Another Huge Bad Beat Jackpot at Casino 101-Over $200,000+

Image by assbach via Flickr

Another Huge Bad Beat Jackpot at Casino 101

Back around November I went to visit Casino 101 having this feeling the bad beat jackpot would hit. I had not been to that club in years. The Jackpot hit that day for $150,000+, but I was playing in a tournament. The policy of the club is that everyone in a cash game gets a piece of a bad beat jackpot.

Tonight, I felt it would happen again so I drove back up to Casino 101. Funny thing, I was off by one day. The Jackpot hit yesterday for over $200,000! Even players at other tables took home $6,000+ each.

Now, I was stuck at this casino and the only game open was $3-$6 hold'em.

Limit Poker Fun

I bought in for $100 and I lost every hand I played for about one hour. One player was drinking too much and the player next to him was pretending to be somewhat wasted. They both were winning most of the hands. It was your typical no fold'em hold'em game.

Down to my last few dollars, I bought in for another rack. Two hands later I was dealt pocket Kings in the small blind. 6 players limped and I raised. Everyone called.

This was the first time I played live limit after that awful run where I lost 8 times in a row with pocket Kings. I really thought it was due to hold up.

The flop was K-J-10 with two hearts. I bet and everyone called.

The turn was a 10. I bet and got raised, another player over-called. I re-raised and both players called.

The river was a 9 of hearts.

I bet and one player re-raised. I re-raised and he called.

It turned out he misread his hand. He thought he had a full house.

It was a big win.

I Made A Player Curse, Slam His Cards Down and March Off in Anger

A few hands later, I am dealt Ac-9c. Again there are numerous callers. I am on the button, so I raise. Everyone calls.

The flop is the 3c-4c-Qd.

Everyone checks and I bet. There are three callers.

The turn is a 8d. I bet after everyone checks. Probably a bad play on my part. There are three callers.

The river is a 7c.

The first player (the drinker) checks, the guy who misread his hand earlier bets into me. I raise with my flush.

The drinker thinks for a while and calls. The other player calls.

I show the flush and the drinker yells "Fuck!" Slams his cards over--the 5d-6s. And marches off pissed. He came back about 10 minutes later and left the casino. I guess he couldn't put me on the flush since I bet all the way?

But wait there's more!

I am now up about $200 and a new player sits down. He has never played before. When I arrived at the club--now about 2 hours ago--this player asked me if he could win here. I told him that you can win or you can lose.

As he sat down he told the dealer that he didn't know how much to bet or about the blinds. The dealer said that he would tell him.

The funny thing--this new player and I go to the river heads-up about 7 out of the next 9 hands. He hits the river on all but one hand. He was hitting his inside straights, two pairs, etc. I kept telling him good hand.

He ended up taking about $100 of my winnings. The game broke up and I left.

A Very Strange Poker Experience And A $180,000 Jackpot!

A Very Strange Poker Experience And A $180,000 Jackpot!

Yesterday I went to Casino 101 in Petaluma, CA to enter the $115 buy-in MTT event. I had never played in one of their tournaments before, and it was the second time I've been there since the renovation from Sonoma Joe's. A lot of money was put into this place to fix it up and it looks great.

The Jackpot

Image by Noeluap via Flickr

Casino 101 has a starting Jackpot of $150,000 and it requires that a player has four 10's or better getting beat--and using both down cards. The one unique thing the club does is that everyone who is playing at the club at the time of the jackpot gets a share. I am not sure of the percentage break-outs for the Jackpot hand, winning hand, players at the table and the players at the other tables.

I believe this jackpot started in September. It was now at $180,000.

The Tournament

The event gives you 6,000 in chips and 20 minute rounds with automatic shufflers in play. It does provide you with some time to play.

I was playing way too passive in the first hour, and my stack had gone down to about $4000.

One interesting play: I was in the small blind with rags. The player under the gun, let's call him Joe, limped in with A-K offsuit. The guy next to him, who hadn't raised the entire game, raised. Everyone folded. Joe moved all in. His opponent insta-called with pocket Kings and knocked Joe out of the tournament.

My thinking: "Joe really made a stupid play. A-K is not pocket Aces."

At the break, I walked outside. It was about 5pm.

Suddenly I had a feeling that the Jackpot was going to be hit. In fact, I saw a xerox of a California Driver's license flash in my mind's eye. When you win a lot of money, you have to show your license and the club xerox copies it for their files.

It is tough to really explain my premonition on this. But I felt that if I had this "feeling" I guess I am going to win the Jackpot!

Back to the Tournament

I took my seat at the tournament table, thinking that I may not win the tournament, but I'm going to win the Jackpot. The first hand was dealt and I won with pocket 9's. As the second hand was being dealt...

"Jackpot!!!" the players screamed from the $4-$8 limit table. My back was to the the winning table. A player's four queens lost to a royal flush. I didn't turn around since I was rather bummed.

Another player at my tournament table said, "Look, Joe is at that table. I think he is going to win $4-$5,000."

My thought about Joe's play changed. That A-K all-in was a brilliant move!

Oh yeah, no one in the tournament got a share of the Jackpot since it wasn't a live game.

As to the tournament, I took a beat on the river later in the event. My A-10 lost to Q-J when my opponent made a bad call on my all-in pre-flop..but it turned into a great call since the Jack hit on the river.

The Rest of the Story...

After I got knocked out, I signed up for the $3-$6 limit game. I waited for about 30 minutes and walked around the club thinking about my premonition. I decided that it was just coincidence since I hadn't seen any xerox copy of a California Driver's License.

A few minutes later I walked by the cage. One of the club's employees was at the cage. I glanced over and on the counter were xerox copies of many California Driver's licenses--yeah, from the players at the Jackpot table.