Thomas Evans Zanot won a massive $6.4 million progressive jackpot from Pai Gow at Flamingo in Las Vegas on Sunday. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
A life changing win
A Las Vegas poker player has hit the biggest Pai Gow progressive jackpot ever. Thomas Evans Zanot won the $6.4 million jackpot Saturday night at the Flamingo Casino Resort from just a $5 stake.
This win will be hard to beat as one of the biggest casino jackpots of any kind in Las Vegas this year. Flamingo, which is owned by Caesars Entertainment, tweeted a photo of Zanot with his huge jackpot check:
Experienced winner
Zanot is an avid poker player, and is originally from Arizona. to me Hendon Mob DatabaseHe has earned over $1.1 million playing live tournament poker. It seems to focus on playing low stakes and medium sized events. Just last month, he earned $99,600 for finishing 33rdResearch and development At the WPT World Championships at Wynn Las Vegas.
Speaking about winning the Pai Gow jackpot on Twitter, Zanot explained that he lost about $375 in the 11 or so hours of playing before he hit the jackpot. The photo, posted to Twitter by an onlooker, shows the hand in which Zanot finally won the life-changing amount (the casino later rearranged the hand for the photoshoot):
Popular type of poker
In Pai Gow, the joker is part of the straight line. In the case of Zanot, it replaced the King card. To win as much of the Pai Gow progressive jackpot as possible, the player needs to place a side bet and then get a seven-card straight flush. The chances of getting a seven-card straight flush are very low, which is why the size of the jackpots for those who accomplish this feat tend to be quite large.
People get Pai Gow progressive jackpots from time to time in Las Vegas. Another notable win was in October when a player hit the $3.5 million jackpot at Harrah’s Casino Resort.
Pai Gow Poker is a game played by players against the house, where each person is dealt seven cards. After a tie, players choose a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand in an attempt to beat the dealer’s hand. Casinos often offer side bets as part of Pai Gow poker hands, such as the one that saw Zanot hit the progressive jackpot.
