Pa Sands Poker Bad Beat Jackpot

In this scenario there is a poker room with a bad beat jackpot, and only one table. Casinos take $1 from every pot to go toward the bad beat jackpot (this is on top of any rake). This translates into a couple of things. If your table is dealt exactly 42,391 hands, your table will have collectively paid a total of $42,391 to the bad beat jackpot. Under bad beat jackpot rules in poker rooms across the country, you must play both of your hole cards. The absurdity of the hand apparently had the poker room a little confused. It took about 90.

Theodora Tallon likes to play in poker tournaments, and although

doesn’t have them, it’s still her casino of choice.

It’s the closest to her home in the Berks County borough of Boyertown. And in March, she won $75,000 off a bad beat jackpot.

So with Sands’ bad beat jackpot topping $330,000 on Wednesday, Tallon was there waiting for a seat at the table.

Tallon is far from the only person coming to Sands for its table games on a regular basis. After ranking anywhere in the top half to third of Pennsylvania’s 10 casinos in terms of table games take, Sands since May has been consistently No. 1 or 2.

, besting even casino behemoth Parx in lower Bucks County, which has 183 table games to Sands’ 129. Sands also has the state’s second-highest-ever table games take,

Sands has gone from an average $5.1 million a month in table games revenues in 2010 to a $7.4 million average in the first five months of 2011 to a $9.8 million average in the most recent five months. Table games revenues are taxed at 16 percent.

Sands does better with its table games than its slots, where this year the casino ranked anywhere from second to fourth. But Sands’ improved table games performance also may be boosting its slots rank. Since the summer, when Sands started consistently being No. 1 and 2 in table games, Sands has consistently ranked No. 2 or 3 in slots, as well.

, which casino President Robert DeSalvio said is a factor in Sands’ improved table games take. The hotel has brought in new out-of-area table games customers and also allows players to stay over multiple days, he said.

But DeSalvio said there are many other factors contributing to Sands’ bigger table numbers.

, he said. Since then, Sands has boosted its table games staff from 230 dealers to about 585 total staff members, DeSalvio said.

With the new staff, Sands also was able to add 40 table games to its original offering of 89. The Pennsylvania casinos that do the best with table games are generally the ones that have the most.

But more tables does not necessarily mean more money, Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board spokesman Richard McGarvey said.

Casinos generally have a multiyear ramp-up period, and Sands, which opened in May 2009, is more likely to still grow its customer base compared with a place like Parx, which opened in 2006, McGarvey said. Sands also is helped by its amenities that most other Pennsylvania casinos don’t have, including its hotel, seven restaurants, outlet mall and upcoming events center, McGarvey said.

DeSalvio said he also thinks the casino’s amenities are a factor, as are the regional amenities as a whole. Sands now is seeing walking traffic with the opening of the SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, he said.

Sands also is helped by a strong regional interest in poker and its proximity to the major population bases of New York City and New Jersey, DeSalvio said.

Sands’ table games success was not a surprise to some industry analysts.

Pa Sands Poker Bad Beat Jackpots

Sands Bethlehem was designed especially for table games players and he expected its table game business to increase substantially once the hotel opened.

Pa Sands Poker Bad Beat Jackpot Odds

Kutztown-area residents Troy Butz and Amanda Hordendorf also say Sands is their preferred casino for table games. They had gone to Atlantic City a couple times for blackjack before Sands opened but they haven’t been back since.