At Borgata, Bad Beats Turn Into Blizzards of Cash

On February 11, the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, Atlantic City's leading resort, announced that Michael Richard from Ocean City, NJ won $122,487.00 in the largest Bad Beat jackpot in Atlantic City history.

The Bad Beat promotion is tied into Texas Hold’Em games. “Bad Beat” means a high ranking poker hand that is beat by a higher ranking hand—such as Four Deuces losing to Four Nines. (There are some other rules regarding the minimum pot size and the cards you need to be holding to qualify for the Jackpot, which can be explained to you at the casino.)

Normally, a Bad Beat means a frustrating loss. Not at the Borgata. In Michael Richard's case, he lost an $800 pot when his quad 7’s were beaten by another player's quad 10’s. But his Bad Beat turned into a shower of cash, as he claimed his large share of the record-setting $306,225.00 jackpot. Every player involved with the hand received a chunk of the money; the winner of the hand took home an additional $61,245, and the remaining seven players at the table got $17,499.

Stan Strickland, Director of Poker Operations at Borgata commented, “What’s unique about this situation is that the Bad Beat Jackpot hit on a $2-$5 No Limit game; that’s not common. Just goes to prove that anything is possible. We are looking forward to the next Bad Beat.”