Womans wins Oklahoma's largest known 'Bad Beat' poker jackpot at Downstream Casino

QUAPAW, Okla. – Jane Ellen Neal of Miami, Okla., held the losing hand Sunday night but it earned her the biggest known “Bad Beat” poker jackpot in the state of Oklahoma.  Neal’s share was $84,923. Her four deuces lost to four 10s held by Jason Cleary of Tulsa.  Cleary’s share of the jackpot was $42,461.  And there were 52 other qualified players in the room who were awarded $1,633 each when the unusual hand played out and triggered the pay-offs out of a $212,300 jackpot.

“It was the largest ‘Bad Beat’ jackpot we’ve ever heard about in Oklahoma,” said Downstream Poker Manager Elliott Schecter.  “So you can imagine the excitement here when that hand played out.”

The Bad Beat Jackpot hits when a big poker hand loses to another even bigger hand, for example when a 9 high straight flush beats four 7s. In Downstream’s poker room the minimum hand that must be beaten is four deuces, which is exactly what happened Sunday night after the jackpot had grown for more than five months.

Cleary flopped three 10s when Neal flopped three deuces.  The turn card came up and it was the last deuce in the deck, giving Jason a full house, 10s over deuces, but made Jane four deuces.  On the river, up popped the final 10, giving Jason four 10s.  Cleary then bet all of his chips, and Neal called. They turned over their hands and boom, each let out exclamations of joy followed by applause from the rest of the room.  Every player in the room was excited because at Downstream, unlike most other casinos, every player in the room gets a share instead of only the players at the table where the Bad Beat hand occurred.

Our jackpot splits in the following way:
·       40% to the loser of the hand

·       20% to the winner of the hand

·       40% split among all the other players in jackpot eligible poker games

This was the third jackpot to hit at Downstream since its inception, but it still represents a lot of firsts for Oklahoma.  It was the biggest Bad Beat jackpot ever awarded in the state.
The last time the jackpot hit was April 30 ($129,000), so it has been building for 5 1/2 months.  It usually increases by about $7,000 per week, and all funds are returned to the players; Downstream does not take a house or custodial fee from the jackpot.

On Monday, Downstream’s “Bad Beat” poker jackpot was back up to more than $90,000, replenished by two backup jackpots.