Player Scoops Biggest Baccarat Tournament Winnings and Sets World Record

The casino game of chance highly popular among high roller casino players, baccarat, has lived up to its name when a player from Hong Kong won the world record for 100 million Hong Kong dollars or $12,890,500 / £8,565,880 this past weekend at the World Series Baccarat Championship. The event that made history took place at the Sheraton Macao Hotel. The Championship is organized and sponsored by the Suncity Group.

Two Guinness World Records

The lucky player from Hong Kong is called Lin Haisan and with the huge winnings he set a new Guinness World Record for the largest individual winnings ever won in a baccarat tournament. In addition, another wild record was set for the largest prize pot for a baccarat tournament of 119,000,000 Hong Kong dollars or $15,339,600 / £10,193,400. Guinness observers are expected to confirm the two records that will make it onto the Guinness World Record annual book.

The casino game of baccarat is a card game where players hold two or three cards in their hands. The winning hand is the one that gives the highest remainder when its value is divided by ten. Over the years, there has been a lot of controversy going on about this game. For example, poker pro Phil Ivey was sued by Borgata Casino for having cheated in the punto banco version of baccarat.

The baccarat tournament organized by the Suncity Group was held over two qualifying events. The first one took place in Australia at Crowne Plaza Melbourne, while the second was held at Sands China’s Venetian Macao. The qualifying events were then followed by two stage semi finals and the final showdown held at the Sheraton Macao.

However, Hong Kong card king Lin Haisan wasn’t the only winner at the final event of the competition. As part of their commitment to the future of Macao, the Suncity Group donated 1 million Hong Kong dollars on the same day to the Tung Sin Tong Charitable Society and Cradle of Hope Association in Macao to support their important services to the society.

Other World Records in Gambling

Lin Haisan is not the only one who has set a world record in gambling. Antonio Esfandiari, a great poker pro, set the world record for the biggest prize money won in a poker tournament. He managed to beat off 47 poker pros and rich amateurs at the Big One For One Drop poker tournament to scoop the top prize amount of an amazing $18.3 million.

Furthermore, the biggest payout in an online slot game is €17,861,813 or $22,974,400 / £15,143,600 won by an anonymous player from Finland. The lucky punter was playing the Mega Fortune slot from Net Entertainment on January 20, 2013 when he scooped the biggest win ever on an online slot. The winner was a 47 year old man from Finland and he bet only €0.25 to scoop the record breaking jackpot prize.