A poker player in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA, has earned more than a quarter of a million dollars–for losing a hand!

The gambler, Steve Gedney of Dover, Delaware, USA, was playing poker at the Caesars casino in Atlantic City last Friday when he pulled four of a kind and managed to lose the hand.

The really bad beat trigged a promotion by the casino called the Bad Beat Jackpot, whereby Gedney and other poker players at his table split a progressive jackpot because of his bad luck.

The Bad Beat Jackpot was at $553,958 on Friday, as Gedney and Chris Dobrzanski held a one-on-one showdown in the aging casino’s refurbished poker room.

After Gedney showed his hand–four threes–Dobrzanski unleashed his four aces to win a $400 pot.

But under the casino’s Bad Beat Jackpot promotion, where anyone having four of a kind and losing the hand wins the jackpot, Gedney emerged the big winner.

He took home 50% of the jackpot or a whopping $276,979.

For his trouble, Dobrzanski received 25% of the jackpot or $138,489.

The other seven players at the table split the remaining 25%, with each collecting $19,784.

The payouts were the highest ever for the casino’s promotion.

The previous high Bad Beat Jackpot totalled $361,244.

Joe Domenico, senior vice-president and general manager of the casino, which is officially called Caesars Atlantic City, said in a Caesars news release: “This is an unforgettable day for everyone at Caesars, especially our loyal players and dedicated poker team. The energy building in our poker room over these past months has been incredible and to see it culminate in this record-setting jackpot couldn’t be more rewarding.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)