The Bad Beat Effect

Just like many players, I hate the Bad Beat Jackpot. It's just taking $1 out of the pot that I will never see again.

I know I will never be involved in a Bad Beat for two reasons. First, I'm not a lucky player. I'm not say that to bitch, whine, and moan. It's just a simple fact. I don't go on sick runs of cards and cashout for $1000+ like everyone else seems to do. I only get quads or better like once every six months. I don't think I've ever had a live Royal Flush. I know someone who gets quads at least once every two weeks.

Second, I've never been involved in a hand that would qualify for a Bad Beat. That includes casino and home games, tournaments and ring games. The closest I've ever seen was at Binion's during my last trip to Vegas. Someone flopped a straight flush, and another player hit running quads. But it was one in his hand and three on the board, so it wouldn't qualify (for example: Tc 9c 6c 6h 6s - 8c 7s vs 6d 5d)

Also, I've only been a casino one time when the Bad Beat hit, and I wasn't even playing. I was a Greektown railing a friend in a tournament, and the Bad Beat hit at a $3/$6 Limit table (of course).

But, like it or not, the Bad Beat Jackpot is here to stay. Mostly because it does what it is designed to do. It gets people in the door and at the tables. Gamblers love the Big Prize, even it's a 1/1million chance to win part of $100,000+.

As I previously mentioned, Motor City's Bad Beat Jackpot is at $101,000, which is huge for Detroit standards.

I got to the Poker Room at 9:30, and sat down at a $1/$2 table. The "plan" was to sit there for 8 hours, and take advantage of the Bad Beat chasers who are more interested in funding their retirement accounts than in playing poker.

When I arrived at 9:30 on Wednesday morning, about half of the 14 tables were full. By 11am, all the tables were full, with 9 of them being $1/$2 NLHE. And most everyone was there was for only one reason. At my table alone, there was a guy who had been there for 30 hours. Another dude call off work for two days, went home for 5 hours of sleep, and came right back to the Room. Another player, who was a regular in the Room, was going to other tables and making deals with other regulars to swap some money if it hits: $300 for a Table Share; $600 for the Winning hand; $1200 for the Losing hand. He ended up with deals on five different tables.

For an example of the mentality of the Bad Beat Chasers, here's a hand I played at Four Winds Casino back in December (Hand #1)

My session had it's ups and downs. With so many players buying in for just $100 and waiting for the lightning strike, there were times that the action was quite dead. I was able to win numerous small pots, but I don't think I won more than $70 in any pot. However, any time I took a hit I was able to rebuild by grinding out the small pots. I also made two River mistakes (a bet and a call) that cost me about $75.

I ended up playing 8.5 hours. During that time, my stack hovered between +160 and -50, I ended up leaving the Poker Room at 6pm +$116. And, surprising as it may be, nobody hit the BBJ.

I guess I should have gone to Greektown.