,000+. The player with the winning hand shall then receive 25% of the remaining pot - $30,000.
The other 25% or the rest of the prize money, $30,000 is then equally distributed amongst everybody else who played poker at the time in Station Casinos' five Las Vegas card rooms. A total of 80 players were entitled to get their share of that $30,000.
The ‘Technicality'
There are certain rules that players must follow when a poor beat-worthy hand (namely quads losing to quads or better) comes up, or else the casino is not required to pay the winnings. One of the rules say that before the action concludes, if a player exposes their hole cards to others at the table, then the casino has the right to not pay up.
Customary whenever a bad beat jackpot hits, the surveillance video has been reviewed, and the casino determined Schreter exposed his hole cards to other players out of turn, before the ending of the hand.
As a result of his egregious action, Schreter is at the mercy of the NGCB, which heard arguments from 15 individuals, including those involved in the hand. Control Board members watched the surveillance video and heard witness testimony. The video ‘clearly' reveals Schreter exposed his cards out of turn.
For refusing to pay the jackpot prize money, many on social media expressed their anger towards Station.
Good for Avi, but not for the rest?
There was some confusion concerning the exact payouts that the two players must receive, but the Disposition clearly stated the amount of $62,126 to Shamir, which should be 50% of the total bad beat jackpot prize, thereby making the overall jackpot worth $124,252.
In turn, Schreter is entitled to receive 25%, about $30,000+ and the remaining would go to the ‘table share', divided amongst players seated at the table where the jackpot hit, and ‘room share', split amongst all players active in a cash game at Red Rock as well as other Station Casinos around Las Vegas at the time the jackpot hand occurred.
It is crucial to note that at this time, the only payout mentioned in the NGCB Disposition from last week's meeting was the one meant for Shamir. It has not been disclosed whether the payouts to other players will also be carried out.
Source:
https://www.pokernews.com/news/2018/02/ngcb-rules-for-players-red-rock-bad-beat-case-29974.htm?itm_content=pn-hp-hero-1
