Players looking for some intense cash game action this weekend should head to BetOnline, where the Bad Beat Jackpot has just passed the million dollar mark.
Since BetOnline launched a progressive Bad Beat Jackpot promotion in December 2016, it has proven to be one of the most popular features on the site. Every day, hundreds of players hit the Jackpot tables hoping to be unlucky and experience the bad beat of a lifetime; and, to date, the Jackpot has been won six times – most recently in March when a [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/bbj-jackpot-won-twice-in-five-days-at-betonline-poker/”]Royal Flush beat Quad Queens[/geolink].
Having not been won for more than six months, the progressive prize pool has increased steadily to its biggest ever and now stands in excess of $1,000,000. As the Jackpot pool has continued to increase, the qualification criteria for winning the prize pool has been reduced. Consequently the longer the Jackpot continues to grow, the easier it will become to win.
How to Win the Progressive Jackpot at BetOnline
If you fancy winning your share of more than a million dollars, you will need to play at one or more of BetOnline´s Jackpot tables. These can be identified by starred tables in the cash game lobby which range in stakes from $0.50/1.00 to $10.00/$20.00. One point to note is there are a lot more Full Ring tables running than you would normally expect. I´ll discuss why later.
Once you have joined a table, the way to win the Bad Beat Jackpot at BetOnline is to have Quad Eights (*) or better crushed at showdown. In order for your hand to meet the qualifying criteria, both your hole cards must be used to make your bad beat hand, and both the winner´s hole cards must be used to make their winning hand.
(*) As mentioned above, the qualification criteria for winning the Bad Beat Jackpot has been reduced as the Jackpot has continued to grow. At the time of publication, the qualification criteria is that you have Quad Eights or better; but this has been reduced from Quad Jacks to Quad Tens to Quad Nines over the past six months and could soon be further reduced to Quad Sevens.
Everybody Wins When the Bad Beat Jackpot is Won
One of the reasons why the progressive Jackpot tables at BetOnline are so popular is that, when the Bad Beat Jackpot hits, everybody seated at a Jackpot table shares in 10% of the money. This means that, even if the bad beat does not happen at the table you are playing at, you still win a cash prize just for being in the right place at the right time.
If you are playing at the table at which the bad beat happens, your share of the money depends on your role in the hand. For example, if you are the one who experiences the bad beat, you win 17.5% of the money; if you win the bad beat hand, you win 12.5% of the money, and if you are dealt into the hand, you win a share of 10% of the money whether you contributed to the pot or not.
Based on the current prize pool of $1,087,500, the player who experiences the bad beat wins $190,312.50, the winner of the hand gets $135,937.50, and every other player seated at the table shares $108,750. A further $108,750 is distributed among active players at other Jackpot tables, while the remainder of the prize money goes to reseeding the next Jackpot prize pool and administration costs.
Why So Many Full Ring Jackpot Tables Running at BetOnline?
The reason for their being so many full ring Jackpot tables running at BetOnline is that it is mathematically more likely bad beats will happen when more players are dealt into a hand. This not only increases your chances of being involved in the bad beat hand, but also of a bad beat happening while you are seated at the table – in which case you win a bigger share of the prize pool.
Historically however, there has been an equal distribution of Bad Beat Jackpots won at Full Ring and 6-Max tables. This is possibly because more hands per hour are played at 6-Max tables, although it is more likely it is too early to tell due to the small sample size. As you can play up to four Jackpot tables simultaneously, you don´t have to choose between the two formats – you can play a couple of each.
A further advantage of multi-tabling Jackpot tables is that it enables players to clear bonuses much quicker. Currently BetOnline has two bonus offers available – [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/betonline-poker/”]one for new players[/geolink] and [geolink href=”https://www.usafriendlypokersites.com/new-tournament-mania-reload-bonus-at-betonline-poker/”]one for existing players[/geolink]. Both offer a 100% match on deposits of up to $1,000, but you need to make your reload deposit soon to take advantage of the bonus offer for existing players as it expires on 31st October.
