Editor
There is something about Quebec regarding bad beat jackpots, as the Canadian province now has the distinction of hosting the three largest bad beat jackpots in poker history.
Knowing about bad beat jackpots is a staple of knowing how to play cash game poker, and they are a big draw for many people who want to play more. A bad beat jackpot hitting is always an exciting possibility when playing cash games, but nobody expects to hit one for seven figures.
That’s precisely what happened at Casino du Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, outside of Ottawa when a bad beat jackpot hit for an equivalent of $1.81 million. This trails only a $1.87 million bad beat jackpot at Playground Casino outside Montreal in August 2023. Playground Casino also hosted the third-largest ever in October 2024, the second-largest at the time.
The Bad Beat Hand
The historic hand occurred at the same time as the Montreal Canadiens NHL playoff hockey game, which everyone in the cash game room was into to create an already festive atmosphere. But little did they know that they were all about to strike it rich.
The qualifiers for the bad beat jackpot at the Casino du Lac-Leamy state that the losing hand must be at least quad tens and that both players must use both cards in their hand. Knowing how to play pocket pairs larger than tens can come in handy for this jackpot scenario.
The losing hand hit the minimum requirement of quad tens which lost to a king-high straight flush.
A bad beat jackpot is the only circumstance in poker where you actually win with the worst hand by getting the largest percentage of the jackpot. The loser of the hand won $726,000 million while the winner of the hand took home $363,000.
The six other players at the table won $60,000 and the 38 other players in the room got a nice little payday themselves for $9,400 for simply sharing the same air space of the lucky hand.
