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Bad beat stories in the poker community are generally disliked, ranking somewhere between head lice and paper cuts in terms of approval. Almost every poker player expresses annoyance when others start recounting the tales of their most devastating losses. In reality, these stories usually end up being the typical bad beats that every poker player has experienced.
However, occasionally, a story of unfortunate luck exceeds expectations and, on certain occasions, concludes with a positive outcome. This was recently witnessed at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit.
The million-dollar bad beat
Scott, a resident of Oxford, Michigan, was engaging in a game of low-limit poker at MotorCity on Tuesday, Jan. 16. Despite having a formidable hand of four 3s, he unfortunately faced defeat when challenged by four queens.
Despite losing the pot worth a few hundred dollars, Scott’s hand at MotorCity Casino triggered the enormous bad beat jackpot, which had accumulated to over $1 million. As a result, Scott walked away with an impressive payout of $427,452.
There were other winners as well, as reported by the Detroit News.
Over the course of several months, the ‘Bad Beat’ jackpot had accumulated a staggering amount of $1,068,590. Out of this sum, the four 3s were entitled to 40 percent, while the winning hand received 20 percent, equivalent to $213,712. The remaining portion was shared among the remaining players at the table. Considering there were only six players present, each of the remaining four players took home $106,856.
How a bad beat jackpot works
Poker rooms frequently feature bad beat jackpots, which serve as major attractions for low-limit players.
The details of a bad beat jackpot differ among casinos and depend on the following factors:
- The way in which the money is divided.
- At what pot size does the bad beat jackpot drop occur?
- Which hand is necessary to meet the requirements?
Apart from the regular rake, rooms featuring jackpots at MotorCity will deduct an additional dollar from every qualifying pot, which is any pot amounting to $20 or above. This extra dollar is then directly contributed to the bad beat jackpot.
In MotorCity, the requirement for a qualifying hand is to have four of a kind using both the two hole cards and three community cards.
Largest in US history but not the largest ever
Although the jackpot at MotorCity was the largest ever in US history, it did not surpass the record set at the Playground Club in Montreal last year.
Since everyone loves a bad beat story…
In the early 2000s, I experienced my very own unfortunate bad beat tale at Foxwoods. Despite the lack of a happy ending, it remains a remarkable story in the realm of bad beats.
In the game of Limit Hold’em, fate dealt me pocket aces, a classic start to countless unfortunate tales.
I had a strong hand with top set after the flop came A-8-x, and the betting was intense. The turn card revealed another 8, improving my hand to aces full, which I believed would secure the pot. The betting continued to be aggressive, and after numerous raises, my opponent went all-in, revealing his pocket 8s.
However, that is not the story of the unfortunate defeat.
In the subsequent round, I received pocket aces as my starting hand, managed to flop a set, but unfortunately, I was defeated by an opponent who unexpectedly acquired quads on the turn. Remarkably, this time their fortunate hand consisted of sixes.
It’s been over 15 years since this incident occurred, so my recollection of the specific details regarding the betting and board cards may not be entirely accurate. However, I distinctly remember being dealt pocket aces consecutively in two hands, managing to form a full house on both occasions. Unfortunately, despite my strong hands, I suffered defeat as my opponent revealed an even stronger hand with quads.
However, unlike Scott who hails from Oxford, all I possess is a narrative.
Photo credit: Barbara Kalbfleisch / Shutterstock.com
