If there is one thing we should have all learned by now, it is that there is no reason not to play online poker on a laptop or a mobile device. That way, you never have to take a pee break. It’s really that simple. Nature calls, take your laptop with you, and never miss those pocket Aces again. Or, in the case of a player with the screen name “fish2016,” never miss a Bad Beat Jackpot again.
On Wednesday, the $655,000 Bad Beat Jackpot was hit over at BetOnline. The way it works on that site is that at specifically designated tables, the Bad Beat Jackpot is triggered if a player loses with quad Jacks or better. At least four players must be dealt into the hand for it to qualify, both the winning hand and losing hand must use both hole cards, and the hand must go to a showdown.
The player that loses the hand with quad Jacks or better – the one that suffers the bad beat – receives 35 percent of the jackpot. The winner of the hand gets 17.5 percent of the jackpot (plus whatever he or she won in the hand itself), while another 17.5 percent is divided equally among the rest of the players at the table. The remaining 30 percent is used to seed the next jackpot.
Here is how the hand went down at the $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em full ring table:
Five players saw the flop of 3♥-Q♥-9♦ by paying the minimum pre-flop. Interesting that half the table limps, but ok, it is relatively low stakes no-limit, so that stuff happens. Everyone checked (of course) to bring on a turn of 7♦. That card didn’t seem all that interesting, but it actually got the hand going.
“Rambo173” bet $9.25 and both “pygmy416” and “catfancy” made the call.
With the 8♦, pygmy416 and catfancy went into overdrive. The former bet $17.58, the latter doubled that to $35.16, Rambo173 got out of the way, and then pygmy416 moved all-in for $112.79, prompting a call by catfancy. Huge hand.
With 5♦-6♦, catfancy probably thought he had the hand locked up with a straight flush, but pygmy416 did him one better with J♦-T♦ for a better straight flush.
That had to have been the best loss catfancy has ever had, though, as the straight flush over straight flush triggered the Bad Beat Jackpot, awarding catfancy a whopping $229,350.34. On top of the nearly $300 pot, pygmy416 won an additional $114,642.39 for winning the hand (while some people might instinctively kick themselves for winning the hand and not picking up the greater part of the jackpot, keep in mind, without winning the hand, there is no jackpot).
There were six other players who were dealt into the hand, so they split $114,642.39, each receiving $19,107. One player had even just re-joined the table after sitting out, posted his blind, and folded. Can’t find many better investments than that.
Which brings us to “fish2016.” While fish2016 was at the table, he was sitting out and was never dealt cards. That meant that he did not qualify for the Bad Beat Jackpot and was left empty-handed. Hopefully, by the time he returned, any sign of the jackpot being hit, including table chat, had died down and he was none the wiser. Odds are, though, his tablemates let him know.
