February 13th, 2009 – One lucky player on the Merge Gaming Poker network from New York has just broken the world record for a bad beat jackpot proving Friday 13th is not so unlucky for some. The lucky player scooped $417,396 with the total Jackpot hitting a staggering $1.2m. The jackpot has already been reseeded and currently stands at $240,000.

Player RUGGIO scooped the World record prize by being beaten on the lowest stake jackpot table where blinds start at $0.50/$1. He held a straight flush from 7 to Jack of hearts. He was “beaten” by AELANI who was holding the Queen and King of Hearts giving him a higher Straight Flush. AELANI still took down $208,698 for his part. All the other five players on the table received $41,739 for just being there.

Ruggio holding 8,7 of hearts saw the flop come 3d, 9h Jh, sensing he needed any heart for a flush & the 10h for a straight flush he called AELANI’s $4 bet. The turn card fell a Queen of clubs, AELANI bet out $8, which was swiftly called. The river fell 10 hearts giving RUGGIO the straight flush, at this point he is thinking about how he has AELANI beat. AELANI bets out $20, which RUGGIO raised to $35, AELANI then re-raises all in which was called. To RUGGIO’s horror AELANI turned over Queen and King of hearts giving him a higher straight flush. His horror soon to turned to joy when he realized he had scooped $417,396 and the chips began raining down on his screen.

“My first reaction when I saw that I hit a piece of the Jackpot was ‘oh my God’, I am paying for college completely on my own through student loans so first and foremost I thought about how I would be able to pay off all my student loans and start my life in the real world debt-free.” AELANI, from Northwestern University, Chicago said of his win.

“Congratulations to all players who made this a part of history and share in the jackpot of almost $1,200,000, however, the fun is not over, the bad beat has been reseeded and is already sitting at $240,000.” commented Jay Manning, a Carbon spokesman. “We are thrilled that the Bad Beat has gone off and we have set a new bar for the industry. We never envisaged the Bad beat would take so long to hit, after all we have the lowest qualifying hand anywhere online”, said Manning.

The Bad Beat Jackpot, first introduced by Carbon Poker in mid 2008, this is the first pay out since its introduction, is seeded by $0.50 from every pot on all listed Bad Beat tables and pays out when a hand of quad 7’s or better is busted. Currently, this is the lowest qualifying hand for a bad beat in the online industry.

The Bad Beat Jackpot isn’t the only thing happening at Carbon Poker, with the highly anticipated 4.5 version of their gaming platform to be launched 1st March. The new software, which features an advanced mini mode and table customizer also coincides with the release of the new VIP program that will incorporate a brand new online store. “It’s a very exciting time at Carbon Poker, a lot is happening, the players love it and they are tuning in to what we are doing.” stated Manning.