Ultimate Texas Hold'em Progressive

Over the weekend a player at Aliante casino hit the progressive for a royal flush for roughly $30,000. The dealer indicated the jackpot was so high because the previous week the casino closed the deuces wild table game and the progressive by law had to be distributed to other progressives within the casino. Some of the deuces money went to pai gow and some went to the Texas Hold'em game.

I know that betting the $1 side bet for the progressive is just like throwing your money away, but in rare circumstances as above, there is probably some value in that $1 bet.

Supposedly the player was very generous with his winnings. I believe there was a full table so 5 other players, which he gave $200 each and gave the dealer about $800.

That's a nice hit! But I think the jackpot needs to be much higher before the $1 bet makes sense. I've never looked at the UTH side bet, but PGP breaks even around $280,000 and LIR breaks even around $170,000 and I'd expect UTH to have a similarly high threshold. FWIW, in most houses the 3CP progressive breaks even at about $9,650 and the 4CP progressive breaks even around $37,500.

The UTH at Harrah's usually carries a progressive of about $90,000 to $105,000. It also pays out for for hands down to a full house. I agree these jackpots have a high house edge and if I was an AP or a pro trying to make a living I would never play them. However, as someone who goes to a casino maybe 15-20 times a year I just dont see any reason not to play them. The extra dollar, if I lost every bet, would maybe knock a half of an hour off my gambling over the course of a day or two. I could never be like the guy at Harrah's AC who hit the million dollar 3CP six card royal and had nothing on the bonus bet. At that point I would just play a game that had no progressives.

Quote: hook3670

The UTH at Harrah's usually carries a progressive of about $90,000 to $105,000. It also pays out for for hands down to a full house. I agree these jackpots have a high house edge and if I was an AP or a pro trying to make a living I would never play them. However, as someone who goes to a casino maybe 15-20 times a year I just dont see any reason not to play them. The extra dollar, if I lost every bet, would maybe knock a half of an hour off my gambling over the course of a day or two. I could never be like the guy at Harrah's AC who hit the million dollar 3CP six card royal and had nothing on the bonus bet. At that point I would just play a game that had no progressives.

I completely agree with you on that. For that reason alone, I stay away from Caribbean Stud and any game that has a progressive jackpot on it. I don't want to hit "that hand" and have players (and myself) realize it was there.