Some people have all the luck, and apparently one Palms guest used up a lifetime's worth on Wednesday.

A player who was trying Face Up Pai Gow Poker for the first time managed to draw a nine-high straight flush in diamonds — all seven cards — and walked out of the Palms with $576,540. Their first time playing the game. A seven-card straight flush. Nearly six hundred thousand dollars.

We need to examine our life choices.

The Quick Hit

• The hand: Seven-card, nine-high straight flush in diamonds (10-high with the bonus)
• The payout: $576,540
• The casino: Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas
• The catch: This was the player's FIRST TIME playing Face Up Pai Gow

What Is Face Up Pai Gow?

For those who haven't been introduced to this particular way to lose money (or apparently win half a million), Face Up Pai Gow is a variant of Pai Gow Poker where the dealer's cards are exposed. You get seven cards, set them into a five-card hand and a two-card hand, and try to beat both of the dealer's hands.

The progressive jackpot pays out for premium hands regardless of whether you beat the dealer. A seven-card straight flush is basically the holy grail — the odds of drawing one are astronomical.

And this person hit it on their first time playing.

Palms Is Running Hot

This isn't even the only big jackpot at Palms this month. A Nebraska degen named Brett C. hit a $104,277 Huff N' Even More Puff jackpot on New Year's Day — consolation for watching Nebraska get smoked in their bowl game.

Two jackpots also hit at midnight on New Year's Eve: $24,640 and $27,058. Someone turned $1.50 into $55,857 on a Buffalo slot.

The Palms, for those who don't know, is the first and only resort in Las Vegas owned and operated by a Native American tribe (San Manuel Band of Mission Indians). It's also won USA Today's Best Las Vegas Casino award twice. And apparently the progressive jackpots are hitting.

The Math

Seven-card straight flushes in Pai Gow are rare enough that most players will never see one in their lifetime. The odds vary depending on the specific rules, but we're talking about roughly 1 in 40,000+ hands for a seven-card straight flush.

To put that in perspective: if you played 100 hands an hour, eight hours a day, it would take you roughly 50 days of nonstop play to have a decent shot at seeing one.

This person saw one on their first session. First time trying the game.

The holiday casino jackpot roundup showed that December was a good month for winners across Vegas. January is continuing the trend.

The Broader Picture

Table game jackpots don't get the same attention as slot hits, but they can be just as massive. Progressive Pai Gow jackpots, Caribbean Stud progressives, Let It Ride bonuses — these games can pay out life-changing money.

The catch is that progressive jackpots require a side bet, and those side bets are typically -EV plays. You're paying for the dream. Most of the time, the dream doesn't hit.

But sometimes it does. Sometimes a first-time player sits down at a Face Up Pai Gow table and walks out with over half a million dollars.

The Bottom Line

Someone who had never played Pai Gow Poker before sat down at the Palms, drew a seven-card straight flush in diamonds, and won $576,540.

The game of gambling, in its purest form. Zero skill involved — just cards falling in a perfect sequence for a player who didn't even know what a good hand looked like until it was sitting in front of them.

We should all be so lucky. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Pai Gow table to find.