Last night I spent about an hour playing at the bad beat jackpot tables at Party Poker, and I had a good time. The players at these tables are a lot "chattier" than the players in the ordinary ring games at this level, which is an aspect of poker that I particularly enjoy, and the action was very solid indeed. It was a profitable outing for me, in fact.

What is the Party Poker Bad Beat Jackpot?

I didn't understand bad beat jackpots for a long time, and I didn't bother to learn about them because I was still working on my actual poker game. But now that I know a little more about how a bad beat jackpot can improve my chances of winning money, I think I'll be spending a little more time at these tables.

The bad beat jackpot is a progressive jackpot (like a slot machine jackpot) that grows every time someone rakes a pot. Party Poker adds an additional 50 cent rake to each pot won at the bad beat tables in order to fund this jackpot.

As I write this (on October 14, 2005), the bad beat jackpot at Party Poker is currently over $557,000. The record for their jackpot was $734,000 in January. So we're talking some serious cash if you hit the jackpot.

How to Win the Jackpot

Someone wins the progressive bad beat jackpot at Party Poker if they're sitting at a table when someone has a four of a kind, 8's or better, and gets beaten by someone else who has a better hand.  4 or more players must be in the hand before a jackpot gets paid out.

You do not have to be the person winning the hand or the person with the four of a kind to get a payout for this jackpot. Anyone at the table who gets dealt cards gets a piece of the jackpot.

Party Poker Bad Beat Jackpot Distribution of Funds

Party pays out 70% of the bad beat jackpot total when someone hits the bad beat jackpot qualifications. They keep 20% to "seed" the next bad beat jackpot, and they keep 10% as an administrative fee.

50% of the jackpot goes to the loser of the hand. (The person suffering the "bad beat".) 25% of the jackpot goes to the winner of the hand. And 25% of the jackpot is then divided evenly among the other players at the table who aren't sitting out.

Other Benefits of Playing at the Jackpot Tables

There are other benefits to playing at the jackpot tables at Party Poker for good players. For one thing, a lot of the players at the bad beat jackpot tables are not very good poker players. They're attracted to the jackpot rather than to their hourly win rate, so they tend to play looser and a bit more passively than would be ideal. You can capitalize on that to make more money at these tables.

Even good players loosen up at the jackpot tables. Since the jackpot is generally so large, pocket 88's should always be played, since on the rare occasions that you hit your 4 of a kind you become eligible for the jackpot. In other games, pocket 88's usually fold in the face of a raise, but not at a bad beat jackpot table.

And as David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth are fond of pointing out, some hands change values in certain situations. High pairs and strong starting cards are more valuable in pots with fewer players, and suited connectors and drawing hands are more valuable in pots with more players.

Since there are generally more players in a pot at the bad beat tables at Party Poker, suited connectors and drawing hands are much better starting hands than in other games.

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This page was last updated on January 5, 2006.