The Bad Beat Jackpot at the Winning Poker Network has been struck twice in one week, Black Chip Poker has announced.
On December 3, “marcusdaily2” lost to “quanna” when a 10 high straight flush proved to be too small to take the pot, losing to a queen high straight flush. The Bad Beat Jackpot paid out $18k to the lucky loser and $12k to the winner of the hand. The other players at the table each picked up $860.
One week later saw the Jackpot pay out again, as “CathyMarieA” won $15k when her quad jacks lost to quad aces at showdown. Her bad beat earned $15k and $10k went to the winner of the hand.
The online industry is divided on the issue of offering Bad Beat Jackpots. Jackpots result in great stories that attract new players, but existing players can resent the extra charge that is levied. Most rooms offer the option to play at Bad Beat tables or normal tables, but that splits player liquidity. Additionally, large payouts to single players also often removes large amounts from the money in circulation.
Market leader PokerStars does not offer the promotion, PartyPoker removed theirs in early 2012, and in August, Merge Gaming—Black Chip’s former network—announced the end of its jackpot promotion.
Bad Beat Jackpots are funded by taking an extra payment from each pot on top of the standard rake. The rules on Winning Poker are typical: if you lose with quad eights or better using both cards in your hand, you are entitled to a share of the Jackpot, with the payouts as follows:
- 30% goes to the loser of the hand;
- 20% to the winner of the hand;
- 10% is divided amongst the other players at the table;
- 30% goes to the seed the next jackpot;
- 10% of the gross jackpot goes to the house.
For two to hit in the space of a week, even on high traffic sites, is highly improbable. Jackpots often build for months and can rise to seven figures. For it to occur on a smaller network like Winning is quite exceptional.
Black Chip Poker left Merge in a surprise move shortly after pulling out of the Poker Maximus tournament series. The Winning Poker Network (previously Yatahay) continues to serve the US market and saw a solid bump in traffic as Black Chip joined. It is now in the top 25 sites/networks and is the fourth largest site open to US customers.
