The object of the game, lose.
An idea that has many Texas Hold’em poker players anxious to play at the Gold Dust Casino in Deadwood.
The bad beat jackpot has grown to a record $64,000 and has dealers and players ready to find out who the lucky loser will be.
“We’re just waiting every time we deal for someone to get beat by a big hand,”
said Vickie Blakney, poker manager at the Gold Dust Casino.
The last time the casino paid out the jackpot was July 17, 2009, paying $21,366, Blakney said. About $49,000 was paid just two months earlier in May.
To win the jackpot, Blakney said at least three players have to be dealt into the hand and there has to be a minimum pot of $10. The bad beat hand has to be three aces and two tens or better; players have to beat the cards on the table, no ties are allowed. If there are three aces on the table, the hand is not eligible for the jackpot. Both players involved have to use the two cards in their hands.
One rule the Gold Dust and many other casinos have is that nobody speaks about a bad beat hand during the game.
Players learned this rule in February of 2008 after a $96,000 bad beat jackpot was denied to a table at the Royal River Casino in Flandreau after a player mentioned the words.
Blakney said the Gold Dust has not had to deny a jackpot and hopes the casino never will.
As for the payout, the player with the bad beat hand is paid 50 percent of the jackpot, the winning hand receives 30 percent and 20 percent is split between the other players dealt into the hand.
The jackpot grows with one dollar added as every pot reaches a certain point, Blakney said. Every poker game played in the casino contributes to the pot.
With every player having the chance to win the jackpot, Gold Dust poker players have mixed feelings about it, Blakney said.
“Some players hate it because there is all this money tied up,” she said. “It’s the player’s money, they have generated this jackpot and 100 percent is paid back.”
Contact Tyler Jerke at 394-8415 or tyler.jerke@rapidcityjournal.com
