Bad Beat Jackpot: turning on the club jackpot

The Bad Beat Jackpot is a club jackpot paid to players who lose a hand with a very strong combination. It shows above the tables in the lobby and gives players a reason to play with you.

You can’t switch the jackpot on straight away — top it up first. Top-ups start at 100 chips, in whole numbers, and those chips can’t be withdrawn. After the top-up, turn the jackpot on with the toggle. The first top-up is your initial deposit: put in an amount you can genuinely pay out to players.

From then on it grows by itself — through an extra fee taken at tables where it’s enabled (the Bad Beat Jackpot table setting). Note: this fee is taken even if the table’s rake is set to zero — keep that in mind when you advertise a “no rake” table.

Where it is

• Club lobby → red menu button → Admin → Bad Beat Jackpot.

The jackpot screen

• 1 — Bad Beat Jackpot: the toggle. While the jackpot is empty (0.00) it can’t be switched on.
• 2 — Top Up: add chips to the jackpot.
• 3 — Top Up History: past top-ups.
• 4 — Customize Trigger & Blinds: set which hand triggers the jackpot and at which blinds.
• 5 — default triggers: NLH — lose with AAAJJ or better; PLO — KKKK or better; PLO5 — 87654 suited or better; Short Deck — AAAA or better. Payout rules are below (Hitting the Jackpot).

Top-up

• 6 — rules: each top-up is a whole number of 100 or more; chips sent to the jackpot can’t be withdrawn.
• 7 — Top Up Amount: enter the amount.
• 8 — Continue.

Confirmation

• 9 — amount and the repeated warning that the chips can’t be withdrawn.
• 10 — Confirm the top-up.

Jackpot on

• 11 — jackpot pool: now 100.00 — players see it in the lobby.
• 12 — toggle on: the jackpot runs and grows from the fee at tables where it’s enabled.

The jackpot in the club lobby

• 13 — once the jackpot is on, its amount appears in the club’s main lobby above the tables — every player sees it.
• The first top-up is the owner’s initial deposit: put in an amount the club can actually pay out to players if the jackpot is hit right away.

Trigger and payout settings (Customize Trigger & Blinds)

• 14 — triggers by game: NLH, PLO, PLO5 and Short Deck — tap a game to choose the hand that triggers the jackpot.
• 15 — Reset: restore defaults.
• 16 — payouts by blinds: for each blind range you see the fee taken for the jackpot (in big blinds) and the share of the jackpot players receive.
• 17 — Confirm: save.

Choosing the trigger hand

• For NLH: lose with AAA22, AAA88, AAAJJ (default), AAAKK, quad 2s, quad 6s or better.
• 18 — the selected hand is outlined. The weaker the trigger, the more often the jackpot hits and the less it builds up.
• 19 — Confirm: apply.

Rules: when the jackpot pays

• The hand goes to showdown, the pot is at least 10 big blinds, and at least 4 players were dealt in preflop.
• Both winner and loser use both hole cards (two hole cards in PLO/PLO5) in the best five-card hand.
• Quads require a pocket pair for winner and loser.
• With Run it multiple times only the first run counts.
• If the conditions are met, rewards are paid even if you leave the table or disconnect.
• If there are more than three qualifying hands, the jackpot goes to the player who came second in the hand; other losers get the Rest of Players share.
• After joining a union the club jackpot stops and is replaced by the union jackpot.

Payouts and the jackpot fee

• The prize goes straight to the player’s balance.
• The fee is taken from pots of 10 big blinds or more (10 antes in Short Deck): 0.01/0.02–0.05/0.10 — 0.60 BB; 0.10/0.20–0.30/0.60 — 0.40 BB; 0.50/1–2.50/5 — 0.25 BB; 3/6–5/10 — 0.12 BB; 7/14–15/30 — 0.06 BB; 25/50 and up — 0.03 BB.
• Jackpot shares grow with stakes: at 0.01/0.02–0.05/0.10 the bad beat winner gets 8.25%, the opponent 3.75%, the rest of players 3.00% each; at 25/50 and up — 44.00%, 20.00% and 16.00%.
• At micro stakes the jackpot fee is the largest in big blinds — keep that in mind if you advertise “low rake”.