Quadzilla

I arrived at the Atlantis on Friday night around 7pm. I was hoping to play in a larger NL game, but it never started. So I just stayed at the $2/$3 NL for a few hours. After about 40 minutes, the following hand happened.

It folded around to me, and I limped in Mid Position with 4d 4c. I know this isn't the best play, but I haven't had many good hands, so I want to play something. The Hyjack raised to $12. The Cutoff called, and the Blinds folded. Naturally, I called. Flop was 5d 5h 4h. I gotta check my Full House, and so do the other two players. Turn [5d 5h 4h] 4s. I gotta check my Quads, and so do the others. River [5d 5h 4h 4s] 3s. I can't check my Quads, so I bet $25, and they can't fold fast enough. I show my Quads to collect the $50 Bonus. There is also an Hourly High Hand Bonus for $50. But about five minutes after this hand, someone at a $3/$6 table hit a 9-high Straight Flush.

About 20 minutes later at 8pm, there was a Straddle pot to $6. It folded around to me in the SB, and I just called with 9h 9d. The BB folded the $3, and the Straddle checked. The Flop was 9s 9c 8c. I checked my Quads. The Straddle bet $5, and I called. Turn [9s 9c 8c] 6s. I checked my Quads, and he bet $35. With a bet that large, I think he has a hand. He's got around $125 behind, so I grab a stack of Red chips, and check-raise to $100. He quickly shoves his stack in. I say call, and show my Quads. He gets that "Deer In The Headlights" look on face, and shows T7o for a Straight. Nasty. I collect the $50 Bonus for Quads. But the Hourly High Hand ended at 8pm, so I missed out on that one.

The money for the various Bonuses comes for the $1 Promo drop that most Poker Rooms have. Back in the East, most of the rooms use that money for their Bad Beat Jackpots (BBJ), and nothing else. In Detroit, each of the rooms had a BBJ that sometimes reached over $100k. But as a player, I hate the BBJ because it's essentially a lottery, or a 1-in-a-million chance to win a piece of the $100k BBJ. The closest I've ever come to being at a table that hit a BBJ was someone flopping a Straight Flush, and someone else hitting Runner Runner Quads. But it was three on the Board, and one in the Hand (like Tc 9c 6c 6h 6s), so it wouldn't qualify for most BBJs.

In Reno, some rooms have a BBJ, but they're smaller like the Peppermill that is capped at $10k. All of the rooms use their $1 Promo Drop for High Hands Bonuses, usually with Quads or Better and sometimes an Hourly High Hand Bonus. So far, I've won $500 with various Quads, and $150 in the Hourly High Hand Bonus. No Straight Flush or Royals yet. I know that I haven't paid $650 in the Promo Drop, so this is a much better way to get that money back rather than trying to hit the lottery in the BBJ.