A jackpot usually means winning a big prize of some kind, but what is a jackpot in poker?
Jackpots are bonus cash prizes that you can win from online poker, but they come in different forms and sizes. The way to win is usually simple; complete some requirements and get the jackpot. Most of the time, it doesn’t cost anything extra to join the jackpots, but there’s a lot to win.
We can tell you where to find jackpots because this kind of promotion doesn’t happen on every poker site.
Different Jackpots in Poker, Online and Live
A jackpot is a bonus for players and another reason to play poker, but there are different ways that poker companies do it. If you are wondering about the poker site you play on, have a live chat with us and we’ll tell you which jackpots they have.
In our article, we’re going to show you the kinds of jackpots online, plus other bonuses we consider jackpots.
Bad Beat Jackpots
On poker sites, like GGPoker, losing with a hand like A♣ A♥ A♠ 10♥ 10♦ or better can win you a huge bad beat jackpot. The rules say that you’ve got to use both of your cards to make that final combination and that the hand must go to a showdown.
So for our example, you’ve got to have a hand like 10♥ 10♦, A♣ 10♥, or A♥ A♠ to make a combo like A♣ A♥ A♠ 10♥ 10♦. Then, you have to be beaten by a better hand, which is what makes a bad beat jackpot so difficult (yet lucrative) to hit. You’d have to have quad 10s or quad Aces to beat A♣ A♥ A♠ 10♥ 10♦. Also, you’ve got to have a pocket pair to make a four-of-a-kind.
The winners in bad beat jackpots don’t get most of the jackpot money. The player who loses the pot actually gets the most money, followed by the winner, and then the other players sitting at the table.
The jackpot will be displayed in the GGPoker software main lobby and you’ll get a percentage of it for being in a qualifying bad beat hand.
GGPoker’s Bad Beat Jackpots are available for Holdem, Omaha, PLO5, and Short Deck, as well as Rush & Cash games.
High Hand Jackpots
A high hand jackpot is more simple than a bad beat jackpot. To make a high hand, a player has to make the best combination of the day at that poker room. There are rules for the minimum requirement, such as four-of-a-kind 10s or better. You always need to use both of your cards in the combination and the hand must go to showdown (or be tabled).
Only one player needs to qualify and they will win a jackpot or percentage of a jackpot.
This kind of jackpot is more common in live poker games, but some online rooms might bring it back. In online games, players see a lot more hands than a live poker player. For the operator of a poker site, that means that they will need to pay jackpot winners more often (which may be why it’s harder to find this online).
Jackpot Poker at ACR
This America’s Cardroom jackpot is not the same as the last two – it is actually a spin-and-go with 3 players and a super-quick blind structure. Players buy in for set amounts, like $2, $10, $25, or $40. The jackpot part happens next! Your buy-in will be randomly spun into a prize pool that is twice as large or 2500 times your buy-in.
You won’t start with a very large stack, so this kind of poker format is easier if you understand basic push/fold strategy. There’s no time to wait for pocket Kings or Aces in Jackpot poker games.
America's Cardroom is not the only place to enter spin-and-go events, but they definitely have the largest matched deposit bonus in the online poker world. Whatever you deposit, ACR will match it 100%, up to a maximum of $2,000.
ACR is also one of the online poker sites to accept Bitcoin.
The $1,000,000 Blast Jackpot at 888poker
The Blast spin-and-go’s at 888poker have massive payouts if the probability is on your side. Just like any kind of poker jackpot, you’re going up against the odds.
Buy-ins start at a really low $0.10 and go up to $100 – but you only need to play in the $1 or $5 spin-and-go to have a shot at $1,000,000.
Everyone starts with 1,500 chips, but those will be gone before long if you don’t start making some moves. Blinds increase very quickly in all kinds of spin-and-go, so don’t wait for premium hands to start the action.
Once the timer runs out, everyone will start moving all-in automatically until a winner comes out on top.
888poker is also the only poker room giving away real no-deposit bonuses from $8 to $88. If you are eligible, you can start building your bankroll as soon as you register an account – and before you deposit.
Check out the bonuses and games by looking at our 888poker review.
