Hoai Pham Makes Quad Queens...And the Whole Room Hears About It

[user197301]

The peaceful hum of chips being shuffled throughout the cavernous Amazon Room was broken suddenly by triumphant cries of joy. Hoai Pham, who won the $500 Casino Employee's event last year, began screaming "I made four queens! Oh my God, four queens, four queens!" while pacing around his table.

We rushed over to see what the commotion was about and saw Pham's {Q-Hearts} {Q-Spades} laying face up on the felt. His opponent had {K-Spades} {K-Diamonds} in front of him, but the board read {2-Clubs} {3-Hearts} {8-Diamonds} {Q-Diamonds} {Q-Clubs} and he stood in shock while staring vacantly at the cards.

We were informed that after two small bets to begin the action, Pham and his opponent got their nearly equal stacks of 60,000 into the middle. Pham was crushed by the other player's cowboys, but the turn and river provided him with an unbeatable four of a kind. Although Pham is "a champion," as he told us after the hand, his unsportsmanlike outburst following the win was deemed excessive celebration and he was assessed a one-orbit penalty.

The unlikely victory pushed Pham to over 130,000, while his crestfallen opponent had to be ushered to the cashier's cage, still stunned and shaken after the brutal beat.