TPT Archive: Jackpot Jason and My $597 Payday

Jackpot Jason and My $597 Payday
(previously posted at Texas Poker Trails, October, 2006)

The Winstar Casino offers a few bonus prizes for players, especially during weekdays when the poker room is not so crowded. For example, on Tuesdays during the day if a player gets their pocket Aces cracked, they win $100. It's a reason to play during the day, and if you’re like me and have the flexibility to arrange your schedule it makes sense to play during that time. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, the "high hand" each hour receives $100. But the main prize that most players covet is the Bad Beat Jackpot. The Jackpot prize grows each day until someone wins it. The Bad Beat must come via two hands: Aces full of Kings or better. For example, a recent Jackpot went to a player who had AAAKK, but was beat by someone with the fourth Ace, giving them quad Aces. The player who suffered the bad beat didn't know about the Jackpot, got upset and left the table moaning about his bad luck. He was called back, of course, and told he had won over $8,000.

The Bad Beat Jackpot is paid out this way: the player who receives the bad beat gets 50% of the pot, the player who gives the Bad Beat by winning the hand gets 30% of the Jackpot, and the remaining players at the table evenly split 20%. So, if a Bad Beat of Aces full of Kings or better occurs at your table, you will win at least 20% of the Jackpot pool.

The night I won the Bad Beat Jackpot was over $20,000. Jason was the dealer, and most of us at the table were not really paying attention to what was happening. In fact, casino rules dictate that the players should not speak about a possible Jackpot hand, because it may make a player stay in the hand longer than he normally would. In order to pay out the prize, the casino double checks both the video and audio (or so I've been told) before rewarding the prize. Therefore it was to our advantage at the table to not be paying too much attention. It just happened.

I noticed it was possible when I heard Jason quietly ask the player in Seat 9, "You have a Jack?" The player nodded. I immediately looked at the board and saw the community cards 8-J-J-8-J. The betting was over, and Jason looks to the player in Seat 3. "Well, let's see it." The player turned over pocket 8s. The player in Seat 9 immediately turned over J-9 suited. Quad Jacks beat the other players quad 8s. We had a Jackpot!

At that moment, our table erupted. Some players screamed, some laughed, I pounded the felt and yelled, "Yeehaw!"

Jason the dealer immediately said, "Nobody move. They have to take a picture and verify it." So we all stood up and began to congratulate each other on our good luck. The player with the quad 8s had just won over $10,000. The player with the quad Jacks, over $6,000. My prize, along with the remaining players, was $597.

What I didn't know at the time was that the winning of a Jackpot was a chance for the casino to put on a little show. First, it took them 45 minutes to verify the video and audio and declare a legitimate winner. In the meantime, we continued to play as normal but were very excited as you can imagine. Then, a casino staff member brought the prize money in cash, each prize in a separate envelope. By this time a crowd had gathered. Players from nearby tables and other casino staff were standing around. Jason, as the Jackpot dealer, was had the duty to count out each person's winnings in $100 bills. First, those of us splitting the 20% of the Jackpot were each awarded our $597, a $100 bill at a time, with much fanfare. Then, the player in Seat 9 who won the pot with quad Jacks was awarded his $6,000 in the same way, one bill at a time. Lastly, the Bad Beat winner received his $10,000 when Jason counted out over one hundred $100 bills. I had never seen $10,000 in cash before.

A picture was taken of the two big winners, each holding their $100 bills fanned out for the camera with smiles from ear to ear. Congratulations were given to everyone again and we all began to tease the $10,000 winner. "Dinner is on you," someone said. "Don't spend it all at the blackjack table."

Jason the dealer also came away a winner. All of us tipped him in various amounts and he walked away with $1500 or so. In coming days Jason would deal another Jackpot hand, and then another. When I saw him recently, I told him from now on I'm calling him "Jackpot Jason."