'Granny' Enters First Poker Tournament and Runs Deep After Favorite Slots Removed
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A casino removed an 88-year-old woman's favorite slot machines, so she decided to enter a $1 million guaranteed poker tournament instead, where she went on to nearly win the thing.
Linda Hammons, who'd never played in a poker tournament, entered the $500 Mystery Bounty event at The Beau Rivage Heater, a Gulf Coast Poker Tour (GPT) series in Biloxi, Mississippi.
She more than held her own in the no-limit hold'em tournament, finishing in 14th place out of 2,628 entrants for a $10,100 payday ($8,400 from the main prize pool and $1,700 in bounties). Call it beginner's luck if you must, but poker players in attendance were so impressed with the deep run that local media picked up on the story.
'I Showed Them'
Hammons built up quite the rail inside the Beau Rivage as she approached the final table. Her deep run ended when Harold Evans, who had Q♠Q♣ in the small blind, put her all in preflop and she called with K♣9♣ from the big blind.
"Good luck, granny," a player at the table said just before the dealer revealed the flop.
The flop came out 5♣J♠2♥, minimal help for the inexperienced poker player. She'd pick up two extra outs when the 10♦ on the turn gave her a gutshot straight draw. But the 2♦ on the river was a blank, and the improbable run was over. The crowd gave her a rousing ovation upon exiting the tournament. Evans would later bust in seventh place for $16,335.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Randall Chase Cummins | $115,136 |
| 2 | Michael Lech | $115,135 |
| 3 | Jonathan Park | $55,480 |
| 4 | Brian Wardrup | $41,616 |
| 5 | James Tian | $29,383 |
| 6 | Charles Leroi | $20,413 |
| 7 | Harold Evans | $16,335 |
| 8 | Ethan Figueroa | $13,074 |
| 9 | Michael Corbin | $10,627 |
Hammons, following her elimination, spoke with the Biloxi Sun Herald, a local news outlet, to dicuss her performance. She explained to the reporter that she went to the slot machines "that I always play," but discovered they had been removed.
"So I just wandered up here," Hammons said about how she entered the poker tournament.
Hammons jokingly said, "I showed them," referring to her opponents in the tournament. The 14th-place finisher said she can't shuffle chips, but she gave it a try so as to fit in with the other players in the tournament.
"I think my fingernails get in the way. I'm not giving up my fingernails," she explained.
Randall Chase Cummins and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Michael Lech would go on to chop the tournament evenly ($115,136 a piece), with Cummins being crowned champion.
*Image courtesy of Gulf Coast Poker.
