There are many incentives Internet poker offer in order to attract new players to their facilities, including a Bad Beat bonus. This bonus awarded to players holding a hand with high winning potential, but nevertheless eventually lose. Generally speaking, there is no consensus regarding what constitutes a bad beat, but online bad beats at least pay you back on occasion. Some may consider certain losing hands a part of the game, whereas others may feel they are constantly catching the worst bad beat.

What is a bad beat?

There are two types of Bad Beat bonuses. The first type is a reverse Bad Beat. This scenario involves a player holding a hopelessly bad hand who wins against all odds. Having neither the unbeatable hand nor the right pot odds, this lucky player still wins the game. A good example to such a situation is when an inferior hand requiring two cards in a row to come from behind, catches runners.

The second more traditional scenario is when a very strong hand is beaten by an even stronger one. This kind of Bad Beat also appears in popular culture as it adds to the drama of losing. In the 2006 poker flick 'Casino Royale,' Le Chiffre loses holding a Full House to a Straight Flush.

Players who experience a Bad Beat typically receive a heavy psychological blow. This can easily make them go on tilt which is highly unrecommended. Such a negative experience can ultimately draw players away from the game. However, based on our experience, it is an unpleasant but a necessary experience when playing poker.

How do I collect the Bonus?

Not all poker games offered by online poker rooms feature bad beat jackpots, and those that actually do, have specific requirements for how strong the losing hand must be in order to qualify for the online bad beat bonus. For instance, the losing hand may be required to be three-of-a-kind or better. There may be further requirements as well. Before joining a Bad Beat jackpot game a player should find out what these requirements are.

Many Bad Beat jackpots have a progressive jackpot structure with a small rake being collected out of each pot to build and fatten the jackpot. When a player wins the game, the jackpot is split among all table participants with the winner (or should we say the loser), catching the largest share.

Our list of online poker rooms boasting generous Bad Beat bonuses includes CD Poker, Doyle's Room, Empire Poker, Golden Palace Poker, InterPoker, Titan Poker, VIP Poker. These are all highly profitable poker rooms that seek to provide players with incredible gambling experience despite occasional losing streaks.