An 88-year-old woman, playing in her first-ever live tournament, finished 14th out of 2,628 entrants in a recent tournament in Mississippi. Linda Hammons was participating in the $1m Guaranteed Mystery Bounty at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino.
finishing in 14th place for an $8,400 prize, in addition to the $1,700 in bounties she accumulated
Tournament organizers double-checked that she knew the rules of poker before the $500 buy-in event began. The Alabama resident, a great-grandmother, attracted a large crowd around her table as she advanced into the top 15. She just missed the final table, finishing in 14th place for an $8,400 prize, in addition to the $1,700 in bounties she accumulated.
She said she has never gotten too far ahead of herself, focusing only on the people at her table and not thinking about how many other participants there were. Hammons kept playing poker after getting knocked out, with the Beau Rivage paying her $400 entry fee for Event 8. She said she “got a win” and beat her performance from the previous day.
