An 88-year-old grandmother at Mississippi’s Beau Rivage Casino recently scored her first-ever poker tournament cash. And she was playing only because someone was at her favorite slot machine.
The $500 event was part of the property’s “Heater” series. Linda Hammons grabbed a seat after venturing away from the slots area. That turned out to be fortuitous, as she went on to finish 14th out of 2,628 entries in the $1 million mystery bounty event.
Hammons, who is fairly new to the game, collected $8,400 for the finish and another $1,700 in bounties.
“I didn’t realize it was so big,” she told the Gulf Coast Poker Tour. She added that her opponents were all really nice to her.
Slots To Big Pots
A picture of Linda Hammons (courtesy of Gulf Coast Poker)
Hammons said she has always had an interest in gaming, even as a child. “After the adults got through playing dominoes, the kids would get to play,” she said.
Hammons received a lot of support from those watching online. “Go get ’em gramma,” one person wrote on Facebook.
She was the top female finisher in the tournament.
Players and onlookers applauded her play when she was finally eliminated, the Sun Herald reported. Hammons said she tried to play her best and make a nice impression. She recommended that those who have dreamed of playing in a power tournament to “do it before you get old like I am.”
Property management later awarded the casino’s newest poker player with a free entry to the next event.
“Oh my goodness,” she said after opening the envelope with the $400 entry. “I’ll be over there at 4 (o’clock).”
Linda Hammons, in her first live poker tournament at 88 years young, finishes 14th out of thousands at $1,000,000 Guarantee Mystery Bounty at the Beau Rivage Heater. We got the chance to speak with her today and she got a surprise. pic.twitter.com/SXItunhVKd
— Wild Bill Phillips (@GCPNet) January 15, 2026
Poker For All Ages
Poker legend Doyle Brunson played at some of the highest stakes well into his 80s before passing away in 2023. The Texan always believed playing the game late into life kept his mind sharp.
Last summer, 63-year-old Lonny Weitzel outlasted a field of 3,338 players in the $1,000 super seniors event at the World Series of Poker. The event was open to players 60 and older. The oldest person to enter a WSOP event was Eugene Calden, who was 100 when he played the 2023 main event.
