With the change to the qualifying hands for bad-beat jackpots at the major Michigan poker rooms, jackpots have been hitting six digits, driving players to casinos and lifting the hopes of gamblers in the Wolverine State. Most rooms require at least quads losing to qualify for the bad beat, and both cards from both players must play. In some rooms, both cards must be pocket pairs to qualify.
Greektown Casino’s bad-beat jackpot hit on Sept. 6 for more than $200K. According to floor manager Wally Shakouri, the last time the jackpot was hit was four or five months ago. “But it was hit twice in a 36-hour period,” he said.
When asked what they would do with the money if they won, a local player said he’d turn one of his bedrooms into a ball pit.
At the time of this article, the MGM Grand Detroit bad-beat jackpot was at $155K, while Motor City Casino had its jackpot at a whopping $229,500. Not to be outdone, Firekeepers Casino in Battle Creek has had its share of six-digit jackpots recently, but was at $51,580 at press time. Soaring Eagle chimed in at a respectable $59,400.
— Frank Panama and Gambit Gras are Ante Up’s Michigan Ambassadors. They host theMichigan Poker Monster weekly podcast at mipokermonster.com. You can email them at anteupmichigan@gmail.com.
