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An Apollo man turned three cards into $30,200 at Live! Casino Pittsburgh.
John Grabowski hit the Three-card Poker progressive jackpot at the Westmoreland Mall property with a mini royal.
The ace, king and queen of spades. In that suit and no other.
That last part decides the payout. The same three cards in hearts, diamonds or clubs pay $2,500 on the progressive at Live! In spades, they pay the entire meter.
Three cards dealt out of a 52-card deck make 22,100 possible combinations. One of them is the hand Grabowski got last week.
Everyone else at the table with the progressive down collected $500 on the envy bonus.
Was the $5 progressive side bet a good bet?
No, not at $30,200.
The base game at Three Card Poker carries a house edge of 3.37% on the ante, according to the Wizard of Odds. The progressive is a separate $5 wager with its own math, and by that same analysis it does not break even until the meter clears roughly $50,000.
Grabowski hit $30,200. The bet was returning somewhere near 80 cents on the dollar when he made it.
Under Pennsylvania regulation, the meter reseeds at $1,000. The meter stays at that level now, and where the math is at its worst.
Sean Sullivan, general manager of Live! Casino Pittsburgh, said in a news release:
“There’s nothing more exciting than finishing up a night with a win like this. We’re proud to celebrate with John and be part of the excitement a big win brings to the gaming floor.”
How big is $30,200 for a casino this size?
Live! Casino Pittsburgh is one of Pennsylvania’s Category 4 satellite casinos, licensed for up to 750 slot machines and 30 table games. It opened in November 2020 inside a former department store at the Westmoreland Mall in Hempfield Township, and it is run by an affiliate of The Cordish Companies.
Its tables won $1,137,326 in June, according to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
June was rough for table games across the state. Statewide retail table games revenue fell 21.04%, to $61,021,223 from $77,279,749 a year earlier. Live! Casino Pittsburgh was down 3.07%.
Has Live! Casino Pittsburgh paid out bigger?
Not the biggest table game hit at the property, either.
On Jan. 26, 2024, a Somerset Township player put $5 on the Ultimate Texas Hold ’em progressive and caught a royal flush in hearts. That one paid $380,065.
Hearts, diamonds or clubs, and he goes home with a good story. Spades, and he goes home with $30,200.
