Heck of a surprise

Players at the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh have broken the record for the largest bad beat jackpot win during a US poker game, with the total prize of more than $1.2m. The big score was hit at about 4:15pm on Thursday.

the loser of the hand, in this case, is the big winner

A bad beat jackpot is triggered when a very high-ranking poker hand is bested by an even better hand. The loser of the hand, in this case, is the big winner, as they receive the biggest share of the jackpot money.

There are several rules governing what qualifies as an official bad beat hand. At Rivers, the losing hand must be quad tens or better, both players must use both of their hole cards, the hand must go to showdown, the hole cards must be pairs if the hand (win or lose) is quads, and at least four players must be dealt into the hand.

When losing means winning

The poker game was at a $1-$3 No-Limit Texas Hold’em table. One of the players at the table ended up with quad Aces and was defeated by someone with a royal flush. The player who lost the hand with the four aces received biggest share of the bad beat jackpot, taking home a cool $490,708.

The player with the royal flush received a $368,029 payout, while the other six players dealt cards in the hand each got $61,338. The last time that the bad beat jackpot was won at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh was back in April 2021 when it was $149,417. It has been rising ever since.

Speaking about the record-breaking win was Rivers Casino Pittsburgh assistant general manager Andre Barnabei, who said it was “absolutely thrilling and potentially life-changing for a poker game to payout at this level.”

He went on to say that the casino never knows how high the bad beat jackpot will go, which adds to the excitement.

Smashed the previous record

The payout distribution rule at the Rivers Casino Pittsburgh is that the loser hand gets 40% of the jackpot, 30% goes to the winner of the hand, and the remainder of the jackpot is split evenly among the other players in the hand.

After the record-breaking win, the bad beat jackpot has now been reset. The previous bad beat jackpot record win at the casino was worth over $480,000, hit back in 2017.