Table Games Missing a huge payout on a side bet

This past weekend at Planet Hollywood I was playing blackjack and most of the Caesars properties have the blazing 7's progressive side bet. I very rarely play side bets in blackjack, and never play the progressives as they are usually over 20% house edge. The side bet was based on the amount of 7s you were dealt for your first two cards and if the dealer also shows a 7. So I was dealt two 7s of hearts and the dealer was also showing a 7 of hearts. The dealer immediately began freaking out and told me that I would have won the major jackpot if I was playing. The major jackpot was worth 42k at the time.

It did sting for a little bit, but at the end of the day, I never play the side bets so I can't be that upset about it. If I had been playing the whole time and forgot to that one time, then I would have been devastated. It was annoying that the dealer was making such a big fuss about it and called the floor over to basically have them laugh at me.

Does anyone else have a missed side bet story to make myself feel better?

 

Yea... does sting.

But knowing it is usually a bad bet that you do not play must help just a bit.

Still...it sucks.

 

Don’t let them make you feel bad for playing correctly! Of course the casino made a big deal over the cards enabling the payout of their high-edge side bet—they want you to make that bet every hand. “See how much you could have won?”

I don’t have a good missed side bet story. I’ve been told several times while playing blackjack “if you’d made the side bet you would have won on that hand.” Yeah, woulda coulda shoulda. I’m not as pure when I play Pai Gow. I usually play some of their side bets. Hopefully you had a winning session and had fun without playing the Blazing 7s progressive.

 

I wouldn't put any ill intent on the dealer's and pit's reactions. If they're like most people at work, they're generally bored and were just excited to see something interesting happen. They should probably do a better job of hiding that from their customer, but it's just human nature

 

I missed the $4600 progressive jackpot on Three Card Poker by not betting $1 at NYNY.

 

"If I had been betting the side bet this whole time, I would have been broke before it hit and I still wouldn't have won it..."

 

You have the right mentality. It’s hard to be mad if you don’t play it. And if you play it every time, even when you hit a nice jackpot, you’re still losing money over time more than likely. Still fun to hit a nice bonus tho!

 

I’d guess the dealer wasn’t trying to make fun of the situation but might have been verifying with the boss that no bet was placed, in case a dispute arose. I’ve seen it happen where a player claimed to have placed the side bet and the dealer had ‘mistakenly taken the chip’ that wasn’t there in the first place - albeit that was in the UK not in Las Vegas. Of course the cameras very quickly found out the truth anyway.

Or as others have said that they might have been breaking up the boredom.

In any event you’d have the last laugh since you’ve been avoiding a massive house edge for a long time!

 

Yes.
I was playing 3-Card at the Gold Coast. They have a $1 "progressive" side-bet for the Mini-Royal, in spades. (It also pays smaller amounts for other hands as well).
Anyway, I had been playing it for the first 10 hands after I sat down. When I lost the 10th one, the dealer asked if I wanted more $1 chips & I said "No thanks. I'm done playing it." She replied, "You know what's going to happen now, don't you?" and I said, "Yeah - I know - go ahead & deal it to me. At least it will still be a straight-flush!"
Sure enough - next hand - A-K-Q of spades. At least all of the other players still got paid the $100 "Envy Bonus", even though I wasn't playing the progressive.

The worst part? For the next couple of days, other players and dealers were sharing the story at various tables, not knowing it was me that it happened to!
"Hey - did you hear that some poor guy hit the 3-card progressive yesterday, but he wasn't on it?"
Me: "Yeah...that was me."
Them: "Oh crap...sorry."

 

They were definitely making fun of me. And I get it. I would probably do the same if I was in their shoes.

 

Yeah, I think so too...when I got mine, the dealer called the pit over, he took a look, told her to pay the 'Envy Bonus' to everyone else (they all had the 'progressive' bet), and then he said to me, "Sucks, doesn't it?"
I don't think he was trying to be mean...I think he 'felt my pain'.

 

I left $6K on the table at The Linq in 3CP. It does indeed suck.

 

yes it does sting i can relate to that
i had it at ballys two times(years) in a row
i was playing crazy 4 poker and the dealster asked me dont you bet on the bonus bet?
i sayd nahh thats a suckerbet(and it really is fyi)
anyways right the next hand i had a straighflush in my hand(so the 6th card didnt even matter i would had won 1000$) she was laughing her ass off
so the following year...i was playing again and very sweet dealer....and i was consistent i told other people what happened but that i still didnt play the suckerbet....and i asked the dealster whatever you do dont turn the jack of diamonds ok? and you guess what happened she turned the jack of diamond on the 6th card bonus bet(would have been a 1000$ straightflush again on that side bet) had to leave my chair for a bit

 

It’s happened to me because my wife guilted me to stop betting. And of course the next hand I withhold my side bet and wouldn’t you know, I could’ve had a 2k payout.

After that, I started chasing them but stopped betting them altogether.

 

I would have replied, on every hand after that "Look, I didn't win again".

I run in to this on Craps now that they changed the ATS to be table minimum at the local casinos. You used to be able to do any amount so most people would do 1-1-1, but now, on the weekends you have to put at least $10 across. Now I only put money down when I am shooting, so when someone else hits one of them, the other players give me shit for missing the payout. They stopped when I started giving them shit every time they lost $10 when the 7 came up.

 

That’s usually my go to but it doesn’t work as well when you would have won $42,000

 

I never play the side bets on blackjack, so I get crap for it quite often. The most memorable was with the 21+3 and Top 3 side bets at my local casino a few months ago. Had a suited 3OK that pays 9-1 on the 21+3 bonus, and 270-1 on the Top 3 bonus. Total win on a $10 bet ($5 on each bonus) would have been $1395. Oh, well!

 

In the early 90's, I was playing a shoe game in Tunica with a side bet called Lucky Sevens (or something like that). While I had been to Vegas and Atlantic City many times before, this was the first side bet I remember ever seeing and naturally didn't fool with it. To fast forward, and you can probably guess what's coming, I was dealt two 7's, hit, and got a third 7, all of the same suit. Yep, I missed out on $5,000 for lack of a lousy buck!

Normally, once a hand is over, it's forgotten. This time, however, I was pretty much devastated for the remainder of the day ... and for the next several years, and have been making sucker bets ever since. Sometimes I even win, like $1,000 on Lucky Ladies when the dealer had a BJ. Yep, it really happens! Have I come out ahead on side bets? I really doubt it, just like gambling overall.

Sure, side bets are sucker bets, just like many other bets. But what the "experts" fail to mention is that gambling is as much emotional as financial! For me, I'd rather lose $1 on most hands than miss out on a huge payout for lack of $1!

 

Pretty sure I mentioned it before but hey. Playing three card at the local they have a progrssive tied in to several other games pays out for any five card royal. I have 10-j-q of hearts and tell the dealer his first card is k of hearts when he slowly reveals the other card it is an A and red but then he show is it’s a heart went from $55000 to $40 win.

 

Same. Dealer and pit boss laughed their asses off at me. The other guys at the table were appreciative of their bonus as well.