Microgaming’s New Format Bad Beat Jackpot Pays Out Three Times in Four Days

On the day it launched, MPN’s new format bad beat jackpot (BBJ) was triggered by a losing straight flush. €554k was paid out in total with the top prize of €371k going to TiltShove who lost the bad beat hand.

Just two days later, €377k was awarded to quad-2s losing to quad 6s—hands that usually do not qualify under standard BBJ rules—and a day later, a €227k jackpot paid out.

The frequency of the payouts is thanks to the new-format Bad Beat Jackpot at the recently rebranded MPN.

Under the new rules, the qualifying requirements have been reduced, the jackpot can trigger at any cash game table, and payouts are distributed to all players at that stake that have opted in. And the jackpot triggers if only one player in the hand is participating in the BBJ.

The new format is in response to the industry moving away from such jackpots altogether. Many players generally dislike bad beat jackpots as they are are a “-EV” losing proposition, and poker rooms are starting to realize paying out 6-figure amounts to two players takes a lot of money off the poker tables.

The new BBJ at Microgaming looks to solve these problems while maintaining attractive jackpots.

Firstly, the standard BBJ “administrative fee,” usually 10%-20%, has been waived. All BBJ funds collected are awarded as prizes or rolled over into the next jackpot, making it potentially an EV-neutral proposition.

And, as has been apparent in its first week, the jackpot now triggers much more frequently, due to a variety of other changes to the format.

Firstly, anyone can opt in to the BBJ—by making an additional contribution at the start of the hand—at any cash game table, meaning more hands that qualify for the BBJ are dealt. Secondly, MPN reduced the qualifying requirements so that losing with any quads or better will trigger the jackpot. And only one person involved in the hand must opt in for the payout to trigger.

Microgaming also now distributes the prize money to a larger portion of the players. All players opted in at a certain stake level get a share of the prize fund when it hits, substantially increasing the likelihood of players getting a share of payback for their contributions—and there is always the chance of hitting one of the big prizes.

MSN’s new BBj system solves another problem, as Lydia Melton, Head of Network Games at Microgaming, points out: “With the introduction of our new Bad Beat Jackpot, we solve the problem of liquidity segmentation seen in other Bad Beat Jackpots, and make the whole promotion accessible to all MPN players.” MPN announced the radical overhaul of the promotion last month.

The new format is not without its own dramatics. On all three jackpots, one of the two players involved did not opt-in—on March 19, the true bad beat story of the day belonged to the winner of the big hand, who was not opted in to the promotion. That player had to sit and watch TiltShove pick up his €370k jackpot knowing that they could have taken home €185k if only they had clicked the opt-in button for a cost of 2c.

In total, €426k has gone unclaimed in the three jackpots. All “lost” prize-money is used to seed the next jackpot.