In news sure to set the pulse racing for even the most cynical of railbirds, it was reported that the legendary super high stakes player Andy Beal has been spotted at Bellagio once again playing Limit Hold'em against the regulars of the Big Game.


2+2 user "BCT" was the first to report his sighting of Beal, and the story has been confirmed by other users. According to the postings, Eli Elezra, Jennifer Harman and Phil Ivey were playing Limit Hold'em against Beal over the weekend.

Despite the news it's too early to speculate whether Beal is setting up a new match against the high stakes regulars. One of the posters claims he was in town for a business meeting and only stopped by at the Bellagio for fun.

Beal's three matches against the "Corporation" of high stakes players in 2001-06 is (quite literally) one of the biggest stories in poker. The mathematically talented billionaire banker's passion is Limit Hold'em, and he wanted to play his game of choice way higher than anyone had ever played before. Unlike Guy Laliberte, he was also a very tough opponent to the best players in the world, and his strategy included setting the limits so high that his opponents would have to move out of their comfort zones.

Michael Craig's excellent book "The Professor, the Banker, And the Suicide King" tells the story of the first two heads up matches played in 2001-04. At the highest point the game was played with betting limits of $100,000/$200,000, and on May 13th 2004 Beal reportedly won the biggest amount anyone has ever won in one day of cash game action, a staggering $11.7 million. Chip Reese, arguably the best cash game player in history, was relieved of $8 million of the Corporation's money in just one day. But the tide turned and finally Beal had to admit defeat, and he returned to his home in Texas to work on his super aggressive strategy.

Two years later, after very long discussions, the game was on again and this time Beal and the Corporation played three long heads up sessions in February 2006. In the first session Beal lost $3.3 million, but a week later he came storming back and took $13.6 million from the Corporation. Some of the high stakes pros were fearing the worst, but on Feb 21st through 23rd Phil Ivey stepped in and saved the bankrolls of many of his fellow pros by taking $16.6 million from Beal. The banker conceded defeat, and the match hasn't been running since.

Apart from Ivey and Reese, some of the players in the Corporation included Doyle and Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Ted Forrest and Gus Hansen.

More info on the third match in Pokernews, and in Bluff Magazine as told by Michael Craig (part 1 and part 2).

2+2 thread here.