Table Games Missing a huge payout on a side bet

Close to 10 years ago now I watched a lady at Flamingo beat the shit out of her husband for telling her the $1 side bet for the progressive was a sucker bet and to not play it. She hit the royal, the dealer did NOT qualify and she would have hit $142k. The game was Caribbean Stud.

 

Yeah there's probably no recovering from that, ever.

 

You could have replied, "Oh well, at least I'm not some black jack dealer in a dead job."

 

It was July 4th weekend 2016 and I was playing BJ at my local. They have a $5/per hand progressive where you win when the dealer has BJ and the player has the other two cards to make a royal flush.
Diamonds pay the jackpot where any other suit pays 10% of it.
I never play sidebets and I surely wouldn't play one where I'm HOPING dealer has BJ.

So I was at the high limit table and had $400 on the hand. Sure enough, dealer had BJ and I had 20. The player next to me says "look," pointing to the BJ. I shrug and say 'yeah, it sucks...' Then he points at the progressive screen and says, "LOOK!," and then it clicks. I would have won the jackpot which at the time was $213,000. I was so rattled, I nearly cried. I finished playing the shoe and was so disturbed that I just went home. I was already playing relatively big, so another $5 really shouldn't have mattered. Years later, it still obviously haunts me, but I haven't learned my lesson, I don't play it, figuring lightning won't strike twice on such a longshot.

 

Ouch. You win man. We have that progressive at my local and it drives me crazy when people that play it are cheering for the deal to have blackjack. By far my least favorite side bet.

 

A long time ago I was at Stratosphere laying Pia Gow Poker. They had a bonus bet where you could bet $1 to $10 and the minimum win was 25 to 1 for a straight and a pair. Flush and a pair paid 50 to 1. FH and a pair 100 to 1. 4OAK and a pair 500 to 1. SF and a pair 2000 to 1. RF and a pair 10000 to 1. 5A and a pair 50000 to 1. The person sitting next to me forgot to place his $1 bonus bet the very hand that he got a RF and a pair.

 

Are you from Texas, and was this super bowl weekend?

 

I don't get the payout on this - was this a progressive of some sort?

 

It was super bowl weekend and no I’m from DC.

 

Meh, hindsight is always 20/20, I try to remember that through everything. I play the right strategy, because it's the smartest way to play, and don't look back. In the stock market I try to buy and sell the smartest way, and don't look back. I'm not trying to make money by being lucky, I'm trying to make money by being smart, so it wouldn't faze me a bit.

 

I had the progressive hit on my hand while I was playing...of course, I didn't activate the side bet at the time so no dice for me. This was just after the someone else hit it at the adjacent table and the dealer said "hey, you never know"....you just got to shrug it off. Yeah, you could win the lottery, too...but the odds aren't in your favor. If you chased after every potential opportunity, you'd be broke...and, who'd be helping you out then?

 

Occasionally you will see a screen at some tables where there is an additional bet the players can make for 1-5 credits. This is in addition to the three card side bet on that table. The screen side bet is usually tied to more than just the let it ride table but is part of multiple cards games on the property. I cannot find an image of what it would look like at the table, but the table would have a little electronic screen at each player spot where the players can 'buy in' for the extra progressive. At the local casino, the RF pays the full progressive and a straight flush pays 10% of the progressive.

Sorry if this wasn't clear. Hard to explain without a picture.

EDIT: It is similar to this:

 

Yeah PH has a bunch of those, that's probably it.

 

She could have freaked out too thinking a huge tip was coming her way had you won the bet.....

 

I used to think all side bets were sucker bets and never played them. Now I just look at side bets as insurance premiums against jackpot regret/remorse.

 

I was playing 1-2 no limit on 2/4 19 and he told the table he was playing some table game and flopped a str8 flush bit didn't play the side bet costing himself $42k. He also was a poor poker player, when I sat down he had around $1400 on the table and lost it all back. He was probably full of shit-just telling a story about something he heard happening.

 

Saw someone get the royal on let it ride. They don’t play the dollar.

Why anyone would play that game at all without the dollar, beats me...

 

A few years ago, I was wrapping up a trip to a local casino. The morning of my last day, as I'm packing, I find four green chips I forgot to cash the previous night. I pass by the cage, but the line was too long for comfort. I figure I'd hit a blackjack table, and one of three things would happen - either I'd lose the hundred, or I would win enough to make braving the cage line worth it, or else I could tread water long enough for the line to die down. I find the only open table with a free spot; it's a $10 table with a few folks who look to be in the same situation as me, and at third base, a little old lady who was religiously betting the Lucky Ladies side bet.

I throw a green chip on my spot, and the old lady grumpily informs the table that the side bet is a surefire money maker and we should all bet it. I quietly ignore her advice; and wouldn't you know it, first hand, I get dealt some random 20 - the lowest win on the side bet. The old lady looks at me and says something like, "See? I told you so!" I nod agreeably, but don't engage.

Next hand, I get dealt a suited pair of tens or jacks, I forget - the next step up on the pay table. The lady is quite upset, insisting that I'm an idiot for leaving money out there. I told her, look, I never play the side bets. If you enjoy it, more power to you, but I just want to play blackjack.

Third hand, I get dealt two queens of hearts, which is a pretty significant win on the side bet. The old lady is going nuts, berating me for leaving money on the table, and looking to the dealer for support. The hapless dealer is just completing her deal, and is showing a face-up king. The old lady is looking at the dealer for a sign of encouragement and railing away at me when suddenly she cuts off. I look at her; she's staring at the dealer, so I do too. The dealer is frozen for a second, then she reaches down to the cards she was inspecting in her little mirror thing - and flips over a blackjack.

I would have won the top prize - 1000x my side bet.

The old lady goes nuts, shouting at the top of her lungs in some language I don't understand. She grabs her remaining chips and stomps away from the table without even coloring up. I'm just laughing my ass off at the irony, and the dealer looks like she doesn't quite know what to do.

I don't remember the rest of that session, or even whether I ended up winning or losing on that $100 - but I remember having a grand time just watching this lady get so upset over someone else not winning!

 

Wow, some great "if only" stories! I never play the side bets because my luck at table card games sucks. I like to play them, but they've never liked me. I've had dealers rail about how I would have won whatever had I played the side bet (but never the big money one). I don't even pay attention.

We play mostly video poker, so this is a digression. A similar thing can happen on machines. We play max bet quarter level mostly and switch games freely. Last year my wife was playing DDB next to me and having no luck. She'd dropped from $100 to less than $20 in about ten minutes. So she switched to Deuces Wild. First hand, four 3s and a 4. $5 instead of $200 on DDB. About ten hands later, aces w/ kicker. Again, $5 instead of $500. She's a pretty calm type, but I thought she was going tip over the machine.