Absolute Poker Bad Beat Jackpot Hit Just Short Of Million Dollar Mark (June 23, 2008)
In a remarkable coincidence of timing, the bad beat jackpot at Absolute Poker
was hit Sunday evening just minutes before reaching
the long-awaited million dollar threshold.
Around 6 PM Pacific on Sunday, the jackpot was on the verge of seven-figure territory, having long since
set a new record for online bad beat jackpots. Players poured into the site in hopes of nabbing
the prize. The cash game player count soared to nearly 3000, the second-highest total ever seen
at Absolute Poker.
With the jackpot at $996,115.28, and the seven-figure mark just minutes away,
player RIVERMAN1969 took the luckiest bad beat in online
history, losing a hand with quad tens and
winning just over $325,000 for his trouble. The winner of the
hand received over $162,000, and the other players at the table were awarded $1000 each. Over $150,000
was distributed to players at the same game type and limit as the bad beat table.
Absolute Poker nabbed $100,000 from the pot, leaving a quarter million to seed the next bad beat jackpot.
The disappointment among the other players was palpable. In the ensuing 10 minutes,
more than a third of them left the site. In the overnight hours, traffic at Absolute Poker was
down over 45% from the previous night.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that the jackpot reached
$1 million before being hit. The reconstruction of events for the story was
based in part on Absolute Poker’s
published policy regarding distribution of the bad beat jackpot, according to which the winner
receives 32.5% of the jackpot total, and on the fact that the winner
received over $325,000. Absolute Poker has since stated that the jackpot stood at $996,115.28 when hit.
The reason for the discrepancy in amounts is not clear, but we regret any factual error in the story.
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