Michigan Poker Player Hits $1m Poker Jackpot after Seeing Meteor

Kenny Tallent was driving to the Motor City Casino in Detroit, when he saw a rare occurrence: a giant meteor flashing across the Michigan sky.

"It was like a big, green flash I saw out of the corner of my eye," he recalled. "My first thought was it was a nuclear bomb or something."

Tallent told Wwmt.com that his night only got better when he later helped trigger a $1 million bad beat jackpot while playing poker.

"Maybe seeing the meteor was a precursor to my luck that night," said Tallent.

How Tallent Delivered the Bad Beat

Tallent has been playing poker for 13 years. But he'd never earned a payday quite like what he experienced after seeing the meteor.

The Battle Creek, Michigan native was playing on one of Motor City Casino's bad beat tables. At the end of the hand, he flipped over two queens, giving him a four of a kind.

This is an impressive hand. But it became all the more amazing when his opponent showed four threes.

"I looked at him and said 'do you got it?' He looked at me and said, 'do you got it?' And, we both rolled our hands over and we went crazy. We started jumping up and down and dancing," Tallent recalled. "The whole room gravitated to our table."

Motor City has a requirement on bad beat hands that the loser must have a four of a kind. Considering that this requirement was met, Tallent and his opponent triggered the $1 million bad beat jackpot.

"Casinos set up bad beat jackpots to pay people when they lose with a really good hand like that," explained Tallent. "And, at Motor City, that bad beat jackpot was four of a kind beaten by four of a kind."

How Much did Tallent Win?

Motor City's jackpot is set up to pay 40% to the loser and 20% to the winner. The rest goes to other players who were dealt into the hand.

Tallent received 20% of the jackpot at $213,712.76, while the loser scooped 40% at $427,424. The rest of the money went to other players dealt into the hand, as well as reseeding the jackpot.

"I was only hoping he had the other four of a kind. I wasn't even thinking about the money I won from the hand,” said Tallent. “It was minuscule to the bad beat jackpot."

How Tallent Plans to Spend His Money?

Tallent is going to put most of his money into practical things, such as helping his parents and paying off his car debt. He also wants to contribute a significant amount towards his 401k in hopes of getting closer to retirement.

But Tallent also plans on using some of his newfound wealth on poker.

"I do want to take the money to go play in the World Series of Poker this year. And I'm hoping after this summer you'll be interviewing me again after I win the World Series of Poker."

Tallent has yet to cash in a live poker tournament. But he now has a chance thanks to the large boost to his bankroll.