Bad Beat Jackpot tables have been removed as an option on PartyPoker after the last jackpot was hit on Friday.
Customer support has confirmed the decision to remove all such tables, even though currently the lobby still has a category and table filter for BBJ tables and the lobby still features a jackpot counter.
A PartyPoker representative could only confirm the the removal was due to management decision, and could give no details as to why or if they would return soon.
However, according to an email sent to customers, the change is permanent. The removal is to “ensure a healthier poker room, offering you better cash games and more players to play against,” according to a report on Rakeback.com.
Bad beat Jackpots—essentially a casino game of chance built into poker tables—are funded with additional money taken from every pot played on a designated BBJ table; on PartyPoker, it was 50c in extra rake. A player is required to lose with quad eights or better to trigger the prize: 70% of the jackpot is paid out to players, 10% taken as an admin fee and 20% used to seed the next jackpot.
Even though it was widely believed that sitting at the BBJ tables was a –EV proposition unless the jackpot was exceedingly high, it was still popular among some players — typically the jackpot grew at the rate of $1k per hour.
When the final jackpot was hit on Friday, it is unknown what became of the 20% normally withheld to seed the next BBJ.
The quiet removal of the tables from PartyPoker will surprise some: The PartyGaming software has always aggressively promoted its side games—casino products like Blackjack and Roulette—in the poker lobby and on the tables.
However, with recent financial results unveiling a decline in poker revenue, the decision to remove the BBJ may signal a new, player-friendly approach to its poker product, to foster more play and increase liquidity rather than take money off the tables with -EV games.
For those who still like a gamble, a handful of networks still offer Bad Beat Jackpots, including 888, Microgaming and IPN/Boss Media.
