- MPN’s jackpot hit on the same day it was re-launched.
- €554k was paid out in total with the top prize of €370,789 going to TiltShove who lost the bad beat hand.
- The winner of the hand did not opt in to the BBJ and lost the chance to collect €185k.
- Since then the jackpot has been triggered twice more, each time one of the two players involved was not opted-in and passed on big prize wins.
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.
