iStockphoto / SerKucher
Nearly a million dollars was split amongst a table of poker players at the Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh after the bad beat jackpot was triggered.
Bad beat jackpots are pretty common in poker rooms. At the Rivers Casino, the bad beat jackpot is triggered any time that Four of a Kind (10s or higher) lose a hand. The hand must have at least 4 players. Both hole cards from the winning and losing hands must be used (not just the board or 1 hole card), and the hand must be played to a showdown.
All of that criteria was hit in Pittsburgh on Wednesday when Scott Thompson’s Quad Aces lost to the Royal Flush of Brent Enos. At the time, there was $905,622.13 to be paid out in the Pittsburgh Rivers Casino bad beat jackpot.
The funny thing about bad beat jackpots in poker is the lion’s share of the spoils go to the loser which runs opposite of every other pot in poker.
In this instance, Scott Thompson earned $362,250.13 after his quad aces lost. Brent Enos took home $271,686 for winning the hand with a royal flush (hearts). And the table split the rest of the $905,622.13 total with each person seated at the table taking home $45,281 just for sitting there.
2023’s Record-Setting Bad Beat Jackpot
While $905,622.13 is a MASSIVE amount of money awarded to the table, it pales in comparison to the bad beat record that was set back in August when a player’s Four-of-a-Kind 10s lost to a Straight Flush 6-7-8-9-10 (Diamonds) at the Playground Casino.
The Playground Casino is famous for having a high rake to juice the bad beat jackpot to record levels and it paid off when this one hit. The jackpot was up to $2,590,185 with the loser of the hand taking home $984,270.
As icing on the cake, the winner of the hand took home a $429,135 share of the jackpot and the rest of the table were each awarded $70,305 just for sitting there and being at the right place at the right time.