Andy Beal
Born in Lansing, Michigan, Andy is a son of an engineer and a state employee. At a young age, he showed he had a sense for business, starting his career by repairing broken TVs and reselling them for a profit. As he grew older, so did his appetites, and from small real estate investments, Andy made millions and eventually billions of dollars investing in all sorts of business, with enormous success. In 1998, he opened Beal Bank in Dallas, and as the years progressed, his business ventures spread across the face of America, increasing his wealth beyond most people’s dreams.
Beal started playing the game of poker during his college years, and it is believed that some of his early investments were made with money he won playing poker. As his wealth grew, he wanted to play in higher stakes games and did exactly that. In 2001, he made his way to Las Vegas casinos and sat down in the highest games that were spread, $800 – $1600 limit hold’em games.
The stakes were not high enough for the billionaire, and he started asking to play higher, which the pros at first gladly did, increasing stakes gradually, to $1k – $2k and all the way up to $4k – $8k. But the billionaire was still not happy, as he wanted to play for much more money and was willing to lose or win millions. Andy’s requests to play higher soon led to the birth of The Corporation.
The Corporation
The stakes Andy wanted to play were insane for any pro, and none could afford to play him so high. In the end, a number of high stakes pros including, Doyl and Todd Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Gus Hansen, and eventually Phil Ivey, pulled their cash together.
The encounters between Beal and The Corporation lasted for years, as he visited Vegas multiple times for short trips, each time increasing the stakes, which by 2005 were up to $100k – $200k limit. At one point, it seemed that Andy might just walk away, busting The Corporation, as he took them down for over $13 million, and the pros were pretty much broke.
The Outcome
The Corporation was on its knees in 2006, having lost over $13 million. They managed to pull together one last million, and decided that Phil Ivey, who had made a name for himself as the best all-around player, should play the billionaire heads up.
The final match started on February 21st, 2006. With the blinds $30k – $60k, a limit hold’em match would decide the fate of The Corporation. All eyes were on the 30-year-old-pro, and the super aggressive style that Ivey played proved to be too much for Beal. Over the course of just three days, “No Home Jerome” had won back all the money others had lost, and another $3 million on top of it. Once all was said and done, Andy pledged never again to play the pros, and has never issued them a challenge again.
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