Losing never felt so good: MGM Grand Detroit pays out $800K 'Bad Beat' jackpot

Detroit — A local poker player lost the hand, but he still walked away with a massive tax bill and a smile.

A record "Bad Beat" jackpot was hit at MGM Grand Detroit late last month, when a man from Clinton Tonwship was dealt quad eights, only to lose to the quad queens of a man from Sterling Heights.

The extremely rare No Limit Hold’em hand triggered a progressive jackpot which over the last two years had risen to $800,954, of which 40% ($320,382) went to the losing player, 20% ($160,191) went to the winning player, and 40% ($80,095 each) was split by the other four players at the table. The hand was dealt Nov. 24.

Officials from MGM Grand Detroit, identifying the two players as Todd M. and Frank M., confirmed to The Detroit News this was the largest "Bad Beat Jackpot" in the casino's history — the casino opened in 1999 — and one of the largest in the country's history. In 2018, MotorCity Casino Hotel set a United States record in paying out a $1,068,590 "Bad Beat" jackpot.

"Bad Beat" jackpots help lure poker players into casinos, with the player volume picking up significantly once the jackpots start reaching unusually high levels. In Texas Hold'em, each player is dealt two cards to pair with five "community" cards, making the best five-card hand. The "Bad Beat," which has slightly different rules depending on which casino you're at, is typically triggered when quads — four of a kind — lose to better quads. At MGM Grand Detroit, quads of fives or better must be beaten by higher quads. To qualify, each of the quad hands has to include both cards in a player's hand — the "hole" cards — plus three community cards. The "Bad Beat" jackpot is built up off a $1 rake, per hand.

This marked the first time a "Bad Beat" jackpot has been hit at MGM Grand Detroit since June 19, 2019 — poker rooms were shut down for several months in 2020 because of COVID-19 — when players split $80,142. MGM Grand Detroit also has a "Bad Beat" jackpot for Omaha poker.

MGM Grand Detroit's Hold'em "Bad Beat" jackpot reset to $145,000, and now is more than $150,000.

The current jackpot at MotorCity is $72,512.64, and Greektown Casino's is $43,000.

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tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984