Definition of a bad beat
A bad beat is when a player loses a hand when he was favoured. The term could be translated as "taking a hard hit" or "taking a bad beat". For example, you have a pair of aces on the turn. Your opponent has a pair of kings. The board is A-5-7-K. You both go all-in. At this point, you know that you have a little over 97% chance of winning the pot. The river falls and it's another king. Your opponent wins the pot with four of a kind. You will say that you had a bad beat.
What is a bad beat jackpot?
Some online poker rooms offer their players a bad beat jackpot option. At these particular tables (identified as such), in addition to the usual rake, an additional rake will be taken from each pot that is sent directly into a progressive jackpot. If a player loses a hand with a straight 8 or better (the nature of the hand may vary by poker room) with two cards in hand (i.e. two 8's), the player who lost the hand will receive 50% of the prize pool, the player who won the hand will receive 25% of the prize pool and the remaining 25% will be split equally among all the other players at the table.
