It was jackpot fever tonight!
As jackpot grew past its previous record high of $141.00, every hand was scrutinized for its jackpot potential. When a player would flop a set, instead of betting and raising as he normally would, he would just check and call to prevent everyone from folding and thus not getting to see a turn and river that might give him quads.
Before a round of Happy Pineapple (Crazy Pineapple Hi-Lo Declare), Mark DeVol made sure that everyone knew that the Omaha jackpot rule (which states that the four-of-a-kind jackpot can only be won when the player has two of the four-of-a-kind as his hole cards) also applied to Crazy Pineapple. Moments later, Mark himself made four-of-a-kind deuces… with three on the board and only one in his hand. No jackpot!
A few hands later, also during Happy Pineapple, the flop was 4♥–5♥–6♥. Play came to a standstill. For the straight flush jackpot, did a player have to have two cards to the straight flush in the hole? Or could he have just one? The hand was halted as the jackpot rules were consulted, and there was nothing that said a player had to have two straight-flush cards in the hole for Crazy Pineapple.
This was especially significant for Paul, who had 3♥–5♠–5♦ in the hole. Normally he would keep the 5s and throw away the 3, but with jackpot so big, he had more jackpot outs if he held onto the 3. (The 2♥ or 7♥ would give him the straight flush jackpot. If he held onto the 5s, only the 5♣ would give him the four-of-a-kind jackpot.) So, he discarded one of his 5s.
Meanwhile, Mike had already discarded and was left with 8♥–8♠ in the hole. The 7♥ would also give him a straight flush! And when the turn brought the 8♣, he was also drawing to quad 8s!
But the river was a blank, and jackpot remained unclaimed.
By the end of the night, no one had won jackpot. That makes eight Card Nights in a row. Jackpot now stands at $151.00, a new record high.
A record-high jackpot win is not guaranteed however. The biggest jackpot payout was when Paul won $85.55 with a straight flush back in 2004. If someone were to hit four of a kind with jackpot at its current value, he would win $75.50.
Since May 2001, Paul has had the best win-loss record heading into each Card Night. However, with Paul’s loss tonight and Mark’s win, Mark has taken over that honor. Mark’s record now stands at 286-184-5 (+21.70%) while Paul’s drops to 287-186-5 (+21.35%).
Paul does still hold the record for most money won (+$5,902.40).
| Mark D | +$17.00 |
| Paul | ‑$96.00 |
| Phil | ‑$113.00 |
| Bill | +$66.00 |
| Lyndon | +$94.00 |
| Miguel | +$91.00 |
| Mike S | ‑$41.00 |
| Glen | ‑$36.00 |
Card Night Blog 
Maybe it’s just me, but this giant Jackpot is like a monkey hanging on our backs, dangling the promise of a reward in front of us. But we still have to carry it.
Jackpot has skewed the good play (if there ever is any) in our poker hands as we try to snag the brass ring. Similar to what you see in those “bad-beat” pots that casinos have implemented to keep players in a hand.
Good Luck to the Jackpot winner, whomever that is !!!
I take it all back. Jackpot is a factor only if you decide to play for it. If you are smart (and I wasn’t) you should bet and play the lower winning hands that have a much better chance of occurring. This would normally drive away the yet-unmade jackpot hands.
But wait, they are trying to win the Jackpot.
So they will stay in and make for some healthy pots, which you can win with your measly low straight or flush.
Seems like a winning strategy.