Another Newbie Question

[PrimeRoll]

What's a bad beat, and why is there a jackpot for it?

[jasonHoldEm]

The traditional definition of a bad beat is when a good hand (ok, a "great" hand) gets beaten by an even better hand. For example Aces full of kings getting beaten by four aces.

There's a jackpot for it so the fish will play and occasionally get lucky, win the jackpot, and keep playing (in a nutshell).

jHE

[onegymrat]

A bad beat is normally defined as a made hand that seemed unbeatable early on in the hand, but gets chased down and beaten by the end of the hand. This would be an example:

You have: A /images/graemlins/heart.gifK /images/graemlins/club.gif
Opponent has: 7 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif9 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

Flop: 10 /images/graemlins/club.gifJ /images/graemlins/heart.gifQ /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

You flop a straight. You are way ahead.

Turn: 2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

You are still ahead.

River: 4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

You just lost to a flush.

Of course, there are dozens and dozens of variations of bad beats, and hopefully you will give them more than you will receive them.

Bad beat jackpots are offered by casinos to give players hope of a big payoff with a really bad beat. Your chances of hitting one are usually just slightly better than winning a small lottery. Normally, aces full of tens or better beaten by four of a kind or better will pay out a jackpot for the table. The money paid out to jackpots are not the casinos, they are collected by each hand as part of the rake. So never feel that they are generous, part of it was your money to begin with. Good luck.

[skaboomizzy]

On this note, I had As full of 9s beaten by quad Aces today at Ultimate Bet. I simply smiled, held the grin until the button passed me, then logged off. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Ragnar]

A little more on bad beats. They have already been defined.
If you play quality starting hands you will sometimes get a bad beat. This is especially true in low-limit where more people stay in. You will beat players who chase long odds in the long run. It is bad form to complain about them, or endlessly tell "bad beat stories." It isn't helpful to your development as a player either. You need to analyze your play in those hands, i.e. did you bet them strongly enough to drive out the player who hit the miracle card or at least make him pay up front to do it. That is the best strategy, but when you do that you will lose larger pots in those situations. That is still the way to play with better results in the long run.

Ragnar

[PrimeRoll]

Thanks for the replies. I now understand what a bad beat is. But, how do they determine who wins the jackpot? Everyone has bad beats, but since there are so many variations and so many hands, how do they say, oh, you had Aces full of kings, and lost to four deuces, you get the pot?

[Nottom]

[ QUOTE ]
On this note, I had As full of 9s beaten by quad Aces today at Ultimate Bet. I simply smiled, held the grin until the button passed me, then logged off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe its me but this hardly even seems like a bad beat to me. Wouldn't the board have to have 3 Aces for this to be possible?

[Nottom]

In general any time a hand above a certain level (usually Aces-Full) loses to a better hand when both players use both hole cards the Jackpot is rewarded. The rules for a specific card room should be posted somewhere in the building.

[onegymrat]

As Nottom mentioned, it depends on the rules of the casino. I do not play online, therefore you'll have to investigate that yourself. In a typical Los Angeles casino, when a "bad beat jackpot" happens, the hand plays out and the winner of the hand scoops the pot. The allocated amount for the jackpot, will be distributed to each player who was dealt in for that hand. For example: 50% for the loser of the hand, 25% for the winner of the hand, and 25% spread evenly for the rest of the table. Typical jackpot amounts can be from $5000 up to $30000. I was lucky enough to have a piece of that about a month back. I had quad aces with AQo while my opponent had pocket kings.

[klrpdx]

Mike Caro says bad beat jackpots are a drain on the poker economy. Dollar after dollar disappear from the game into the slot. Eventually some lucky players get these dollars in one lump sum, but they probably don't find their way back into the game.

[skaboomizzy]

Yeah, it would. The last ace didn't come until the river.

Flop was A-A-8, then a K, then the last A. He just called the whole way down. I had pocket 9s, and he revealed A-7 at the end.

Holdem Hi: 1712304 enumerated boards
cards win %win lose %lose tie %tie EV
As 7h 497800 29.07 1209843 70.66 4661 0.27 0.292
9c 9d 1209843 70.66 497800 29.07 4661 0.27 0.708

So not a "classic" bad beat, but a little frustrating nonetheless. I give him credit for outplaying me.