Gambling Great-Grandma Goes on Tear at the $1 Million Beau Rivage Heater Fesitval
Posted on: January 19, 2026, 12:58h.
Last updated on: January 19, 2026, 01:07h.
- Slot regular wanders upstairs, enters $500 Mystery Bounty tournament
- 88-year-old first-timer runs deep, finishes 14th of 2,628
- Fan favorite cashes about $10K as Heater rolls on.
An unexpected contender captivated railbirds at one of the Gulf Coast’s biggest poker festivals on Friday. Linda Hammons, 88, a great-grandmother who had never before played a hand of live tournament poker, ran deep in a $1 million guaranteed event at the Beau Rivage Heater festival. Hammons almost reached the final table before exiting in 14th place, The Biloxi Sun-Herald reports.
Hammons, from Dadeville, Ala., said she initially wandered into the poker room after discovering the slot machines she usually played on the casino floor had been removed.
Once tournament organizers confirmed she knew the rules of Texas hold ’em, she paid the $500 buy-in and took a seat at one of the sprawling ballroom tables.
‘I Showed ’Em’
The event she entered, the Mystery Bounty No-Limit Hold ’em tournament, drew 2,628 entries and carried a total prize pool of more than $1 million. Hammons’ run earned her $8,400 for her official finish, plus $1,700 in bounty money, for a total payday of roughly $10,100.
“I showed ’em,” she told the Sun-Herald afterward.
Hammons’ deep run quickly made her a fan favorite on social media, with commentators cheering the octogenarian’s improbable ascent through a field stacked with experienced players from across the country and beyond.
“Go get ’em, gramma,” one viewer wrote.
It wasn’t all plain sailing for Hammons, who acknowledged that she hadn’t mastered some physical aspects of the game, including chip handling, which she joked was tricky because of her long, cherry-red nails.
Granny on a Heater
The “heater” came to an end when she jammed all in with K-9, only to run into pocket queens, prompting loud cheers of support as she headed to the rail.
The event was ultimately chopped by Randall Chase Cummins and double WSOP bracelet winner Michael Lech, each taking home $115,136.
Meanwhile, Beau Rivage staff tracked Hammons down – she was still staying at the hotel with family – to present her with a certificate recognizing her 14th-place finish, and even paid the buy-in for a subsequent one-day event she planned to enter.
The Beau Rivage Heater, running January 7–19 at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, is one of the Gulf Coast’s marquee poker series, featuring dozens of events with more than $5.5 million in guaranteed prize pools. The series includes a mix of buy-ins ranging from several hundred to over a thousand dollars, culminating in a $1.5 million guaranteed main event.
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